Home › Cosmetics guide › Selling cosmetics

Cosmetics guide

Selling personalized cosmetics: studio, spa, pharmacy, practice and online shop

Reviewed by Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer, molecular biologist and founder of Novogenia · Updated: 13 October 2026 · Reading time: 11 min

In short

Personalized cosmetics sell best where people already come for advice: in beauty studios, spas and wellness hotels, pharmacies and practices. Your own online shop adds reach under your brand. The core is the same everywhere: a saliva sample in a few minutes, analysis in 4 days in the lab, then a day serum, night serum and body lotion matched to the genes. You can resell BeautyMe, sell it as a white label under your brand, or develop your own formula. In Switzerland, only certain health professions may order such analyses, the sample is taken in their presence, and home self-test kits are not allowed.

One kitchen, many restaurants

A saliva sample takes just a few minutes. Everything afterward happens under one roof: in Eugendorf near Salzburg, Austria, the genetic lab, the supplement factory and the cosmetics factory share the same building. The lab analyzes the sample in 4 days, and the cosmetics factory formulates and fills the personalized serums and the body lotion. That is how a saliva sample becomes a finished product without ever leaving the company or the EU.

Think of it as a kitchen that supplies many restaurants. The kitchen is always the same. You decide what your restaurant looks like: a studio, a spa, a pharmacy or an online shop under your brand. This article shows how to sell personalized cosmetics in each channel – and how to build a genetic skin analysis into a treatment.

What you sell: three products, three partner models

The range is deliberately lean: day serum, night serum and body lotion. What gets personalized is not the packaging but the contents. The result of the genetic analysis determines which active ingredients go into the formula and at what dosage. The analysis covers topics such as collagen, UV protection, hydration, free radicals and the tendency toward inflammation. More in Personalized cosmetics and Day serum, night serum, body lotion.

How you offer the products depends on the partner model:

Resell BeautyMe: you offer Novogenia’s finished line – with no lab, no production and no startup costs.
White label: the same products on a proven base formulation, with your logo, your label and your packaging. Your brand is what clients see in advertising and consultations; the mandatory information on the label still applies (more in Labeling).
Your own formula: you bring the idea, and Novogenia develops your formula from it. Development takes 3 to 5 months.

White label and your own formula start from small batches. Companies that already hold genotype data can supply it and move straight to formulation. Which model suits you is covered in White label, private label or your own formula?.

The channels compared

Channel	Saliva sample	Product to the client	Strength	Watch out for
Beauty studio	in the studio, during the consultation	handed over in person in the studio	trust, regular appointments	prepare the results conversation well
Spa and wellness hotel	in the spa, in a few minutes	after the stay, as an order or subscription	time, calm, experience	report often arrives after departure
Pharmacy	at the pharmacy	pickup at the next visit	credibility, advisory expertise	skincare language, not drug language
Practice	at the practice	handed over at the practice or ordered via the partner shop	professional authority	keep skincare and treatment separate; check professional rules
Online shop and own brand	at home with a sample kit	shipping	reach, your own customer relationship	replace the consultation digitally; not in Switzerland

For supplements, see Sales channels in the contract manufacturing guide.

Beauty studio: consultation, saliva sample, matched line

In a beauty studio, the conversation is already there. Your client comes regularly and trusts you with their skin. The genetic skin analysis gives that conversation a new foundation. The process is simple: you take the saliva sample in the studio, send it in, and later hand over the finished, personalized products in person.

A studio is especially strong with its own brand: day serum, night serum and body lotion with your logo, your label and your packaging. That way, skincare at home becomes an extension of your treatment in the studio. On request, a small test batch lets you check texture, scent and look in your studio first. More under Offer for beauty studios.

Spa and wellness hotel: sample during the stay, skincare afterward

In a spa, your guest has something everyday life lacks: time. The saliva sample takes just a few minutes and fits into the consultation or treatment conversation. After that, the lab needs 4 days, plus the time to ship the sample. Depending on the length of stay, the report may therefore arrive after departure.

That is not a drawback but a second touchpoint. Your guest is back home, remembers the days with you – and receives skincare under your hotel’s brand. Supplements matched to the genetic profile can follow as a personal takeaway or as a subscription after the stay. Ready-made Novogenia products can go straight into your spa boutique, and a small starter batch lets you test the line with your guests first. More under Spa and wellness, Wellness hotels and Spa, hotel and longevity clinic.

Pharmacy: advice with credibility

People come to a pharmacy looking for advice, not just a product. Skincare based on the genetic profile stands out clearly from the drugstore shelf and fits your team’s advisory expertise. A lean process: saliva sample at the pharmacy, results conversation and pickup of the skincare at the next visit.

Surrounded by medicines, cosmetics can quickly start to sound like medicine. Stick to the language of skincare. Under the EU Cosmetics Regulation, cosmetic products are there to clean the skin, protect it, change its appearance or keep it in good condition – they do not treat skin diseases.

Medical and therapeutic practices

Practices that support their patients or clients on skin, nutrition and well-being can offer personalized skincare too. The practice’s professional authority is an advantage – and it calls for a clean separation: Novogenia’s skin analysis is a lifestyle analysis, not a diagnosis. BeautyMe is cosmetics, not therapy. Complaints and skin conditions belong in medical care.

Check with your professional chamber or association whether you may sell products in your practice. One alternative: the practice advises, and the client orders through your partner shop.

Online shop and own brand

Online, you reach people who would never come to your studio. Only the start of the process changes: your client orders the analysis in your shop, Novogenia ships the sample kit, analyzes the sample and delivers the products. The saliva sample kit is available in your brand’s design on request.

What is missing online is the conversation. Replace it deliberately: with a clear explanation of why the skincare is composed the way it is, and a contact for questions. On the legal side of your brand: in the EU, a cosmetic product may only be placed on the market if a responsible person has been designated (Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009). Novogenia takes on this role – more in Responsible person, safety assessment, notification. This route does not work for Switzerland, because self-test kits for home use are not allowed there for such analyses.

How to build the skin analysis into treatments and consultations

Initial conversation: explain what the analysis shows: genes linked to skincare topics such as collagen and hydration – not a diagnosis.
Consent: under the GDPR, genetic data belong to the specially protected categories of data. Your client consents in writing and knows who will see their report (Genetic data and the GDPR).
Saliva sample: it takes a few minutes and fits at the start or the end of the treatment.
Analysis: 4 days in the lab, plus the time to ship the sample.
Results conversation: the report is available in up to 18 languages. Discuss two or three priorities instead of reading out every chapter.
Hand over the skincare: day serum, night serum and body lotion matched to the result – in the studio, at the pharmacy or by mail.
Follow-up appointment: genes do not change, so the result remains valid for every reorder.

One sentence belongs in every conversation: genes are one factor among many – sun, smoking and daily skincare shape the skin as well. Background in Skin and genes.

Switzerland: who may order the analysis

Switzerland is stricter than Germany and Austria. The Federal Act on Human Genetic Testing (GUMG) also covers analyses of physiological characteristics which, if known, may influence a person’s lifestyle. For these, the following applies:

Only listed professions may order: Art. 40 of the Ordinance on Human Genetic Testing (GUMV) names, among others, physicians, pharmacists, druggists HF and – for physiological characteristics – nutritionists FH. Beauticians are not among them.
Sample in their presence: the saliva sample must be taken in the presence of the person ordering the test (Art. 34(3) GUMG).
No self-tests: self-test kits may only be supplied for other tests, such as hair color (Art. 13 GUMG). A sample kit mailed to the client is therefore ruled out.
Some topics are medical: analyses that give information on “diseases, allergies or inflammation” count as medical in Switzerland (Art. 37(2) GUMV). Before you launch, clarify how the skin analysis is classified for Switzerland.
Lab abroad: because the lab is in Austria, the client’s written consent is required.

For a Swiss beauty studio or spa, this means working with one of these professionals, who orders the analysis and is present when the sample is taken. For pharmacies and medical practices, the route is much shorter. Details in Who may offer genetic tests?.

Selling it right: skincare, not promises of cure

Whatever the channel, BeautyMe is cosmetics. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 defines cosmetic products by their purpose: cleaning, perfuming, changing the appearance, protecting, keeping in good condition or correcting body odors (Article 2(1)(a)). Claims must not imply that a product has characteristics or functions it does not have (Article 20).

Good: “Day serum and night serum care for your skin. Which active ingredients go in, and at what dosage, depends on your genes.”
Problematic: “heals,” “treats,” “fights inflammation” or an anti-aging promise.
No extra benefit from obligations: what applies to everyone anyway, such as compliance with EU requirements, may not be advertised as a special benefit (Annex, point 1 of Regulation (EU) No 655/2013).
Honest: the genetic traits are backed by studies; the formula derived from them is a logical conclusion.

What you can say in practice is shown in Advertising cosmetics. Prepare your team with the free NOVO Academy: about 5 hours of video per language, certificates and a course on the genetics of skin that explains the foundations of the “DNAbeauty Control” analysis. It is not mandatory.

Checklist: bringing personalized cosmetics into your channel

Main channel defined: studio, spa, hotel, pharmacy, practice or online shop.
Partner model chosen: resell BeautyMe, white label or your own formula.
Process planned: when the saliva sample is taken and how the skincare reaches the client.
Consent and data protection settled, including who sees the report.
In Switzerland: an ordering professional under Art. 40 GUMV on board, sample taken in their presence, no self-test.
Team trained, guide for the results conversation prepared.
Advertising copy checked: skincare instead of promises of cure, no anti-aging promise.
Combination with supplements considered – more in Combining cosmetics and supplements.

How we do it at Novogenia

How we support your sales at Novogenia:

Three products: day serum, night serum and body lotion; the genetic result determines the selection and dosage of the active ingredients.
Everything under one roof: genetic lab, supplement factory and cosmetics factory in one building in Eugendorf near Salzburg, Austria; the saliva sample becomes a finished product without ever leaving the company or the EU.
Analysis: 4 days in our own lab, report in up to 18 languages.
Partner models: resell BeautyMe with no lab, no production and no startup costs; white label on a proven base formulation with your logo, label and packaging; your own formula with 3 to 5 months of development time; production from small batches.
Responsible person: Novogenia takes on this role under the EU Cosmetics Regulation.
Team: the free NOVO Academy, including a course on the genetics of skin.

Frequently asked questions

May a beauty studio offer a genetic skin analysis?

Novogenia’s skin analysis is a lifestyle analysis, not a medical diagnosis. In Germany and Austria, a beauty studio can therefore offer it as well – within the rules of its country. Switzerland is different: there, only certain health professions listed in Art. 40 GUMV may order such analyses, and the saliva sample is taken in their presence. A Swiss studio therefore works with one of these professionals.

Will the result be ready while the guest is still at the hotel?

The saliva sample takes only a few minutes and the lab analysis 4 days, plus the time to ship the sample to the lab. Depending on the length of stay, the report may therefore arrive after the guest has left. The personalized skincare then follows as an order or a subscription – a good reason to stay in touch with your guest.

Which sales channel works in Switzerland?

The shortest route is through pharmacies, druggists HF and medical practices, because these professions may order genetic analyses of physiological characteristics (Art. 40 GUMV). Beauty studios and spas need one of these professionals present when the sample is taken. An online shop that mails sample kits for home use is ruled out for these analyses (Art. 13 GUMG).

Do we need our own brand to get started?

No. You can resell BeautyMe – with no lab, no production and no startup costs. If you want your own brand later, white label is the fastest route: the same products on a proven base formulation, with your logo, your label and your packaging, from small batches.

Does the analysis have to be repeated before every reorder?

No. Genes do not change during a lifetime, so the analysis remains valid. With every reorder you can go back to the report and talk about what has changed for your client – such as their wishes or daily routine.

Planning your own cosmetics line?

Tell us about your brand, studio or practice – we will show you which route fits.

Request a project →Discover BeautyMe

Note: This guide is general information for businesses and professionals and does not replace legal advice. BeautyMe products are cosmetic products; statements in this guide are not promises of cure. The genetic traits determined in a genetic analysis are well documented (each gene included is backed by at least three independent studies); recommendations for skincare and formulation derived from them are logical conclusions, not scientifically proven. Regulations can change; errors and changes excepted.