Is it au revoir to Chanel? How prospects are selecting UK make-up

Make-up lovers around the world are saying au revoir to classic French beauty brands such as Chanel and Nars in favour of UK-born products instead – thanks to a little sprinkling of celebrity.

British labels such as Charlotte Tilbury, Victoria Beckham Beauty and Rimmel London are showing signs of overtaking the trés chic beauty lines that have dominated the industry for decades, new figures show.

As British businesses utilise social media and new forms of advertising in order to promote their products, they are enlisting some of the UK’s biggest names including Rita Ora and Maya Jama to help them along the way.

And according to new data, it’s working. Figures released by Circana and reported by The Times, a research firm based in the US, show sales of luxury beauty products in the UK rose by 11% in the year leading up to June – whereas France reported a more modest rise of 6% in the same period.

UK beauty brands may be overtaking French classic labels in sales figures, according to new data. But is the celebrity effect taking hold? Pictured: Sienna Miller for Charlotte Tilbury

It suggests that, while classic French brands will always be popular choices among make-up lovers, the UK labels are rising sharply in popularity.

Speaking about the evolution of marketing among British brands, UK-based brand expert Hayley Knight said: ‘Influencer and celebrity marketing has been around for several years now, but brands are developing campaigns that engage with their audiences, and foster deeper connections and drive consumer interest.’

One of the UK’s biggest and most popular beauty brands, Charlotte Tilbury, is one such example of a true British success story. 

Since the brand was launched in September 2013, it has enlisted a plethora of famous faces to help promote the brand and help it reach star status.

Trinny Woodall is one such beauty brand founder who personalises her content with clips of herself applying her own products

Victoria Beckham is the face of her eponymous brand, Victoria Beckham Beauty. She posts clips of herself applying her products to interact with her audience

One such brand which has utilised the influencer effect in order to find success is REFY, a Manchester-based brand of which its co-founder Jess Hunt is its face

In particular, CT has chosen to work with models and A-listers of diverse ages in order to appeal to a broader range of clients. 

From Bella Hadid, to Kate Moss, to Swinging Sixties icon Twiggy, the British brand has well and truly achieved star status with its celebrity promoters over the years.

But while she has brought on big names to promote her products, the brand’s founder herself has also ensured she’s a well-known face to her customers as she has also fronted several campaigns for her beauty line over the years. 

Tilbury, 51, is often at the forefront of her campaigns as she achieves star status in her own right by flaunting her flawless make-up on camera

Tilbury, 51, will often make a sparkling cameo in her slick videos, showing off her flawless make-up and strawberry blonde hair as she greets her customers – ensuring her name is included in the star-studded line up.

And Tilbury’s method isn’t unique – across the UK beauty scene, brand founders are ensuring they are alongside their A-list promoters in showing off their products.

Both Trinny Woodall of Trinny London and Victoria Beckham of her eponymous brand are often at the forefront of their marketing campaigns – using their own flawless skin and make-up to prove their products are the real deal.

In addition, they utilise social media to speak directly to their customers in a way that personalises the products. 

A recent clip on Victoria Beckham Beauty’s Instagram account showed the founder telling customers about the brand’s new Posh Balm for lips (named after her Spice Girls alter-ego).

She said: ‘I am a lip balm girl. I’ve always been obsessed with lip balm’ before introducing the new product to her followers.

Trinny Woodall adopts a similar laid-back, conversational style in speaking to her followers about new or existing products in her Trinny London range.

In particular, she teams up with celebrities in her ‘in the bathroom’ series, where she enlists famous faces including comedian Joanne McNally or beauty journalist Ateh Jewel to get ready with her in front of the camera, often while in their dressing gowns or loungewear.

The ‘GRWM’ (get ready with me) influencing trend allows such brands to enlist celebrities for personalised videos as they test out new products in real time, helping customers to see how such products look when they are applied on camera.

Away from the celebrity gaze, many UK brands are using GRWM clips to show before and after shots of products being applied.

One such brand, whose social media presence was the key to its suuccess, is Manchester-based Refy. 

Its co-founder and CEO Jess Hunt is often the face of the brand’s GRWM videos, to the point where her image has become synonymous with the brand itself.

Hunt’s social media strategy has sent some of Refy’s products, such as their primer and their eyebrow kits, stratospheric as they have achieved ‘viral’ status with everyone wanting to get their hands on them.

Hayley said: ‘[REFY’s] Instagram presence is curated to showcase its products in a way that resonates with its target audience, leveraging the influence of popular social media figures to amplify its reach. This approach not only drives immediate sales but also fosters community and gets the customers invested in their brand.’

She also shouted out a global name, subscription model Beauty Pie, for adopting similar marketing strategies in promoting their products.

‘Beauty Pie, founded by Marcia Kilgore, is another example of british beauty brands that have successfully used influencer and celebrity marketing to drive sales and traffic, as well as its own membership model to drive word-of-mouth marketing,’ she said.

‘The brand also employs well-known faces for its campaigns, adding to its credibility.

‘Through this, Beauty Pie has seen substantial growth, with reports indicating a significant increase in memberships and sales over the past few years, and their strategy has allowed it to carve out a unique space in the saturated beauty market.’