At 18-Years-Old, Twisted Bristle + Beauty Founder Alexandra Sorenson Has Already Experienced Plenty Twists And Turns Leading A Beauty Brand

Twisted Bristle + Beauty founder Alexandra Sorenson was destined to be an entrepreneur, even if her destiny didn’t take long to develop.

The 18-year-old’s mother Amy started three businesses – a shirt and hat purveyor steeped in Arizona culture, a promotional products enterprise and a cabin rental operation – and Sorenson has been involved in them for many steps of the process. She also started working for herself at the tender age of 13 doing makeup before securing her first real job a year later as a receptionist at a medical spa, where was schooled on professional skincare and practiced makeup application.

“I pretty much have always envisioned myself being my own boss and taking things into my own hands. I’ve always been a leader more than a follower,” says Sorenson, adding, “I don’t really think of myself as an 18-year-old. I’ve always been more mature my whole life. I just have an old soul.”

Sorenson has already learned a critical lesson that it takes others perhaps decades to understand: Pivot if you have to. She set out to launch Twisted Bristle + Beauty with a retractable bristle brush that would be convenient to throw in luggage or a carry-on bag while traveling and be effective on Sorenson’s thick, curly hair. However, the cost involved to finalize the twistable product, which she estimates at $50,000, proved too high for her budget.

Instead of giving up, Sorenson chose to change her approach and delay the launch of the retractable brush until she amassed the necessary funds. She poured the roughly $30,000 she had to begin a brand into creating 40 products priced largely from $17.99 to $88.99 across skincare, makeup and beauty tools.

“If you look at other skincare brands, we offer similar ingredients. It’s luxury skincare that’s at a fraction of the price that people would normally pay for luxury skincare brands.”

“If you look at other skincare brands, we offer similar ingredients. It’s luxury skincare that’s at a fraction of the price that people would normally pay for luxury skincare brands,” says Sorenson. “My mom taught me to treat my skin well when I was very young, and I wanted to have healthy ingredients in my products. I want to tell you about all the ingredients in the formulas, and I want you to look and feel your best at your age without any plastic surgery.”

Speaking of age, Sorenson doesn’t think consumers her age will gravitate to Twisted’s merchandise. She’s targeting 25- to 55-year-old women. “They have money. They’re career-minded people, and they know what they’re doing and what they’re spending on,” says Sorenson. Eventually, she expects to diversify the brand’s customer base by introducing men’s products.

In the early going, the $19.99 Lip Glaze, $21.99 Lip Gloss and $17.99 Facial Fuzz Remover are Twisted’s bestsellers. Sorenson explains the fuzz buster is an alternative to dermaplaning treatments that can be expensive. She’s a fan of it for her arms and face. “It’s superfast. If you want your skin to look smooth for makeup, it takes one-minute-and-a-half for your whole face,” notes Sorenson.

For distribution, Twisted is concentrating at the outset on retailers, spas and salons close to home in and around Phoenix. Sorenson plans to bring the brand to Amazon as well. A big goal would be to break even in Twisted’s initial year on the market, but she’s fine with it taking a slower road to profitability.

“Starting something from the ground up and having people willing to help you get exposure is hard and getting retailers without exposure is hard. I obviously want this business to take off, but I want it to take off properly, and I want everyone to love it as much as I do and be as passionate about it as I am.”

“Starting something from the ground up and having people willing to help you get exposure is hard and getting retailers without exposure is hard,” says Sorenson, elaborating, “I obviously want this business to take off, but I want it to take off properly, and I want everyone to love it as much as I do and be as passionate about it as I am.”

In the latest iteration of Twisted, the twisting concept hasn’t gone away completely. Sorenson mentions the airless packaging featuring a pink logo and lettering used for Twisted’s skincare products must be twisted to reveal pumps that release the product. And she didn’t change the brand name because she liked the idea of a company that’s a bit twisted.

“The name twisted might seem to have a negative connotation, but I’m not saying twisted in a bad way,” says Sorenson. “We’re all a little bit different, but we’re all humans. Different turns take us down different roads in our lives, and that’s why it’s the perfect name for the brand.”