Savannah Mist & Southern Silk

The brief

Develop a new product line for an existing brand and take it all the way to product turnover — brand context, consumer persona, packaging concepts, formulation, COGS, claims, and testing protocols. I picked Emily McCarthy, the Savannah-based boutique known for joyful, color-driven women’s fashion, and proposed a personal-care line extension.

The brand

Emily McCarthy founded the boutique in 2012 and grew it into an 8-figure business with a flagship in Savannah, 350 retailers, and a 14,000 square foot store. Her aesthetic is joyful style made simple — vibrant prints, bold color, sophisticated silhouettes. The brand’s core promise: empowering women of all generations to feel confident through color and print.

The whitespace

Emily McCarthy doesn’t have her own line of personal care products — only fashion and home. That’s the opening. A boutique-coded, scent-led personal care line gives existing customers an add-on at checkout, brings new customers in through a lower-priced entry point, and extends the brand into a daily-use category without diluting the fashion identity.

The duo

Savannah Mist — a hydrating cleansing spray (think: refreshing hand sanitizer for the elevated traveler). Southern Silk — a nourishing hand cream. Together they’re a self-care moment, sized for on-the-go: portable, signature-scented (white magnolia + sea island cotton), and packaged in recycled plastic that holds its line.

The audience

Shelby — a stylish southern mom, focused on family, luxury, and everyday grace. She invests in high-quality items that make her feel confident. She shops at high-end local boutiques. She color-coordinates her family’s outfits, plans ahead, and balances motherhood with self-care. Her brand tagline for herself: “Life can be chaotic, but when I feel put together, I can overcome it all.” The pain points: comparison, perfectionism, style upkeep. The duo speaks directly to “put together.”

Savannah Mist

A continuous-mist hydrating cleansing spray. Key ingredients: ethanol (70%, FDA sanitizer-compliant), aloe vera, glycerin, green tea extract. Texture: ultra-fine mist, even coverage, air-light, non-sticky. Packaging: drop and leak-proof, made from recycled plastic, portable, with a continuous nozzle for a luxurious dispense rather than a harsh trigger.

Southern Silk

A nourishing hand cream. Key ingredients: shea butter, vitamin E, squalane, aloe vera, coconut oil. Texture: silky, quick-absorbing, lightweight but rich, non-greasy. Packaging: thin nozzle to prevent waste, curved bottle for grip, recycled plastic, compact for travel.

The duo

The full COGS and 12-month revenue table is in the gallery — duo total COGS comes in at $9.10/unit with a $20 retail price (Savannah Mist alone at $17, Southern Silk at $33), projecting $5,673 / $15,467 in first-year revenue per SKU. The product line, packaging, and signature scent give Emily McCarthy a self-care category extension that ladders cleanly into the existing in-store and online experience.

Testing

Antibacterial efficiency to confirm 99.9% germ kill, corneometer hydration tests for both products, dermatologist patch tests for skin safety, drop and leak-proof durability, TSA travel-compliance, stability tests for scent and color, and consumer usability studies. The testing plan is in the deck.