We suspected that, beneath the front-facing marketing messages, values statements and product splashes, there are underlying pressures driving brands to slow their roll. Krupa Koestline, cosmetic chemist and founder of KKT Innovation Labs, confirmed our suspicions when, in a No Stupid Questions story we published recently about a decrease in the number of beauty product launches, she said, “Product development timelines are longer and launches have been more calculated.”

To delve further into the dynamics of slower beauty, for the latest edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked Koestline and 15 other cosmetic chemists and manufacturing executives the following: Are you seeing product development timelines lengthen? What does a typical product development timeline look like today versus a few years ago? Do you think the beauty industry is seeing the end of fast beauty?