“We also pride ourselves In offering no-nonsense, clean skincare that uses as few ingredients as possible while maximizing the effectiveness so that it effortlessly slots into any routine”.
Nicole Norman
As a beauty writer, I am always on the hunt to find upcoming local beauty brands entering the market. As an advocate for women-owned businesses making a mark in the beauty industry in South Africa, I was very excited when the CEO and Founding Director of Skinny Colour Cosmetics, Nicole Norman agreed to my interview request. Get to know how the business successfully reached its one-year milestone and more from our chat.
Congratulations on your recent 1 year Anniversary! As the founder, how has it been since starting your own business?
Thank you so much! Surviving our first year in business is a huge milestone as not all startups make it to this point, especially when founder-funded. The journey thus far has been filled with some super amazing highs and some demotivating lows – but that’s just the nature of business. It’s a roller coaster. I am proud to have reached this point in the journey and I am really looking forward to the next couple of months as we have so much exciting stuff planned!
What do you think makes the brand stand out from other beauty brands?
I really wanted to lean into celebrating people’s natural beauty and reclaiming beauty that was often defined by new media and mainstream society. We also pride ourselves In offering no-nonsense, clean skincare that uses as few ingredients as possible while maximizing the effectiveness so that it effortlessly slots into any routine.
On Skinny Colour Cosmetics website, you mention the importance of changing the beauty narrative within society. As an owner of a beauty brand and woman of colour, why is changing this narrative so important?
The story behind the brand name is one that is familiar with so many people around the world. Think back to first-grade colouring in the princess and fairies in the colouring books. Their skin was only ever one shade and that was a skinny colour, aka beige. Even as a young brown girl I would refer to that beige crayon as skinny colour, even though it was the furthest thing from my skin tone.
While this may be a naive story from my youth, it is the same type of othering we’ve seen throughout the years within the beauty industry and the larger society. The narrative is starting to change, and we want to be a part of creating that story.
Your brand recently had a pop store launch event in Nelson Mandela Square, how was that experience for you?
That was our very first pop-up experience! It was super exciting to be able to connect with our audience in a physical space, not to mention designing our stall and bringing the brand story to life in real life!
Our most recent endeavour is a retail pop-up shop in Canal Walk Shopping Centre! We’ve teamed up with Homemade CPT and Pop up Concept Shop and a handful of amazing local brands to bring this stunning space to life! Our store is situated close to entrance 7 and will be up from October 2021 to January 2022.
If you had to give advice to young female entrepreneurs who want to start their own business or brand, what advice would you give them?
The advice I always give is to just start! Don’t get me wrong, planning, research and preparation is very important, but don’t let the pursuit of perfection stop you from starting! Get started and improve this along the way as you learn and better the brand.
The current range of products on your website is pretty impressive, any hints on new products the brand is working on for the future?
We’re focusing on building a quality skincare range – from A to B, so definitely expect more products online with fleshing out the range. As for the future, I’ve always wanted to expand our colour cosmetics offering and hope to do so in the coming year.
Thanks, Nicole, I can’t wait to try some of your products! This is just the beginning for Skinny Colour Cosmetics, I can’t wait to see what more they have in store for us in the future. If you have not stalked their page yet, you are in luck as the brand is having a sale on their website.
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