STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS · BEAUTY & SKINCARE
We help brands build a resilient reputation through communications strategy.
EBD Comms helps brand builders spot vulnerabilities you may not see until they become problems by applying robust federal health and regulatory communications experience.
BRAND MESSAGING
·
COMPLIANT CLAIMS
·
PR STRATEGY
·
FRACTIONAL COMMS
·
BRAND MESSAGING · COMPLIANT CLAIMS · PR STRATEGY · FRACTIONAL COMMS ·
THE PROBLEM
Sound Familiar?
Your marketing is moving faster than your legal review.
Claims that made sense six months ago are now a liability — and nobody owns the line between creative and compliant.
Your brand voice is fragmenting as you scale.
Different founders, different agencies, different channels — and no single thread holding the story together.
You're heading into retail or a raise without a communications strategy
Buyers and investors will ask questions your current messaging wasn't built to answer.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Ignoring this doesn't
make it go away.
It compounds.
An FTC warning letter over a claim your copywriter wrote at 11pm
A retailer raising questions about ingredient language before launch
A founder interview that contradicts your brand narrative
A crisis with no playbook and no one in charge of the response
WHAT WE DO
Communications built for
brands that are building resilience.
01
Story Foundation Sprint
Your story, your claims, your voice: built to hold up under scrutiny and resonate with the right rooms.
02
Claims Clarity Workshop
Copy and marketing review against FTC and FDA guidelines before it goes live, not after the letter arrives.
03
Launch Comms Package
Media-ready stories for launches, funding moments, and pivots. Built to land in the right publications.
04
Fractional Comms Leadership
Embedded strategic support for brands that need a comms lead without the full-time hire.
ENTRY POINT
Messaging Diagnostic
A comprehensive review of your current brand and product messaging with a prioritized recommendations report and debrief call.
Turnaround: ~1 week · Best starting point for new clients
$997
INVESTMENT
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Full review of website, social, packaging, and/or press materials to assess vulnerabilities
Written recommendations report with a clear action plan
60-minute debrief call to walk through findings
WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT
Science that sells,
without losing
what makes it true.
Many beauty brands sit on compelling science and then watch it disappear into jargon, or worse, get oversimplified into claims that don't hold up. The translation layer between your lab and your consumer is where brands most often lose credibility.
I help beauty and skincare brands turn their research into clear, compelling communications without making promises the evidence can’t support.
WHY EBD COMMS
The discipline of a federal communicator.
The taste of a beauty insider.
Before working with beauty brands, I developed and ran communications programs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that were subject to strict federal oversight. I bring that same precision to brand message architecture. Your claims are clean, your narrative is defensible, and your audience believes you.
HOW IT WORKS
What to expect when
we work together.
01
DISCOVER
A focused discovery call to understand your brand, your gaps, and what's keeping you up at night.
02
BUILD
A communications strategy scoped to where you are now and where you're heading, including messaging, claims framework, narrative architecture.
03
PROTECT
Ongoing retainer support that keeps your communications consistent, compliant, and ahead of whatever comes next.
"
[Blakely] came fully prepared — having studied everything publicly available about my brand. She presented five clear PR angles we could build on immediately. It was fascinating to see how she thinks and the depth of her suggestions.
- FARZANEH REZAEI, FOUNDER
ABOUT
I'm Blakely Despres,
founder of EBD Comms.
My career arc runs from federal health communications to commercial PR to building my own practice in the beauty vertical. My point of view is that regulations aren't the enemy of good storytelling — they're the amplifier. Constraints make you specific, and specificity is believed.
I think like a regulator. I work like a creative partner.
Former communications lead, U.S. HHS & DHS
Legal sector communications support
Cushman & Wakefield · WM commercial experience
Publisher, The Beauty of Comms on Substack
RECENT THINKING
From The Beauty of Comms
CLAIMS & COMPLIANCE
What happens when a creator goes viral with your product, and the claim that travels isn't the one you wrote
BRAND VOICE
How the most science-forward beauty brands can stop letting their rigor work against them, and start building messaging that's as precise as their formulas
FOUNDER POV
Why founders stop trusting their own brand voice — and how to get it back
FREE RESOURCE
The Beauty Brand Story Spine Guide
The messaging foundation beauty founders use before they scale. See how I think — yours free with no strings.
Ready to build communications your brand can grow into?
WORK TOGETHER
I take on a limited number of retainer clients each quarter. Let's find out if we're a fit.