Those who have dreamed of a specific beauty product or wanted to create a better version of an existing one, now have a place to go. Volition, started last year by beauty vets Brandy Hoffman and Patricia Santos, who combined have 40 years experience in the skin care and cosmetics arena, puts the consumer in the creative seat, and lets her vote on other people’s ideas to see if they should come to fruition.

“We were both working at Algenist and traveling throughout Asia to open up international business. We have complementary skill sets and we liked each other. We started talking about what we would change,” said Patricia. “We were seeing all these socially-driven community models like Minted and Etsy, but nothing that existed like that in beauty and thought, ‘What if the democratic principals we saw on platforms like Instagram and Facebook could be deployed to help beauty brands make those products. What if the women suffering from a problem could actually help beauty brands solve them?’”

Voila, Volition was created.

Here’s how it works: An idea is summited, then it is vetted for originality, feasibility and quality. If it passes through a small team of green-lighters, then it’s off to one of 20 different labs that Volition works with for advice on formulation and how much the item might cost to make. If they think it’s got legs, then it’s turned into a prototype, and everyone gets on board to help showcase the product so Volition’s beauty community can vote on it. If the campaign is a success, the product can become a reality in four-to-six months. The original idea-maker earns commission on every unit sold.

Voters also get savings off of inspirations created on Volition before it’s released to the public.

“We really wanted to change the product development funnel and when the consumer gets involved,” said Brandy. “If you look at [current] models, consumers are brought in much later. We changed that with Volition. We asked, ‘Where’s the most meaningful entry point for that consumer?’ What I’ve learned is, if you give up some control, and let the consumer drive the brand in a meaningful way, you’ll get some amazing products.”

Within their first year, using their own money to create a beta version, the company received 2,000 to 3,000 ideas. Sixteen were turned into actual products.

“Through our connections, we had a meeting with QVC very early on,” said Patricia. “It was just to tell them what we were we doing, that we would be deploying community commerce in beauty. And they offered us a full hour show.”

When you have QVC as a partner, raising additional funds is far easier, which is what happened next. When Volition went live on air in August 2016, they had several fully-executed, wonderfully-original anti-aging products to offer viewers.

“We increased our outreach and started marketing online a month later,” she added. “Now our online community is up 476 percent, our Facebook community is 165,000. We just started Instagram, which has 15,000 followers, and we’ll be doing YouTube.”

This month, they’ll celebrate a partnership with Sephora.

“We have rich history with them,” said Brandy. “We are local, from the San Francisco area, and we knew them from past projects. The products we are launching with them fall under their discovery/scouting brands.”

Come September, expect to see five Volition creations at Sephora.com, and in select stores: Tumeric Brightening Polish created by Anuradha, an avid traveler who wanted to create something that was part of her Indian heritage, $38; Detoxifying Silt Gelée Mask, originated by Takako, a cosmetic chemist, $60; and Helix AM/PM Eye Gel, conceptualized by makeup artist Lindsey, $52, among others.

Over the next several months and into next year the pair plan to beef up their presence.

“Up until now, we have been bootstrapped,” admitted Patricia. “We fully intend to support the Sephora launch with marketing dollars, and we are doing big sampling campaigns with them. We are presenting at their store director conference. And we’ll be doing a lot of in-store events.”