Make-up without the mark-up

Beauty Pie is a new cosmetics concept set to change the beauty shopping experience forever…

Masterminded by a gang of beauty-obsessed individuals with cosmetic industry backgrounds and a desire to bring us the very best products without terrifying price tags, Beauty Pie was born. And with the tagline of ‘a luxury lipstick for less than a latte’, our attention was caught. We dialled up Beauty Pie creative advisor – and founder of Bliss Spa, Soaper Duper and Fitflop – Marcia Kilgore (above) to find out more…

How does Beauty Pie work?

Beauty Pie is a buyers’ club for beauty addicts: paying a £10 monthly membership fee (for a minimum of three months) makes available some of the finest beauty products from the world’s best suppliers at a transparent factory cost. That’s to say, without middlemen and mark-ups. Our subscribers are essentially crowdfunding a cosmetics company – a model that already exists in the music, television and fashion industry, but not the beauty world – until now.

How long did it take to develop?

Two years. The software model took time to perfect and we travelled the globe to find the very best labs to work with.

How do you hope this will change the beauty-buying experience?

I never felt that the cosmetic industry was broken, but in a world where the mark-up tends to be very high, there is always room to do something different; especially for women who feel that they don’t need to spend top dollar to feel good about themselves.

Do you think some manufacturers might be irritated by the transparency you are giving the consumer?

Perhaps – but there is nothing wrong with honesty and there is room for many options in this market.

Anything else that we need to know?

Too much cosmetics packaging ends up in landfill and the more complex the components, the less easily it can be broken down for recycling. Our product developers were preoccupied with creating beautiful, lightweight and recyclable packaging that makes minimal ecological impact.