When Susan Goldsberry sold Benchmark Cosmetic Laboratories to KDC/ONE three years ago after building the manufacturer for 14 years, most people expected her to retire and lay on a beautiful beach somewhere.
But the mission-driven cosmetic chemist and entrepreneur felt there was something else she needed to do—and that led her to team up with OB-GYN Beri Ridgeway on Ina, a new intimate skincare range for anyone with a vulva, from pubescent girls through post-menopausal women.
Ina means “mother” in Filipino, Goldsberry’s native language, and the brand is inspired by her time taking care of her mother when she was elderly and ailing. During that time, she detected a gap in the market for women’s intimate care products that are aesthetically pleasing, have desirable textures and stick to clean formulations.
“There were lots of products that had the traditional ingredients, and even now the leading brands have lanolin, mineral oil, cod liver oil, heavy fragrance,” says Goldsberry. “I knew that I could create safer and more elevated products.”
Ina’s five inaugural products are $24 Balancing Cleanser, $26 Anti-Chafe Liquid Powder, $28 Barrier Balm, $38 Hydrating Serum and $42 Nourishing Oil Elixir. They’re available on the brand’s e-commerce website.
Accessible pricing is a priority for Goldsberry because she wants Ina’s products to reach as many women as possible. “While the products are very elevated and design-focused and worthy of displaying on your bathroom counter, we price them affordably,” she says. “That’s one of the challenges, to be able to create the best formulas while keeping the costs down to make them accessible. We all deserve that.”
Goldsberry turned to Ridgeway to help with the formulations. The brand is a passion project for Ridgeway, too. In her two decades as an OB-GYN, she says she hadn’t encountered empowering and science-based women’s intimate care.
She emphasizes, “We can have products that elevate this to a typical level of care that you would use for any part of the body without having misogynistic messaging or a message that there’s something wrong with you that needs to be fixed. That was something that was really important to me.”
Ina’s patent-pending formulas contain a proprietary complex it calls Ina-V consisting of a blend of centella asiatica, sea buckthorn and moringa. The brand’s products are manufactured in small batches in its own facilities, which Goldsberry says ensures ingredient integrity.
According to industry sources cited by the publication Women’s Wear Daily, Ina is projected to generate $10 million in sales in its first two years in business. The global women’s intimate care products market has been growing at a healthy clip over the last few years, especially as consumer demand for better-for-you formulations has risen. According to market research firm Future Market Insights, it’s expected to exceed $38 billion by 2032, growing at a compound rate of 4.1% over the next decade.
Although it’s starting in direct-to-consumer distribution, the brand plans to pursue retail partnerships next year. It has a robust pipeline of products ready to be unveiled next year as well.
Goldsberry points to Barrier Balm as a standout offering from Ina. She mentions it took 10 years to develop and went through 50 iterations. “Most barrier balms out there are sticky, greasy, smelly. This one is lightweight and absorbs quickly into the skin without leaving a white cast in spite of having 15% zinc oxide as the active ingredient,” says Goldsberry. “We conducted consumer perception surveys, and it’s the most highly rated product and the one that test subjects raved about.”
Nourishing Oil Elixir is Ridgeway’s favorite product. In addition to the Ina-V complex, it contains fermented green tea seed oil and fermented Shiunko oil. Goldsberry says, “Fermented oils are more bioavailable, more moisturizing and have more antioxidant properties along with amazing aesthetics.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.