In keeping with my theme so far, I will cover a second makeup brand– Glossier. One cannot log into Instagram and scroll for a mere 30 seconds before encountering a Glossier ad- especially a female user of Instagram. This targeted ad approach is part of the reason for the brand’s success.
And successful it has been– with a total investor funding amount of $186.4 million, it should come as a surprise to no one that Emily Weiss, founder of Glossier, is taking the makeup industry by storm as an up and coming, young female entrepreneur.
Emily’s journey into the makeup industry is fascinating and gradual. In 2010, she launched a beauty website called “Into the Gloss.” She used this website as a stepping-off point towards her brand, the aptly-named “Glossier.” Glossier has been popular among consumers from the start– namely because Weiss went about selling her product differently- she strove to create products that lacked artificial ingredients and that really worked for their intended purpose. This was made clear through reviews– many customers rant and rave about holy grail products like “boy brow” and “cloud paint” that have become staples in a quick and easy daily routine.
Weiss still checks in with the community she created on “Into the Gloss” and I believe that is the main factor behind her historic levels of success– she is far from out of touch and actually takes her fanbase input seriously when designing and producing products. Weiss credits Instagram as her main source for keeping up-to-date on the beauty industry.
Weiss stated in an interview with Byrdie that the best advice she has received was “..Know what you don’t know. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are in different areas and learn from them. There’s no need to ever pretend like you know it all.”
This is exactly the kind of innovative thinking that has brought Weiss success and will continue to keep her company in high demand among today’s consumers. She is an inspiration to any young and hungry entrepreneur.
I see Glossier everywhere too — if it’s not in an Instagram ad, then it’s being talked about by a youtuber. I love that the brand focuses on simplicity with their ingredients and their packaging. Emily is definitely an inspiration!
I have heard of Glossier before but never really knew a lot about it. I am sure that in a world with several different makeup brands trying to figure out a way to differentiate yourself from the rest would be challenging, but she found a way to make that possible. Even though her decision to do this probably meant taking a harder route then most, her decision to do so paid off. I loved the quote that you included towards the end of the article. It is such a true and important thing to remember but it is often forgotten.
I have heard about Glossier, but did not know what it was about. I will be looking out for Glossier advertisements and products! I love the quote Emily said about “knowing what you don’t know”. I think that is so important as we need to research our industry and know what we are competing against, and how to differentiate ourselves or the product.
I love the Glossier makeup brand personally. I love how Emily Weiss’s main goal was to not use artificial ingredients and from that she built her business into a multi million dollar company. She is a great example for young entrepreneurs to see that starting a company doesn’t mean creating something completley new, but to make something better.
This is a brilliantly written article. Emily Weiss displayed tact and thought behind creating this extremely successful business. Instagram is an immensely valuable platform for innovation in today’s market.