Charlotte Knight is the sassy entrepreneur behind global beauty brand Ciaté. As the award winner of Women: Inspiration & Enterprise’s ‘Ones to Watch’, Shortlisted for the CEW “Members Achiever” award and winner of Smarta’s “Female Entrepreneur of the year” award for her leadership and innovation with the brand, we wanted 5 minutes with her to discuss all things beauty!
Hi Charlotte! Congratulations on the phenomenal success of Ciaté! In your opinion, why do you think Ciaté has lasted the distance over so many other ‘new’ beauty launches?
I think we have always aimed to launch a mix of trend led product, high innovation alongside beauty staples and therefore delivering something for all.
Is the range today just as you’d originally imagined it or have there been twists and turns along the way?
It is everything I ever dreamed of and much much more! Thanks to the most incredible team we have really worked hard to ensure Ciaté is a serious make up contender in a highly competitive industry.
The ‘Caviar Collection’ was so unique ahead of the ‘nail art boom’, were you surprised by its success?
Gosh yes so shocked!!! It was like a whirlwind but the most exhilarating time of my career so far! I still cannot believe how successful it was and really was a pinch yourself moment
(as far as I can remember) Ciaté produced one of the first Beauty Advent Calendars and now many brands have followed suit. What is the thought process behind these great ideas?!
I love to create product filled with childlike wonderment. I think it is so important to release that inner child that we all have so what better than with a beauty advent calendar! Our coveted calendar has been going strong for five Christmases now and each year it gets better and better!
Have you seen a change in sales with the popularity of gel manicures? What is your opinion on gel manicures?
I must say I think gel polish is revolutionary and when travelling and keeping up a hectic schedule of family and business life, gel polish keeps your nails beautifully coloured and shiny for weeks on end. We created a product back in 2015 called GELTOX which enabled you to turn all your nail polishes you already own into gel polish which you can do yourself at home!
You started out as a nail technician, do you do still enjoy doing your own nails? There must be a pressure to have perfectly manicured nails at all times!
People do seem to check out my nails so there is a huge pressure to ensure they look perfect! I am fortunate to have good healthy nails so they don’t need a massive amount of maintenance, just a slick of cuticle oil daily and they stay super hydrated.
You have now ventured into makeup! Can you tell us a bit about the range?
This was always the dream and I am so thrilled to be living it every day…At Ciaté we believe that a woman has so many attitudes and characters so we like to bring out the pretty, the fun and the fearless in us all through approachable, unintimidating, affordable make up.
With such a successful global business, how do you take care of yourself and keep stress levels under control?
Laughter is my stress relief…I surround myself with friends and family and we laugh til our bellies hurt…this is the best kind of medicine for anything….and I always try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
What’s next on your business hit-list?
Oooh that would be telling…. I have many ideas for brands that I intend to bring to market over the next five years! I love brand building and seeing an idea from conceptual stage through to global distribution puts the fire in my belly.