To preface this article, I have to admit I’m not really a ‘beauty’ type of person. I wear make-up to go out, occasionally watch YouTube videos dedicated to make-up (and all the drama that comes with it), but I always struggle changing brands because I see it as a risky use of money if I don’t end up liking it. That’s why ‘Beauty Pie’ has been such a game-changer for many people like me.
It launched just over two years and is already pushing for international shipping (it’s based in the U.S, but ships to the U.K. Yay!) They note on their own ‘about us page’ that they’re “the luxury beauty buyers club that’s terrifying the mainstream luxury brand”. Okay, that might be nice to them, but how would it affect people that don’t avidly follow the trend of these markets?
It is a digital-only make-up brand that involves cutting out the middleman between selling make-up products and allowing you to buy directly from the supplying factories. These factories use the same supply to create the majority of make-up to the well-known luxury beauty brands, all for shipping it at an extremely lost cost. For instance, one of the bestselling products ‘Everyday Great Skin Foundation’ is put at a price of only £6.77. The retail price? £30.
More dramatic comparison are made directly through the skincare they have for sale on their website. ‘Japafusion Supreme Cream’ is typically sold for £100, but on the ‘Beauty Pie’ store it sells for an easy £10.08. Or the ‘Anti-Aging Skin Retinol Basics’, which has the typical price of £150 but only is sold for £18.10 on the website.
This price seems impossible to many, but the launcher of Beauty Pie, Marcia Kilgore, was inspired by the Netflix membership structure. She had success in launching other brands (Bliss, Soap and Glory) but believes that this way will be able to strip luxury products to its bare essentials while maintaining the high quality that comes with it. In essence: even she can’t believe what a good deal it is.
This all sounds great. But also too good to be true. What is the catch? Well, to access all of these deals you will need to buy a membership to be able to purchase them.
There are four options. Mini-monthly is £5 a month to purchase but you have a £50 monthly spending limit; Monthly is £10 a month but then has a £100 spending limit; the second Monthly is £20 a month but you have £200 spending limit and then finally Annually which is £99 a year but there is a £100 limit (but two months are free!) All of these memberships can be cancelled within the first 14 days but there is a 3-month minimum for all memberships.
It might be a lot to digest but many reviews of the company show that you will actually save despite purchasing the membership – in terms of costs for shipping and the quality. The shipping is minimalist and simple, and the quality of the projects speaks for themselves.
But if you’re like me and are still unsure about whether to buy the membership, especially considering at minimum it’ll total to £15, I suggest sharing it with a friend to test out. That way you won’t totally lose out on buying the products but also don’t incur the weighty cost of membership.
If you haven’t heard of ‘Beauty Pie’ before this article, you definitely will afterwards – it’s about to change the make-up industry.
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