This lady writes a lovely blog

If you want to keep ahead of the current trends and want to know which products are great- take a look at www.trixiebadassbeautybits.blogspot.com

Here you get a frank unbiased view on all things beauty,skin and hair related.

ENJOY!

TRIXIEBADASS KNOWS BEAUTY

MAKEUP OBSSESSIVE.

LH Consumer Health & Beauty are Incredibly proud to be partnering...

Joe Corre, the Founder and Former Creative Genius Behind Agent Provocateur Joins Cult British Make-up Brand Illamasqua as a Formal Shareholder

LONDON, January 26 /PRNewswire/ --

British make-up brand Illamasqua announces Joe Corre as a formal shareholder and key investor today. Citing Illamasqua as 'the only brand who are doing anything different out there right now', Corre will work alongside Illamasqua founder Julian Kynaston and Creative Director Alex Box to develop the retail performance of the brand as well as exploring the business case for Illamasqua to launch a number of its own stores. Forecasts predict that the brand is set to generate a wholesale figure of GBP4 million in 2010 with retail sales at an estimated GBP7 million.

Corre's investment comes as Illamasqua launches into Bloomingdales Dubai on 1st February, following the brand's expansion into the US in July last year across 26 Sephora stores. Involvements will include Corre working with Kynaston on all aspects of the Illamasqua business and its continued growth into new markets, alongside his own projects with men's fashion brand "A Child of The Jago". Joe Corre, son of British fashion icon Vivienne Westwood, co-founded luxury lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur in 1994. The company was acquired in November 2007 by private equity fund 3i for an estimated GBP70million, with Corre remaining on as the brand's creative force until 2009.

"We know that we have turned many heads since we opened our first counter in Selfridges Oxford St back in November 08. To have turned Joe's to the point where he really wanted to invest and become a part of the team however is an achievement and one I am very excited about. 2010 will be another big year for Illamasqua as the brand continues to roll out globally as well as build its performance within our UK retail partners though new collections and some unexpected brand extensions", says Julian Kynaston, founder of Illamasqua.

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My business LH consumer Health & Beauty have been working with the senior management team at Illamasqua to bring forth new talent to this already massively successful cult brand. We were very excited to hear of Joe Corre's entrance.

I look forward with anticipation to bringing further talent to the business in 2010 as they role out expansion plans!

Social Media Marketing in personal care...

Cosmetics manufacturers should turn to the Internet and social networking sites to talk with consumers and spread the word about their brands according to an article in cosmeticsdesign.com.

Consumers are not only doing more and more cosmetics shopping online but they are also scouring social networking sites for information and tips on beauty matters.

Cosmetics brands need to reach out to these consumers, learn about their beauty habits and inform them about their products.

As a shopping destination the Internet is the only retail channel to be holding onto growth in the recession.

While spending dries up elsewhere, the internet is a growing source of beauty dollars.

Beauty brands can reach out to large numbers of people using social networking sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

For example, instructional videos from Gillette on body shaving published on YouTube only two weeks ago, have so far attracted well over 1 million views.

Success on YouTube has even prompted product launches. Lauren Luke, a 27 year old from the UK, whose online ‘make-up tutorials’ have attracted 40 million viewers, used her web-fame as a platform to launch a new cosmetics line entitled ‘By Lauren Luke’, with the help of Anomaly and Zorbit Resources.

What social networking sites most commonly offer is a means for existing beauty companies to reach out directly to consumers.

Social media advice

social media is “perfect for cosmetics” because it is a high-involvement category where information, feedback and testimonials from trusted sources play an important role in buying decisions.

To take full advantage of the opportunities presented by social networking sites, marketers have to be prepared to adopt a new mentality.

Wading into social networking sites and posting fake product reviews is not the way forward. Such an approach damages credibility and trust which are the values social media can help companies foster. Companies are best off entering into a discussion with consumers asking them about their beauty preferences and offering tips.

An example of a company that has gone down this route is Sephora. The beauty store has a strong and active presence on YouTube and Facebook where it talks to consumers, offers beauty tips and guides, and keeps women up to date with its latest offers.

It is not only the big social networking sites where beauty companies can interact with their existing and potential consumers. There is a lot of activity in niche online communities where brands can talk to a more targeted audience.

Examples of such sites given by the social media expert were women’s community sites such as bellasuga.com, glamour.com and epicurean.com.

So far relatively few companies have really exploited online opportunities and many big beauty companies are set to lose out to smaller more internet savvy brands unless they actively engage with their consumers on the internet.

Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social media channels and it is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.

There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back to your website again and again.

If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for ad revenue, social media marketing is a potent method that will make your site profitable over time.

excerpts taken from cosmeticdesign.com & marketinguk.com

I think that we can even look at the activity used by bloggers such as myself and my business LH consumer Health & Beauty, this element of social media helps me to connect with clients across my sector and show my passion and understanding of the industry.

Businesses across the board must innovate now more than ever before we must actively seek out new channels to reach our consumers & clients and what better way the personal forms of social media. I suspect we've only scratched the surface and there's much more to come through this medium.

Shiseido buys Bare Escentuals for $1.7bn

Shiseido buys Bare Escentuals for $1.7bn

Mineral beauty business will operate as a separate division

Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido is to buy the US mineral beauty company Bare Escentuals in a friendly takeover for $1.7bn. The transaction has already been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies by a unanimous vote.

Under the terms of the tender offer, which is scheduled to start in 10 days, Shiseido will buy shares for $18.20 each, a 40.8 percent premium over Bare Escentuals’ average stock price during the last three months. Once the majority of stock is tendered, Shiseido will buy the remaining shares for the same price in a second-step merger.

Bare Escentuals’ business will operate as a separate division of Shiseido and its unique brands will continue to be managed by the current leadership team - notably ceo Leslie Blodgett - who are expected to drive future development of the business with the support of Shiseido’s significant resources, particularly given Shiseido’s extensive R&D network around the world.

"This acquisition further enables Shiseido to move towards our goal of becoming a global player representing Asia with its origins in Japan," Shiseido chief executive Shinzo Maeda said in a statement. "The operational fit and future growth prospects make this an excellent transaction for our customers, employees and shareholders."

Bare Escentuals aims to benefit from Shiseido's distribution channels in Japan and Asia, particularly its strong foothold in China.

Leslie Blodgett, added, “This is an exciting day for all of us at Bare Escentuals and I couldn’t be more pleased to be joining forces with the team at Shiseido. Together [with Shiseido], we look forward to bringing our mineral-based beauty products to even more women worldwide.”

Lets go ECO!

Eco packaging extends cosmetics shelf life

A technology that promises to extend the shelf life of cosmetics products whilst saving on packaging materials has been patented by French company Rosas.

The process, designed for thermoformer machinery, extends shelf life by complete oxygen removal, according to the company.

Significantly extending the shelf life of cosmetics will mean that products can be transported without having to regulate the temperature, giving it both economical and ecological benefits.

However, the technology is still in development. The challenge at present is to improve the quality of the plastic film, so that it remains air tight for longer.

Removing oxygen extends shelf life

Rosas maintains that removing the oxygen from a product will increase its shelf life. However with traditional thermoformer packaging methods it is difficult to remove 100 per cent of the oxygen.

The double chamber system developed by Rosas allows the tray sealing enclosure to be cleaned of oxygen before the introduction of the product. The product can similarly be completely sterilised in a separate chamber before it is introduced. This results in 100 per cent oxygen removal, says the firm.

All types of products, solid or liquid, that are packaged in this way can benefit from the technology, although further investigations need to be done into the exact extension of life possible for each product, Roland Rossi, company director at Rosas, told CosmeticsDesign.

The company states that the technology can also be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries as well as being used for packaging sensitive computer parts.

The technology also allows for up to a 15 per cent saving on the plastic film, according to Rosas, as the injection of the sterilising gases occurs in the sealing enclosure and not through perforated holes in the plastic, therefore reducing the width of the film needed.

Improving the quality of film

Rosas' has developed a prototype of the machine, however the technology is not yet available for the industry, mainly due to difficulties with the plastic film itself.

"Once heated and thermoformed the plastic doesn't remain one hundred percent air tight," Rossi said.

"In the past there was no reason to develop plastic films that would last longer as no packaging machine was able to completely remove the oxygen" he added.

The company is calling for partners to help bring this technology to the industry.

Happy Christmas

Just a quick note to say happy Xmas to all!

I received some lovely new products to review over the festive period so please keep an eye out!

My fabulous partner got me a super selection of REN skincare which is just what I wanted. I have big plans for the blog in 2010, I'm looking to explore further the key business that really create the advancements in the cosmetic, spa & beauty world. My business Langton Howarth are also going to be working in conjunction with green businesses to raise awareness of Eco- packaging.

But for now I hope everyone has a great new year and thank you for all your support with my blog in 2009.

Kirsty Fenella

A wonderful service.....

During a recent business trip in london I of course popped it Selfridges. Its really important to follow my clients work and keep in touch with brand by visiting and understanding the way product is sold both from visual point and how they connect & communicate with their consumers.

I already have a makeup bag full of Illamasqua products (In our office we did a rather large December order!) However during my visit we were lucky that Daniel Busuttil one of Illamasquas senior makeup artists and a member of their international team was working with the Selfridges team that day. Daniel travels the world with Illamasqua delivering education and understanding of their brand. So you can imagine we didn’t leave empty handed!

Daniel was able to offer in-depth product knowledge on how to use some of their products. I had been curious about the sealing gel and how to use it properly for some time. Sealing gel (above) can be mixed with any Illamasqua powder-based product to create a rich in colour intense paste. I’ve been mixing mine with pure pigment in ‘Furore’ a rich golden colour and painting thick eyeliner. I now use the sealing gel with my Illamasqua eyebrow cake, Daniel again taught me how to apply this to create both subtle and dramatic looks that won’t smudge or run.

On the subject of education this is massively important internally to those selling product (makeup artists on the counters) and alike to the consumer. It is an important element of any business operating in the beauty, skincare, hair or any market that sells product that needs to be understood to apply.

Having a strong team that represent your brand is key and can deliver the best results to professionals and consumers alike, these people act as brand ambassadors that not only demonstrate how to use product but project the concept of the brand. Daniel Busuttil was credit to the Illamasqua business I only wish I could have him on call 24hrs a day!

Sophie Lancaster Foundation
There was another point related to Illamasqua that I’d really like to highlight. As a brand that promotes the right to experiment and self-express through the way you look, Illamasqua is committed to changing attitudes towards subcultures. Illamasqua has supported the Sophie Lancaster foundation and its proposition for some time now. On 11th August 2007, 20 year-old Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were kicked, stamped on and left unconscious – for nothing more than looking different. Sophie later died from her injuries.
Illamasqua’s work with this charity is on-going with donations from the sale of the ‘Sophie’ eye pencil and all monies from the sophie wristband going to the charity to support their ongoing work.
In tribute to Sophie, Illamasqua has commissioned ‘Dark Angel’ – a short film by award-winning French director, Fursy Teyssier. That’s a haunting rendition of Sophie’s story-Please follow the banner below, and see the Illamasqua website for further info.
Visit http://www.illamasqua.com/about/sophie/ for further info.