We chat to founders of BeautyMART, Anna-Marie Solowij, former beauty director of Vogue and Millie Kendall, MBE of Ruby & Millie cosmetics fame.
We find out the secret behind BeautyMART’s carefully curated beauty buying approach and what beauty must-haves to look for in AW16.
What encouraged you to launch BeautyMART together?
Millie: Mostly a frustration with the way beauty was retailed in the UK, I have personally been on a mission to change the way we engage with customers for over two decades now and as I was working with other retailers I couldn’t affect change to the degree I wanted.
Anna: We realised that we were stronger together. I had never run a business before but Millie had; I had strong relationships with brands that Millie didn’t have. She’s Taurus, I’m Pisces; she’s the accelerator, I’m the brakes. I’m the ‘Beauty’; she’s the ‘Mart”.
What was it like starting a business as friends?
Millie: I would say that we were like minded about our mission and goal. Which makes it easy. I trust Anna and I think we both know that we work equally as hard as the other.
Anna: I don’t think I would have done it if we hadn’t been friends and know that we could depend and trust each other, no matter what.
Can you describe what the process is to launching a product at BeautyMART?
Millie: It varies – if there was a rigid process we would be like any other retailer and be less nimble. If we love something it gets in and then we move very quickly. We assess products differently but it really has to have both of us sign it off.
Anna: Either a brand contacts us because they’ve seen BeautyMART and they want to be part of it; or we see a brand that we feel would be brilliant for our concept and customers and we contact them. In each case, it’s by no means always a yes – we probably turn away more brands than we say ‘yes’ to. That’s partly because of our edited concept and choosing only the best products out there. Equally, some brands don’t see themselves as being part of our mix, and of course we understand and respect that.
What was the inspiration behind the name?
Anna: It was our two areas of expertise: my background as a beauty editor and Millie’s as retailer.
Millie: Anna is Beauty I am MART. A beauty fusion of art and commerce
What is the ethos behind BeautyMART?
Anna: We launched to shake up the way that beauty products are predominantly sold: in department stores, chemists and supermarkets, with mono brand dominance and price sensitivity. We recognised that women simply don’t shop like that – they’re buying different products from different brands across price points from mass to premium, both online and in store, from across the globe. Our main point is that women will buy based on expert opinion and we felt that between us, we have that in spades.
Millie: BeautyMART is an attitude and an aesthetic. It is a concept that believes we should discuss cosmetics woman to woman, girl to girl and not brand to consumer.
What is it about a product that makes it worth buying in your opinion?
Anna: Fundamentally, you’ve got to love it on at least one of these levels: function, appearance, cult appeal; but ideally all three.
Millie: Packaging, formulation and depth of concept/story. If one of these elements is missing I don’t buy into it,
How did you develop your past experiences into creating and running BeautyMART?
Millie: I owned a PR company, I had my own brand and worked with many retailers. So all of that combined helps. BeautyMART is marketed from within and we have a strong voice all of which comes from our retail being VERY close to our PR. I feel it is a 360 degree marketing concept and PR affects retail and retail influences PR.
Anna: Millie used her expertise as a retailer (She Uemura), PR (MKPR) and brand creator (Ruby & Millie); I used my expertise as an editor to select the right products and then present them (visually and with words) in an editorial way that made them appealing to our customers.
What are your top three beauty products?
Anna: It changes weekly and sometimes daily, depending on what lands on my desk. Currently, it’s Tigi Bedhead Fully Loaded shampoo and conditioner which looks and smells like raspberry blancmange which really makes a massive difference to the fullness of my hair – Millie noticed after I’d used it once. An all time favourite is Aromatherapy Associates Deep Relax Bath and Shower Oil – I literally can’t function without this. My third, current favourite product is Etude House Tint My Brows Gel which is a brilliant paint on, peel off gel that leaves you with 3 day long lasting brows so that you don’t need to draw them on every morning. Totally genius.
Millie: It changes daily. Today I love Fairy Drops Mascara, LUV2Kiss lip balms and MILK make-up.
What sort of brands can we expect to launch in the summer months?
Anna: We’ve moved on the sheet mask story with the latest K-Beauty trend for Step Masks such as this one from Holika Holika. Step masks are multi stage treatments in separate perforated sachets.
We’re also excited by James Read’s latest tanning must-haves: H2O Rosewater Tan Mist. I’ve stopped using other facial self-tans and am just doing a light mist of this every day as well as using the bronzer from James’ Tantour Sculpting Duo. After a few days of use you get a lovely residual glow on the skin.
With holidays and festivals in mind, we’ve launched Cleanse by Lauren Napier, which has to be the most sophisticated cleansing wipe brand ever, individually wrapped and in a chic black Ziploc bag.
We’ve also got some great new lip products including this little golden orb lip mask from Nugg. We’re just waiting to take delivery of some great new lip balms from LA brand Luv 2 Kiss. Like Nugg, they come in little orb shaped packaging with different flavours in great fashion prints.
Do you trial and test every product out for yourself before launching it?
Anna: I certainly do! Our success is based on trust –we believe wholeheartedly in each and every product we sell. I mean, why would we buy the product in and then pass it off to our customers if we didn’t love it?
Millie: Mostly yes, if not me I have a teenage daughter who helps and also the girls in the office. Boyfriend tries the male products.
Millie, what was it like being awarded an MBE for your services to the cosmetic industry?
Millie: Bit surreal, and sometimes I forget. It is a massive honour of course.
How has BeautyMART developed since launching in 2009?
Millie: We have adapted but we have the same concept, we just now have a PR company and a consulting agency for brands added to our offer, so we can follow through from start to finish with helping and launching brands. We set out to change beauty retail and judging by the UK’s beauty retail we have achieved that.
Where can you see BeautyMART in the next 10 years?
Millie: Retail is short term thinking. We want our brand to stand for long term change in how retailers communicate to consumers.
Where is BeautyMART available?
Millie: TOPSHOP Oxford Circus and thisisbeautymart.com
What beauty trends can we expect to see for AW16?
Millie: For me I am looking at matte stains for lips, more masks but step masks are going to take over…
Anna: Everyone was talking about ‘modern gothic’ to describe the season’s dark lips (think Fenty X Puma By Rihanna) and this is set to be a massive trend which we’re backing with a selection of extremely edgy colours from existing and new BeautyMART brands. Glitter was such a big runway trend, seen at Burberry and beyond and we have picked out a great shade selection for the season. There’s definitely an 80s thing going on with heavier eye make-up and a ‘power’ lip. Although this is an application rather than a product trend, we have selected an 80s colour palette from across our make-up brands. The other big trend that we love is about individuality and rule-breaking. Whether this plays out as a conceptual eyeliner statement, a rad hairstyle, a heavily referenced retro look or some kind of beauty mash-up, we’ve got the right products at BeautyMART.
Describe an average day at BeautyMART HQ (if there is one)?
Millie: It’s mad in here today, we have deliveries arriving constantly and we are jumping around about the exciting new lip masks that have just arrived from Korea.
What’s your beauty regime?
Millie: It changes daily. But I would say I have a dressing table and I do sit there after my morning shower and apply body and face skincare and make up. It is my place to relax and prepare.
Anna: My routine pretty much stays the same, cleanse, treat, make-up in the morning; bathe, mask, wash hair, body oil in the evening. It’s just the products that constantly change.