Skip to content
The Label Problem (And the Shipping Label Printer That Solved It)
I bought a thermal printer for shipping labels.
That's not exactly a thrilling opening, I know. But this one decision quietly unlocked something I'd been stuck on for years - and it might explain why the labels on your Clean Skins products look the way they do.
The Problem
When you're formulating skincare in small batches, things change. A lot.
You develop a product. You test it. You get feedback. Someone says "I love this but could you add more hydration?" or "This is great but it pills under my sunscreen." So you tweak. You reformulate. You improve.
This is exactly how good skincare should be made. The problem is labels.
Traditional labels are printed in bulk. Minimum orders. Set-up fees. Lead times. If I wanted professional-looking labels, I needed to commit to hundreds of units for a formulation that might change next month.
Every time I tweaked a formula, I'd be left with a pile of now-inaccurate labels. Either I'd use them anyway (not ideal - the label should always reflect what's in the bottle) or I'd throw them out. Expensive. Wasteful. Frustrating.
So I'd delay. I'd wait until I was "sure" a formulation was final before getting labels made. Which meant products sat in development limbo while I tried to predict the future.
The Shipping Label Moment
Here's where the thermal printer comes in.
I'd bought it for shipping labels - a basic business decision. But then I discovered something: I could also get eco-friendly product labels that work with thermal printing. No ink cartridges. No minimum orders. Print exactly what I need, when I need it.
These labels are phthalate-free and compostable. They're not as glossy or "premium" looking as traditional labels. But they're accurate. They're current. And they let me actually release products instead of waiting for perfect.
Suddenly, I could:
- Develop a new copper peptide serum
- Test it with a small batch
- Get feedback
- Adjust the formulation
- Print new labels that reflect the change
- Release the improved version
No wasted labels. No wasted product. No months of delays waiting for the "final" version that might still need tweaking.
Why This Matters for Clean Skins
Clean Skins exists because of this shift.
The whole concept - formulations in development, priced lower while I perfect them, your feedback shaping what they become - only works if I can iterate quickly. If every label change cost me hundreds of dollars and weeks of lead time, Clean Skins wouldn't exist. I'd still be sitting on copper peptide formulations.
The thermal labels made it possible to launch promising products formulated around exciting skincare actives like GHK-Cu, AHK-Cu, Trehalose, Acetyl Zingerone + learn from how they perform in the real world, and improve them in real time.
The Fade Factor (Yes, Really)
Here's the thing about thermal labels: they can fade in direct sunlight.
I could pretend this isn't true, but that's not really my style. So let me reframe it.
If your Clean Skins label is starting to fade, it means your skincare is getting too much light. Most actives - including copper peptides - degrade with light exposure. That fading label? It's telling you something. Move your products somewhere darker.
Think of it as a built-in sunlight warning system. (I'm only partly joking.)
The Bigger Picture
This is what running a small business actually looks like.
It's not about having everything perfect before you start. It's about finding solutions that let you keep moving. It's about making decisions that align with your values - in my case, less waste, more flexibility, honest labelling - even when they're not the most polished option.
I'm a naturopath running a skincare business from Noosa. I'm not a packaging company. I don't have a marketing team or a warehouse full of inventory. I have a thermal printer on my desk, a fridge full of copper peptide serums and a genuine interest in making products that actually work.
The labels might not be fancy. But they allow me to create exciting new clean and no-tox skincare with high quality active ingredients and make them available at a reduced cost. And that matters more to me.
The Juggle
I won't pretend this business exists in a vacuum.
Like most women running small businesses in Australia, I'm doing this alongside everything else - family, health, life. The statistics say five out of six women in business have experienced burnout. I believe it.
What keeps me going is building something that aligns with how I actually want to work. Slow when it needs to be slow. Responsive when I get feedback that matters. Small enough to stay true to what I care about.
Clean Skins - and the thermal labels that make it possible - is part of that. It's not a compromise. It's a choice.
If you've made it this far, you probably appreciate the behind-the-scenes details. That's the kind of person Clean Skins is for.
Questions about labels, formulations, or anything else? Just ask. I read everything.
- Sarah Luck
Labels sourced from Heaps Good, an Australian company making eco-friendly thermal labels.
Australian made | Small batch | Clean formulation | Fragrance-free