7 minute read
INTERVIEWS
STARTED FROM THE GARAGE AND THEY ARE DEFINITELY HERE!
Our Welsh entrepreneurial sisters Sophie & Hannah Pycroft have not only taken the beauty industry by storm but are now making waves stateside with their new brush collection ‘Sculpt by Spectrum’ a collaboration with leading makeup artist Ash K Holm. As a Barry girl myself, the heights of success that Sophie and Hannah have reached, always gives me that ‘Go on girls’ attitude. Two sisters, who started a brand in their garage and who have recently seen their products stocked in Harrods, are by far Wales’ most successful female entrepreneurs.
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What is it about these two unassuming females that have catapulted them through that glass ceiling and beyond? They remain down to earth, humble, likeable, and so very stylish. Their savvy business acumen and go-getting approach has seen them win countless beauty awards with legions of fans, from Barry to Beverly Hills. Style of the city wanted to find out the secret to their incredible success and of course get the real low-down on Sculpt by Spectrum.
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur? What inspired you to start your business?
We’re accidental entrepreneurs, we didn’t have a head start, we were always driven by a desire to work creatively as that’s what our passion is, that translated into a product that we managed to communicate and market really successfully, thankfully that part came fairly naturally, and the tough bit has been scale and growth. That’s been our steep learning curve and every day is a school day! What challenges have you faced during your journey?
Managing people was a struggle initially, but now the team work independently. Our style of management is based on trust and giving people the opportunity to shine and progress. The biggest challenge is the global market, how to take a small beauty product that started in a garage with very humble beginnings, to the heights of a household beauty brand. Cashflow is always our struggle, we are 100% independent, so every risk we take is entirely on our shoulders but that’s also the reason we’ve been able to steer the business in exactly the direction that we want it to grow, and why we believe we’re so unique in our offering, it really comes from our own personal decisions. What are your core values as a business? Have they altered over the course of your time trading? We’re Our core values we are very pleased to say have remained the same. They are the guiding principles of the brand and reasons why our customers love and trust our products. Firstly, every item we create is both vegan and cruelty free, we firmly believe that animals don’t have to be harmed in the pursuit of beauty. Secondly, we are always striving to deliver the highest quality possible for the best price we can offer. We often put the product integrity before our bottom line, if our margin has to take a hit for us to really achieve the best possible result, then we will take the hit! Finally, we are continually working improving our sustainability credentials, by reducing packaging, opting for less toxic materials, fewer processes, a more streamlined supply chain, however we can improve we do so. We call this process ‘attainable sustainable’ meaning if we can do it, we will. What has running this business taught you?
That you shouldn’t start a business if you want to get rich quick, and you also should never attempt to build a brand that you don’t live and breathe, it must feel personal, you need to embody your brand for it to be authentic. Audiences love authenticity and you can’t make that up. Think about mentors that you had in your life. What role did they play? Why were they important to you?
We didn’t have business mentors until very late in the day, maybe year 6, and at
that point it wasn’t smooth sailing so it was to try and steer us out of trouble rather than guide us towards good decisions. Now thankfully we have some guidance that helps us make informed decisions and it’s making a lot of difference to the future of the brand which is very exciting. We’ve had inspirations rather than mentors, our family have always inspired us, they’ve never run successful companies, but they’ve always supported each other, had integrity and worked really hard. We try to ensure we’d never do anything that would disappoint them. How have you dealt with competitors?
What competitors?! We stay true to our own vision and do what feels right for us, we never look at what other brands are doing in the space. We don’t say that to sound arrogant, but if you look around too much you’re not looking forward and we’re always thinking ahead. If you could give a younger person advice, what would it be?
Stay consistent, trust your gut and for gods sake take a break, you’ll need it. What was the first moment you felt successful?
What was the most important milestone for you on the way to success? We always think the big moment for us was when our partnership with Disney became official, for such a small business at the time to have the support and approval from a global brand was game changing. We’ve just renewed our partnership to continue into 2024 and we have big plans, 6 years of working with Disney has taught us a lot and we’re continually inspired. T heir new brush collaboration has taken their brand to new heights, as they put it: “We've been working on the collection since 2019 which feels like an age ago, when we first met Ash on the rooftop of The West Hollywood Edition and now finally everything has launched and we couldn't be happier with the brushes and what we've achieved as a team.” And what of the brushes? “Everything about this brush set is new, every brush shape, the packaging, the hair type and even the name, Sculpt by Spectrum. The best bit is we know you're going to love them, the latest in technology - the hair is a new technically advanced version of vegan materials - combined with our highest quality yet and when we say these tools have been tested to the extreme on the faces of some of the most watched people on the planet, you KNOW they have to be the best!” How has the reaction been to the brushes so far? The reaction on social has to be one of the biggest we've ever had, and we're so grateful to everyone for all the love. It really is surreal to think that two sisters from Barry have created a product that is now in some very famous hands, and the brushes have been used to create some of the most iconic makeup looks by Ash.”
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Beauty By Amina is your one-stop shop for all your skincare needs. JUST SKIN Price List
Facial Anti-wrinkle injections 1 Area-£100 2 Areas-£160 3 Areas - £190
Chemical facial peels 40% (Chemically reduce ageing) - £45 Chemical Peel alone £75.00
Dermaplanning with Mask (Removes the faces peach fuzz leaving you with a smooth radiant skin for up to 8 weeks - £40
Luxury Dermaplanning with LED Mask and collagen treatment - £60
Blackhead steam extraction (Deep removal of blackheads, spots and build up on the face) - £50
Dermaroller (Micro-needling) with LED Mask (Designed to reduce acne scarring, pigmentation, sun damage and ageing) - £70
Course of 3 Dermaroller - £190
Microdermabrasion Facial (Face resurfacing facial to remove blackheads, build-up of toxins in the skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines, very anti-ageing) £60 per facial or course of 3 for £150 (includes steam and LED mask)
LED- Red light therapy (Calms/soothes skin, pumps the face with collagen. Super anti-ageing) - £20
Micro Needling Full Face and neck with mask (60 minutes) - £65
