Case Study: Shade Naming for Wander Beauty

Fractional Copy Chief + Shade Namer

Client Type: DTC Beauty Brand Timeframe: 9 months

SCOPE OF WORK

I worked with Wander Beauty as a contract Copy Chief, supporting ALL copy efforts from product description pages and carton copy to shade naming and SMS campaigns. I was initially brought on by the Founder (& former owner) to punch up copy across the brand and give it more personality. I audited and edited the website, internal decks, descriptions, emails, etc to find opportunities for subtle humor and personality. Then, I made the "new & improved" voice easily implementable by the whole team by creating a comprehensive brand voice guide. For the 6 months that followed, all copy went through me before publishing to ensure the team was staying true to voice. This was a highly collaborative role with both creative and strategic responsibilities across marketing, product development, and brand storytelling.

THE HIGHLIGHTS:

• Created a comprehensive brand voice guide detailing Wander Beauty’s brand personality, motif, word choice, humor guidelines, and rules for naming new products in the future

• Named multiple shades of lipstick and blush in line with Wander’s travel-forward, “gorgeous-on-the-go” style brand voice

• Wrote and edited product descriptions, pitch + press emails, landing pages, and SMS campaigns

• Collaborated with internal marketing, brand, and product development teams to ensure consistency and strategic positioning from the first impression to post-purchase

NAMING CONTRIBUTIONS

Wander Beauty is built on the idea of beauty in motion—multitasking products made for women on the go. So each shade name had to balance:

• Personality (fun to say, emotionally evocative)

• Positioning (on-brand, unique, easy to apply/convenient)

• Place-based, verb-heavy storytelling (whenever possible, tie back to travel/movement)

Pitched Product Name:

• Blush Hour – A multitasking blush inspired by “rush hour,” + “happy hour” – which fit Wander’s on-the-go motif. (The founder later renamed it to “Blush All Day”—due to concerns that consumers would misunderstand the staying power of the product. Womp, womp.)

  

Shade Names:

• Are We Bare Yet? – A neutral blush with vacation energy

• Peach of Mind – A soft peach shade that plays on calm + color

• Red Over Heels – A bold, flirt-forward red lipstick

  

Other Naming Contributions:

• Naming suggestions for Wander’s consumer testing panel

• On-brand name options for campaigns, content series, and product bundles

COPYWRITING CONTRIBUTIONS

I worked closely with Wander's in-house marketing + product development teams to write copy, edit their work, and ensure all campaigns and consumer-facing copy were consistent with their new brand voice guide.

This included:

• Writing product detail pages for new launches

• Editing sales email sequences & SMS for seasonal campaigns

• Updating internal decks, founder bio, brand story & website copy

• Proofreading and editing PR emails + affiliate communications

• Suggesting content angles & ideas for social media

THE RESULTS

• Strengthened brand voice consistency across internal and external comms

• Created a scalable naming and messaging system that aligned with Wander’s tone

• Developed names that balanced wit, clarity, and their brand motif in a saturated clean beauty space

• Supported launch campaigns that reinforced Wander’s positioning in the crowded clean beauty market