Aldi’s new low-cost makeup copycats - beauty dupes or duds?
November 15th 2018
Beauty
Two years of Beauty Pie: the brand’s 10 most popular beauty bargains
December 5th 2018
/ Ayesha Muttucumaru 
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The e-tailer has helped transform the way we shop through its ‘makeup without the markup’ memberships. Founder Marcia Kilgore talks challenging the status quo and the brand’s bestsellers with us
Members’ clubs usually conjure up images of velvet ropes, VIP lists and extortionate fees that put them out of reach for everyday folk like you and I. However, Beauty Pie has helped redefine the category since launching two years ago, thanks to its roster of high calibre, but low cost, makeup and skincare.
The brainchild of former Bliss, Soap & Glory and current Soaper Duper boss Marcia Kilgore, it’s all about accessible luxury (or ‘makeup without the markup’ as per its original tagline), cutting out the middlemen, the celebrity marketing and retailer charges to allow beauty fans the opportunity to purchase everything from foundation to face masks at factory prices. Transparency is key - a point clear from the breakdown of manufacturing costs that you’ll find on each product’s page. Packaging, warehousing, and safety and testing are all accounted for, to provide some much-needed clarity on the true cost of its makeup.
Membership starts from £5 a month for a £50 spending limit, small change when you consider that it offers up the opportunity to pocket everything from £60 skincare capsules for just £10.64, to £125 luxe fragrances for a mere £18.13. It’s a beauty fan’s form of bliss.
Any unused spending limit just rolls over to the next month. Sounds too good to be true right? It’s a common preconception, and one Marcia has worked hard over the last two years to put right. “As a born ‘rogue’ thinker, I have been amazed to see how many people have become so conditioned to accept the status quo, and immediately judge new things as suspect, no matter how much more beneficial they are to them as customers,” she tells me. “We’ve had to do a lot of work there, to prove to people that the Beauty Pie fairytale is actually true! I’ve learned so much about human psychology that I might now be able to write a book on it.”
When it comes to turning a start-up into a success, Marcia has the entrepreneurial magic touch. Beauty Pie is her fifth new venture, and, while reaching membership milestones has been an important part of the journey, it’s the learning curves that have been the real highlights. “They have been steep and sharp and full of challenges, but I always believe that if you aren’t challenged, you don’t grow or build any muscle,” she says. “The highs have been extremely high and the challenges have been necessities, without which, we wouldn’t have the rock-solid understanding of where we are.”
Embracing the good with bad seems pivotal for her. Is there anything she would have done differently? “Yes, I would have micromanaged a few projects, because it turned out they needed micromanaging,” Marcia tells me. “I was assuming they were going to deliver at the expected level and that shortfall cost us a lot of time. I also would have launched skincare at the same time as makeup, so customers had more to shop at the beginning. And I would have done more yoga.”
For a brand whose launches have provided us with a lot of excitement over the last couple of years, it seems natural that my next question for Marcia would be about what’s currently being baked at Beauty Pie HQ. Her answer doesn’t disappoint: “Incredible shampoos and conditioners (I’ll leave the colour to Josh Wood, thanks), more for the home, luxury bath and body, more master-craftsman type collaborations like our recent perfume launch with Frank Voelkl, a steady stream of new and best-in-class skincare technologies, heaps of great makeup (Italian, French, Korean, Japanese), you name it. If we love it, and we can get her a much better price on it, we want to bring it to her!”
The future looks appetising. But what have beauty aficionados been clicking ‘buy’ on over the last two years? Here are the top 10 bestsellers we haven’t been able to get enough of and, in case you’re looking to stock up, join and enter GTGSENTME in the promo box to get an extra £50 spend on your first month. Happy shopping!
Everyday Great Skin Foundation, £30 (£6.77 for members)
Offering natural-looking coverage and a luminous finish, it’s little wonder that Beauty Pie fans order this base over and over again. “This formula was the most beautiful one we found after testing about 79 submissions (and the search continues, always) from the best Italian foundation labs in the business,” Marcia says. There are 15 shades available as well as tester sets too, to ensure that you get your best possible colour match.
One Powder Wonder, £26 (£5.30 for members)
It blots, blends and blurs - this weightless powder covers a range of needs and its universal shade suits any skin tone too. What’s more, its ultra-fine formula reduces the risk of caking - a great one to have on standby to take you from work to play.
Plantastic Micropeeling Super Drops, £50 (£7.62 for members)
Containing fruit acids and black willow bark extract, these hard-working drops have been designed to leave skin smoother and brighter. Ideal if skin’s feeling a bit congested at the moment or tends to veer on the oilier side of things.
Wondercolour Longwear Cream Shadow Stick, £20 (£3.65 for members)
These easy-to-blend crayons make it supremely simple to achieve a statement eye when time is short. Available in 11 shades ranging from nudes to violets and everything in between, there’s something for every taste.
Japanfusion Pure Transforming Cleanser, £25 (£6.49 for members)
If you love shape-shifting textures, you’ll love this. Changing from gel to oil to milk when in contact with water, it deliciously glides onto skin to leave it squeaky clean, but not stripped. Plus, it’s fragrance-free too.
Uber Volume Boost Mascara, £20 (members pay £3.36)
The secret behind this mascara’s success lies in its triple-action wand. Volumising and thickening, it proves that you needn’t spend big to get bigger lashes.
Super Healthy Skin Daily Moisture Lotion, £35 (members pay £6.34)
Formulated to leave skin softer and suppler, this moisturiser’s packed with hydrating goodies. Ingredients include smoothing peptides and protective plant extract antioxidants - an impressive haul for its price point.
Fruitizyme Five Minute Facial, £60 (members pay £8.38)
This at-home exfoliating treatment was in such high demand, that it’s now available in a bigger tube. Its clarifying cocktail of glycolic and salicylic acids, pomegranate enzyme, bamboo and gentle quartz serves as a more intensive option for oily and dull skin types in particular.
Bitter Orange & Blackcurrant Luxury Scented Candle, £40 (members pay £12.90)
This is one of our favourite Christmas candles thanks to its warming blend of citrus and spice. Its crisp, clean packaging also makes it a sophisticated addition to any room.
Super Retinol Anti-aging Serum, £80 (members pay £10.50)
“Swiss- formulated, it’s retinol for people who are terrified of retinol,” says Marcia, so it’s easy to see why it gets snapped up so feverishly. Designed to slow release the ingredient through special microencapsulation tech, it works on fine lines and sun spots, and general overall skin plumpness too.
Read more: Retinol and retinoids decoded - the skin experts’ guide
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