Image from storybookcosmetics.com
But, what makes this indie brands so appealing to young
consumers? It’s simple, they offer everything well-known
brands don’t. Some indie brands are cruelty free or vegan, or
targeted to deeper skin tones, and most of them are affordable to
the public. Sanchez also mentioned that, “personally, I’m more
interested on cruelty free makeup and not a lot of what you see in
stores are, so when I see those indie brands like Vanessa’s Vanity
Cosmetics, their products are cruelty free, very pigmented and
inexpensive, I have to play with them! Sometimes I even use
them on my clients and they love them. It’s something new and
most of the time they are great quality”.
Images from Instagram @kathleenlights
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This new makeup brands have found what the industry was
lacking by listening to social media and what the public wants,
making it their purpose to fill those gaps that other brands were
not meeting. Some of this indie brands have become popular on
social media like Anastasia Beverly Hills, Huda Beauty, Zoeva
Cosmetics and Colourpop. This last one was only founded on
2014 and has reached a high level of success by promoting itself
through social media, especially by partnering with influencers
in the beauty community that would try the product and give
reviews or doing a collaboration with them, like the YouTuber
KathleenLights which helped them reach her over 3 million
subscribers.
Another indie brand that has become an internet success is
Storybook Cosmetics, which creates interesting and appealing
products using popular themes like Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory or the movie Mean Girls to develop the Burn Book
Palette. Indie makeup has proven the significance of using
social media right and working with influencer to grow their
brand, sometimes from their own houses with little investment
in marketing. Their founders have studied the market and
created a product that fulfills the needs of the newer generations,
sometimes that need is good cruelty free products, or a unique
packaging that shows the personality of the buyer.
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