“In the past two decades, wellness has often felt like a full-time job,” says Smriti Khullar, who’s held marketing and sales roles at Monolith, Google, Unilever and Johnson & Johnson. “You want wellness to power you or power your next move, but, instead, it becomes one more big job that’s constantly demanding time, energy and effort out of you, always making you feel as if you haven’t done enough.”
Her answer to the onerousness of contemporary wellness culture? Microdose lip balms. Last month, Khullar launched the brand Efpy, which is pronounced like the letters “f” and “p” and stands for “full potential,” with three such lip balms priced at $14.99 each and formulated with ingredients like l-theanine, green coffee and vitamin B for calming, curbing cravings and energizing.
Efpy recommends users swipe on the lip balms six to 10 times a day, “especially when life’s a lot,” the brand instructs. The idea is that every swipe delivers a small dose for cumulatively long-term impact. “Efpy was born out of my own life’s chaos,” says Khullar, who balances motherhood to a preteen with a rigorous career.
Microdosing, the practice of taking tiny amounts of psychedelics for focus and mental clarity, has become a buzzword in wellness, and as the beauty and wellness industries converge, beauty has adopted it for its purposes. Beauty products are being designed around the concept of precision dosing to achieve targeted results through small quantities of specific ingredients.
Saint Jane, for example, previously sold a CBD Microdose Lip Gloss that delivered micro-doses of cannabidiol (CBD) with each application from its 50-milligram total. Kiehl’s Since 1851’s Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum was concocted to release a precisely calibrated daily dose of retinol. A.P. Chem’s Microdose Magical Moisturizer microdoses the skin with mushroom extracts and the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
Khullar created Efpy’s lip balms with a formula that’s one-fourth active ingredients paired with nourishing ingredients like shea butter and jojoba oil. In Calm Micro-Dose Lip Balm, vitamin B6 supports the body’s natural stress response. Curb Micro-Dose Lip Balm contains green coffee bean extract that has chlorogenic acid for appetite regulation. Perk Micro-Dose Lip Balm features ginkgo biloba extract to enhance cognitive function and memory.
Khullar stresses that Efpy is careful not to make medical claims. The brand shares the results consumers report and highlights ingredients’ purported benefits. Early product testers have experienced a sensory uplift in two minutes or less from swiping on Efpy’s balms, with broader benefits settling in after about 15 to 30 minutes. Daily usage compounds the benefits, and well-being improvements have been seen in one to two weeks.
Khullar believes in Efpy harnessing the power of ingredients that are already trusted. She says, “I wanted ingredients that everyone is already comfortable with [that] have been extensively studied and proven and would lead to efficacious results.”
“We just need that tiny support that makes us feel that we have things under control.”
Self-funded Efpy has earmarked $100,000 to $125,000 to finance its first year in business, dedicated primarily to marketing, sampling and building credibility. The brand plans to distribute 500-plus samples to consumers and content creators to generate reviews and social proof.
Along with its single lip balms, Efpy has packaged the three balms into bundles priced at $39.99. Khullar says bundles are central to Efpy’s model, and she expects its average order value to move from $24 to $30 by the middle of next year. Sales projections for 2026 range from $140,000 to $270,000, with an expectation of securing distribution in 20 to 35 boutiques by year end.
Efpy’s products are all produced in-house, but Khullar is currently scouting contract manufacturers to help the brand scale up. Looking ahead, she says partnerships with retailers like Sephora, Ulta Beauty and Credo are on its retail distribution wish list. Spas and wellness centers are in its near future.
Efpy’s balms have the potential to reach a broad demographic of customers, but Khullar narrows down their customer sweet spot to 20- to 35-year-olds. “We all have demanding lives, right? You talk to a college girl, you talk to a businesswoman, everyone is busy, everyone is juggling multiple things,” she says. “We just need that tiny support that makes us feel that we have things under control.”
To appeal to gen Z and young millennial consumers, Efpy is focusing on relatable copy that sounds as if it’s coming from a friend. Its catchphrases include, “What if your lip balm didn’t just nourish your lips, but helped you breathe through your 3 p.m. spiral?” “Just swipe. Breathe. Conquer the world.” “Power moves, in stick form.”
Since its launch, Efpy has consistently sold five to six units a day, a number that Khullar knows isn’t high, but she regards as a good indicator of favorable forthcoming sales and reassurance that its microdosing approach is meeting a need. Customer reviews average at 4.7 out of 5, with a majority calling Efpy’s lip balms a breakthrough product and an asset to their routines.
“People have been very excited and interested to try out Efpy. Engagement on social media has been amazing and promising,” she says. “People are very open.”
The overarching vision for Efpy’s assortment is to transform everyday beauty regimens into wellness rituals. Body butters are in its product pipeline. Khullar hopes Efpy will become a way of life, not simply a brand. She says, “I would love to see Efpy become a noun or adjective, [with] people complimenting others on living an Efpy life, living to their full potential and just having things sorted.”
