Our features editor Gomolemo Shirley sat down with the inspiring Lydia Roscoe, founder of A Beautiful Life, a one-of-a-kind online luxury shopping destination featuring carefully curated edit of the newest and most exciting British beauty and lifestyle brands.
Tell us about you, your background and what shaped you.
My love of beauty started at the tender age of five when I would play with the old samples my mother would bring home from her job working on the luxury make-up counter of their local department store. This started a life-long passion for make-up and beauty, which I eventually turned into a successful career.
I was raised in Devon and initially moved to London at just 18 and trained as a Make Up Artist at the London College of Fashion.
How did it all begin?
After my training, I moved onto working in marketing and buying and working for some of the UK’s biggest beauty brands and retailers including L’Oréal, Harrods, John Lewis, Coty and Unilever.
Throughout the last 25-years, I have always felt an affinity with small, emerging brands and have gone on to support many names we recognise today. With A Beautiful Life I hope to champion these indie brands in a refreshing new way by bringing together a seamless luxury in-store experience with inspiring, creative content, whilst at the same time offering the brands the creative support they need to achieve success.
I have also run a successful studio hire and video production company specialising in beauty and fashion videos for the last nine years.
What is the concept behind A Beautiful Life?
I have always had a passion for beauty brands and helping them and I wanted to create a place where we could showcase all the amazing brands we have here in the UK and offer them the support and encouragement they need to succeed.
We offer consumers a place to discover the best British beauty brands, from much loved favourites to those more under-the-radar brands that they may not have discovered, all in one destination. We aim to sell the key bestselling items, so the consumer isn’t bombarded with too much product to choose from and knows that the ones featured on our site are the items they need to have. It’s our way to introduce them to new brands they haven’t tried before.
What makes A Beautiful Life different?
All the products are tried & tested by the founders; renowned industry experts with a combined 40 years of experience in the beauty industry, plus a panel of ‘real people’ with various ages, skin types and lifestyles. Our mission is to create a trusted destination where you can shop for amazing products that really do deliver great results.
Why is it so important to support small businesses?
When it comes to shopping for beauty products it’s very easy for consumers to turn to the same well-known international brands, and while they are great, often in the shadows you’ll find brilliant under-the-radar cosmetic brands that deserve to be in the spotlight.
Over the past year we have seen how important it is to support our local communities and businesses. By shopping locally, albeit online, you are helping to support our community of British cosmetic brands, enabling their businesses to grow and thrive, as well as encouraging more local entrepreneurial spirit within the beauty industry.
What are the lessons you have learnt along the way?
It was never going to be easy but I wasn’t scared of being different and giving it my best shot. I kept telling myself – what’s the worst that could happen? Using my 30 years’ experience of working in the beauty industry I have developed an instinct for what is good and what isn’t and I’ve also built up a network of industry experts who have been amazing in offering support and advice along the way.
What does it take for a brand to succeed?
In this day and age there is a lot of competition and the ones who succeed are the ones who don’t give up on their passion and keep fighting for success. This is not something that happens overnight, and you need the determination and often the funding behind you to keep going. The brand and products need to also be excellent, but it takes more than that to make it big in this highly competitive industry!
Any advice you would give to up and coming brands or someone looking to create a new brand?
Creating a brand and bringing it to market are on their own a big expense and commitment, but to keep going through all the struggles until you achieve success. It will take real dedication and ambition. It doesn’t just happen overnight!
Your future plans?
We would eventually like to build national awareness so that when customers want to discover a new product to add to their routine, we will be the place they trust to find something they really love. Then in turn, consumers will consider shopping closer to home and supporting the UK economy when purchasing their cosmetics products.
To find out more about Lydia’s work visit www.abeautifullife.co.uk
Follow her @abeautifullifebritishbeauty
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