Beauty Brands On What It’s Like To Expand To The UK

In this edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we ask 13 beauty brand founders and executives: What’s the process been like to expand to the United Kingdom? Have you encountered any bumps along the way?

Janell Stephens CEO and founder, Camille Rose

When Camille Rose decided to expand to the U.K., it was an extremely long process for us. We had to become EU compliant in which we researched companies that could assist us with this process. It took almost a year for our brand to get all of our paperwork approved. Finding the right EU compliance partner is very important because they will be your point of contact for your products there. We were lucky enough to find a company that specializes in natural products as well as brands that are similar to ours. The entire process took us a very long time, and we had to dedicate one team member to this project.

We have encountered a few bumps. One that is coming to mind is the cost of doing business there. Getting the goods shipped overseas is a huge expense that brands have to cover. Also, the time it takes to actually land to your retail partner is another added layer to the process. It's quite different, time- and cost-wise than here in the States. It was a learning process for a brand of my size, so I would highly suggest making sure you are ready to move forward and can handle the growth in the overseas market. For Camille Rose, it has been a huge success for us! We love our partner across the pond and all of our new consumers. Overall, the challenge has been worth all the time and effort to be able to sell our beauty products there!

Ali Weiss SVP of Marketing, Glossier

As a digital-first company, Glossier has been building a global brand since day one. We're fortunate to have community members all over the world, from Germany to Australia, who are eager to connect with us online, and who sometimes go to great lengths to get their hands on our products or visit one of our stores! When we finally launched in the U.K. in October 2017, we were excited to build on our existing community base there and have since seen really strong growth in the market. It's now our second-biggest market after the US. The U.K. has also proven to be an impactful activator for our other international markets in Europe, and we're excited to continue focusing our efforts there as we work to bring Glossier to more people in more places.

We opened Glossier London, our second retail experience in the U.K., in November 2019, and it quickly became our most successful pop-up of all time. In the first ten weeks of opening, it saw over 100,000 visitors and had the highest average daily sales of any of our offline experiences. It was originally planned to close in February 2020, but we decided to extend it through the end of the year due to the overwhelming response we received. Not long after, though, due to the onset of COVID-19, we made the decision to close all of our stores in support of public health and because the nature of our retail was incompatible with the pandemic. While it was a tough decision given how much momentum the store had driven for us locally, we've taken this extended break from retail to reimagine the Glossier offline experience and are excited to bring our community together in person again soon!

Molly Hart Founder, Highr Collective

We relied on PR to get the word out about Highr. It was a bit tricky as England has been in and out of harsh lockdown restrictions, which means people haven’t been allowed to socialize much at all since we launched. However, we were able to gain the support of the most prestigious British press. Our waitlist was featured in the September issue of British Vogue and, from there, we gained a lot of support around our launch in November. We’re excited to launch new shades just as London comes out of all lockdown restrictions.

Launching during a pandemic was never going to be easy.  One of my manufacturers went out of business. Four weeks after we launched, the U.K. announced the strictest lockdown restrictions. Luckily, we introduced a product into the market that has a fresh point of view and new innovation which people were able to get excited about, but we still haven’t seen what “normal” looks like for us as a business!

It’s best to generate buzz ahead of launch and to seed the product to influential editors prior to coming over so that you have that support beforehand. Also, don’t do what we did and launch during Christmas! Everyone is advertising then, and it’s difficult to cut through.

With Brexit, there’s also a slightly different process as the U.K. is now separate from the EU. You’ll need to have a representative in the U.K. as well as the EU if you’re going into both.  

Greg Starkman CEO and Co-Founder, Innersense Organic Beauty

The first step before one thinks of selling in the EU is product certification. The assessment process is time-consuming and requires a great deal of data that must be acquired from your supply chain partners. Secondly, establishing infrastructure and fulfillment. We entered the U.K. with an omnichannel approach that mirrored our U.S. strategy. We established a strong e-commerce partnership with Cult Beauty, and expanded into Harrods and Selfridges along with a growing number of specialty retailers and salons. We also established and staffed our subsidiary office in the U.K. to support and develop the EU business.

Brexit has required expanding points of distribution outside the U.K. Additional product registrations and VAT management has added another level of complexity in doing business in the region. While we are seeing high street come back from COVID, retailers are looking to curate new brands that have a point of difference.

Carol Han Founder, Nette

The process of expanding to the U.K. has been really seamless. When we launched the brand in December of 2020, we had quite a bit of interest from across the pond from influencers and press, so it was a natural next step to explore retailers there. We couldn’t have asked for better partners. We ended up launching with Selfridges exclusively and working with their team has been such an amazing experience. They are incredibly organized, process-driven and helpful, so they made it very easy on us as beginners to this whole process. It felt like being shepherded by true pros.

In the near future, we will also be partnering with Harrods, which is a dream come true. We haven’t hit any bumps in the road, really, but it was months of conversations and a heap of paperwork to make all of it happen. Persistence and patience were key.

Valerie Grandury CEO and Founder, Odacité

Odacité first expanded to the U.K. in 2016 with Cult Beauty, an online-only retail partner. They did a remarkable job at introducing the brand in the U.K. For the launch, I went to London to do a press event. Ever since then, we've been able to grow a great partnership with Space NK.

Our sales grew a lot during the pandemic as Cult Beauty is so established online. We then launched at Space NK in 2018, quickly expanding to all their doors throughout the U.K. and Ireland. For Space NK, we had to create a brand ambassador team of five people based in the U.K. to bring support to stores. When the pandemic shut down the stores, we saw a 50% drop in revenue, but doubled our online sales.

Sara Happ Founder, Sara Happ

Expanding into the U.K. is a process I’d recommend for any brand. At Sara Happ, it challenged us to make every ingredient the highest standard of clean in the beauty world. Each of our SKUs is now designed with EU compliance top of mind, and that directs which ingredients and suppliers we choose to include. I sleep well at night knowing what we’re putting out is literally the cleanest, most luxurious product we could possibly create.

Carolyn Aronson CEO and Founder, It's A 10 Haircare and Be A 10 Cosmetics

Expanding into the U.K. has been a dream come true. The organic love for the products and expansion of distribution into various avenues has been exciting and a complete honor. Our bump in the road is one many businesses has been dealing with. COVID hit soon after our initial launch into Aston Fincher Professional Hair Care Distributor. As all salons closed, it deeply affected the ability for salons and the public to obtain the It’s A 10 products.

Fiona Stewart CEO and Co-Founder, Slip

Slip launched in the U.K. in 2017. We are very proud that Slip is available at amazing retailers like Selfridges, Cult Beauty, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Liberty London, to name just a few.  It was a very memorable moment to walk into some of the world's most iconic retailers and see slip on their shelves. The main challenge has been Brexit and the logistics around this. Our team has navigated it very well and been very proactive in this new territory.

Jaimee Lupton Co-Founder, Monday Haircare

The biggest challenge in launching into the EU is definitely the regulatory framework, which is the strictest we’ve encountered since launching Monday. In the U.S., the FDA provides quite generalized regulations on the types of ingredients, their level of inputs and labeling requirements, which is in stark contrast to the U.K./Europe, where far more detail is required. An example is how each of our raw material suppliers needs to be REACH-certified and, as a brand looking to launch, you require pre-market notification with the European Cosmetic Products Notification Portal. You also have to go through an incredibly burdensome self-validation process.

Labeling laws are also different as they don't allow for claims which speak to "No XYZ." This meant we had to pivot away from our "no parabens" and "no SLS" wording, which we've used across all our branding for other regions, and transition to saying "0% SLS." Parabens are banned in EU cosmetic law by default, so this isn’t seen as a genuine point of difference. Essentially, these are all necessary steps, but has meant a lot of extra hoop-jumping for our product and compliance teams, and plenty to navigate across our marketing and social media activities, too.

Monika Blunder Co-Founder, Monika Blunder Beauty

After establishing successful retail channels here in the U.S., it made sense for us to cast our net further. As London in particular influences fashion and beauty trends for all of Europe, it was a natural progression for the brand to expand there and use it as a launch pad for other suitable countries. As a makeup artist, I also want to work collaboratively with the exceptional creative community in London with some of the best hairdressers, makeup artists, fashion designers, etc., based there.

We have been lucky to partner with Cult Beauty for our U.K. launch June 1. They have been incredibly supportive and have offered excellent guidance as we prepare to launch. They have also been accessible responding quickly to any questions or concerns.

Just before we were about to go into production with Blunder Cover, our trademark lawyer flagged we could not use the original name we had chosen which was "Zart," which means tender, delicate and soft in German (my native tongue) or we would be infringing on trademark rights and could be sued by another brand. Luckily, we caught this right in the nick of time and were able to change the name before production began.

Also, it's important for us not only to produce consciously clean makeup with pure ingredients but also to ensure our packaging is sustainable, recyclable and eco-friendly. For our upcoming NPD, we've been working with a manufacturer to create packaging from sugarcane, and it's been proven to be very challenging to ensure it's not only eco-friendly, but durable and has delayed production.

We have been incredibly lucky that mostly everything has gone smoothly. We have had some challenges with shipping and customs paperwork, but that is a learning process that should get easier as we learn the requirements.

Finding the best partner to launch with makes all the difference. You want to work with a retailer or e-commerce site that is truly interested in building a partnership long term and will guide you in the process. I would also recommend that you work with a local PR firm to assist in building brand recognition and to maximize the success of your launch. They can be hugely helpful in getting your products into the hands of relevant press, influencers and pros whose endorsement is key to success.

Alison Yeh CMO, StriVectin

StriVectin’s relaunch in the U.K, last year has exceeded our every expectation, with retail sales outpacing forecasts month-over-month. We are honored and proud that the brand has received such a positive reception from British consumers, and the retail, influencer and editorial community at large.

As background, StriVectin first entered the U.K. in 2003 to huge fanfare. As organizational focus shifted to expansion in additional markets, the brand started to fly below the radar for a while with limited distribution, but a loyal brand following. A few years ago, building off several years of double-digit year-over-year sales growth in the North America market, we set our sights on relaunching in the U.K. in 2020 with a digitally focused go-to-market approach co-led by our International, direct to consumer and global Marketing teams.

While we had high confidence that StriVectin’s “All Science, No Spin” philosophy and reputation for results would resonate well with the sophisticated and skin-savvy British consumer base, we also knew that competition is fierce. Engaging top-notch, local-market agency partners has been critical to the brand’s success. With their support, we focused on building brand awareness through trusted authorities such as Caroline Hirons, Nadine Baggott, Sarah Jossel, Funmi Fetto and Dr. Ateh Jewel, and we have been humbled by their support and that of so many others, who have welcomed the brand back with open arms.

We launched StriVectin.co.uk in March of 2020 right as the pandemic lockdown began, so the early months were full of challenges, as one might expect. After ensuring the safety of our team members and those working on our behalf, which was first and foremost on everyone’s minds, the principal challenge in the U.K. became how to reintroduce the brand and our products to consumers, editors and influencers in a 100% virtual world. However, just as we did in other markets, we pivoted to virtual brand events and online sampling, and looked for opportunities to engage with consumers in new ways.

For example, we commissioned primary research in March to explore consumers’ evolving beauty perceptions and habits. The survey of 2,000 U.K. adults explored the impact living in a largely virtual world for over a year has had on how we perceive ourselves and others, and how we expect those changes to impact our daily lives as we emerge from lockdown. The results were shared with British news outlets with commentary from TV presenter and StriVectin brand fan Lisa Snowden.

Michele Snyder VP of International Marketing, Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare

Early on, we were dabbling in international expansion. However, the priority was still U.S. expansion. However, in 2016, we started focusing on U.K. expansion. We focused our energy and set clear goals for the U.K., and the brand took off.

At that same time, a new buyer that we had a great relationship started at Space NK, which really initiated our accelerated growth. With the support from our buyer, we strategically made new hires and built relationships with press, especially Caroline Hirons, who is an amazing partner and highly respected in the beauty space. Her support catapulted us to the next level. From there, the business has grown tremendously. Currently, our business has tripled, and the U.K. continues to be a strong market for us.

We actually initially launched the brand in the U.K. in 2010. However, we didn’t have a retail strategy or the bandwidth to support the expansion. It took a bit of time for us to grow the business to the point that we could support both the U.S. and the UK. However, once we got to that point, the business began to grow rapidly.

If you have a question you’d like Beauty Independent to ask beauty brands, please send it to editor@beautyindependent.com.