No Appointment Necessary: Makeup Artists And Hairstylists Dole Out Tips To Women Everywhere On Beauty Advisor

Girlfriends and social media gurus don’t always supply the right beauty and health tips for you. When that happens, it’s time to bring in the professionals, and Beauty Advisor steps ups to the plate with informed hacks from the experts.

The digital platform founded by husband-and-wife team Mario and Kate Alcaraz showcases the work and words of wisdom of hairstylists, makeup artists, fitness trainers, plastic surgeons, manicurists, dermatologists, spray tanners and more. Today, there are nearly 1,550 registered experts and 10,000 active users on Beauty Advisor.

“Our goal is to allow anybody to get their questions answered on Beauty Advisor. On social, a lot of people are embarrassed to ask a question or they feel like [the influencer] will never get to them. Here, a person will get a response at least within a few days, and you can get multiple opinions, which is really cool,” says Alcaraz. “In the future, we want to be your go-to beauty advisor online. No matter what it is, we want users to feel like they have support.”

The idea for Beauty Advisor stemmed from Alcaraz’s experience evaluating makeup artists to hire for her 2015 wedding in Ireland. “TripAdvisor allows you to get the ins and outs of a vacation destination. It’s really changed travel and brought it out of the archaic travel agency period,” she says. “When my husband and I were coming home from our wedding, we thought, ‘Why isn’t there anything like that making the beauty industry easier for people?’”

Alcaraz initially believed Beauty Advisor would be visited primarily by people seeking beauty inspiration. It does serve that purpose, and features photos, videos and articles to encourage makeup and hair experimentation. The content can be filtered to drill down on users’ desires. There are skincare materials dedicated to acne, age spots and cellulite, among many concerns addressed. There are makeup photos and videos for cheeks, eyebrows, eyelashes, lips and so on. “You can see different looks very easily without having to rely on hashtags,” says Alcaraz.

While the inspiration component is popular, Alcaraz is surprised the advice portion of the platform has been particularly resonant. Users post all sorts of questions to solicit suggestions from experts. Examples of questions include: Does dyed black hair fade? Are you allowed to wear lotion on top of a spray tan? What is a long-lasting eyelash glue?

This quarter, Beauty Advisor is set to launch an app that will focus heavily on beauty recommendations. “It’s going to be a place where you can easily browse artists in your area or around the country, and get inspiration and beauty advice at your fingertips,” says Alcaraz, noting that over 60% of the traffic on Beauty Advisor comes from mobile devices.

Beauty professionals can enhance their exposure by participating in Beauty Advisor. “A lot of artists don’t have their own websites and, even if they do, in a competitive market like L.A., their websites won’t rank well,” says Alcaraz. “When you Google their names, these expert profiles are going to rank very well. Let’s say someone Googles a certain hair look or skincare tip, an expert’s advice will keep coming up on Google, and there is a link to their Beauty Advisor profile. The expert profiles can take the place of their websites.”

At the moment, Beauty Advisor, which is based in Palo Alto and Santa Clara, is concentrating on building its community and not chasing revenue. However, Alcaraz underscores the platform is considering several revenue-generating possibilities. It could take cuts of product sales that result from Beauty Advisor referrals, incorporate paid advertising and activate local promotions. Beauty brands could certainly be involved as product guidance already plays a large role on Beauty Advisor.

“Our goal this year is to grow the community aggressively,” says Alcaraz. “I am originally from the Seattle area, and it was really neat for me to see Expedia grow and Zillow grow from the ground up. Zillow started with community around the Zestimate. Like Zillow did with real estate, we really want to change the beauty industry and make Beauty Advisor something people want to use to help them feel good. This year should be a big year for us.”