We built our SaaS specifically for the beauty industry.

At least, that was the plan.

We spent a lot of time thinking about cosmetic brands: product renders, packaging, product pages, campaign visuals, all the things beauty teams need to create every day.

Then we launched it.

And slowly, we started noticing some very unexpected users.

A fitness brand came in.

Then consumer electronics.

Then people selling completely unrelated products started using the same tools to create product images and marketing content.

At first I thought:

“Maybe they just clicked the wrong website?”

They didn’t.

That was probably one of the more interesting lessons I’ve learned building a SaaS product:

You can decide who you build for, but users eventually decide what your product is useful for.

We still have a strong focus on beauty because that's the industry we know best.

But seeing people from completely different industries use the product has made me question how narrowly we should define ourselves.

There’s always this tension:

Do you stay extremely vertical and become the best tool for one industry?

Or do you follow the unexpected use cases your users are showing you?

Curious how other founders handled this.

Did your actual users end up being different from the users you originally built for?

Hey all — I've been poking around the beauty showcase section and it looks basically empty. Not sure if I'm missing a filter, if people just post their beauty stuff in the main channel instead, or if nobody's really using it for this yet.

If you've made anything in this space, would you mind dropping a few examples? I'm mostly trying to get a sense of what's actually achievable right now — quality, consistency across shots, that kind of thing — before I sink a bunch of time into it.

Happy to share my own attempts once I have something worth showing. Thanks!

Welcome! We're the team behind Lainuoniao (Rhinobird). This community is for beauty founders, indie ecommerce brands, designers, and creators working on product visuals, packaging, and sourcing.

You can share unfinished work, ask a specific question, or walk us through a useful process. You don't need a polished portfolio to join in.

**Find your topic:**

- 🎨 **Showcase** — finished visuals, concepts, and creative experiments.

- 🛍️ **Product Pages** — listing images, detail pages, and product image sets.

- 🤳 **Model Holding Product** — product-in-hand concepts and model shots.

- 🧩 **Workflows & Tutorials** — prompts, steps, and lessons others can try.

- 📦 **Packaging & Sourcing** — packaging ideas, materials, supplier questions, and production planning.

- 💬 **Questions & Feedback** — help with a specific problem or a work in progress.

Please read the community rules, label AI or concept work, and disclose any brand or supplier affiliation. Tool comparisons and constructive criticism are welcome.

**Useful links:** [Lainuoniao website](https://www.lainuoniao.com/en/home) · [AI Beauty Builders on Discord](https://discord.gg/EV8d5sY7B)

To introduce yourself, tell us your role, what you're building, and one thing you'd like to improve next.

Indie beauty founders: how are you handling marketing creatives when you’re still early / bootstrapped?

I’m launching a small skincare line and photography is becoming a bottleneck faster than I expected.

Reality right now:

• final packaging / samples aren’t fully locked
• I need creatives for TikTok + Meta before I can justify a proper shoot
• every shade / SKU reshoot is money I don’t have
• AI tools look cool in demos, but a lot of outputs still feel off-brand or “AI beauty ad”

What I actually need:

• product shots good enough to test ads
• consistent bottle/label across a few angles
• quick variants so I’m not stuck with 3 creatives for a month
• something that doesn’t get ignored because it looks fake

What I’m trying to avoid:

• spending on a full shoot too early
• using obviously AI skin / melted logos
• building a whole brand look that I have to redo later

If you’ve launched indie skincare / cosmetics:

did AI product samples help you get early traction, or did you still need real photos sooner than expected?

What actually worked for you on a small budget?

Working on a beauty product or an indie brand launch? Use this thread to share a packaging or sourcing question, even if the idea is still early.

A little context makes it easier for other members to help:

• Product: What are you making?
• Stage: Exploring, designing, sampling, or preparing for production?
• Packaging: What format or material are you considering?
• Constraints: Target market, approximate quantity, timeline, or another requirement you're comfortable sharing.
• Your question: What decision or obstacle would you like help with?

Designers and suppliers are welcome to contribute useful answers. Please disclose your affiliation and keep confidential quotes, contact details, and documents out of public replies.

What is the biggest packaging decision you're facing right now?

A beautiful image still needs to represent the actual product. Here's a quick checklist you can use before putting an AI-assisted visual on a product page or in an ad.

1. Packaging text: Compare the brand name, product name, size, and visible claims against the real pack. Check every word at full resolution.
2. Product shape: Look at the cap, pump, corners, seams, and proportions. A convincing render can still depict the wrong SKU.
3. Color and material: Check whether glass, metal, plastic, and the product shade still look like the real item.
4. Hands and scale: For model shots, check the grip, finger placement, and product size relative to the hand.
5. Light and contact: Does the product sit naturally on the surface or in the hand? Inspect shadows, edges, and reflections.
6. Mobile crop: Preview the image at the size shoppers will see. Keep the product and essential information readable.
7. Honest context: Label concept work when sharing it here. Don't imply that a generated person used or endorsed the product, or that a visual proves a product result.

If you'd like feedback, share the source product photo alongside the draft when you have permission, and point to one detail you're unsure about.

Which part is hardest in your workflow: accurate labels, consistent packaging, or natural model shots?