Enterprise stories: Phoebe and Fair to Look Fabulous

Posted on: 3 February 2021 in Enterprise

Enterprise stories are a great way to get inspired. Phoebe is sharing her startup ideas and story about her beuty brand "Fair to Look Fabulous".

About Me  

My name is Phoebe, I am 22, born and raised in Liverpool and an MSc Marketing student. 

My Business   

Fair To Look Fabulous or FTLF for short is a beauty brand that does exactly what it says in the name! It’s all about making customers look fabulous whilst being fair to the planet, to animals and your bank account with strictly vegan and cruelty-free products that are packaged in recyclable materials and affordably priced! 

From a young age, I loved makeup and as I got older I wanted to be my own boss and run a cosmetics brand. I got the opportunity to do this in my final year of university as a module of the course. 

Fair To Look Fabulous was created with the aim to decrease packaging waste and animal cruelty in the beauty industry and after pitching to investors I was awarded £300 to make it into a reality. I invested the money in product materials and packaging supplies and initially launched with a range of vegan false eyelashes in March 2020 (unluckily just before the pandemic hit) and in October 2020 launched a vegan brow soap too, which has been a huge success. 

After graduating, I wanted to improve my marketing skills and was awarded the ULMS future leaders scholarship to study at the University of Liverpool.  

I have been running FTLF alongside my studies and in December I was presented with another opportunity to pitch to a panel of judges associated with the university and Santander as part of The Entrepreneurship Awards. From this, I was given £500 for Fair To Look Fabulous which is set to be invested in growth and marketing. 

What is the next step?  

I feel passionate about making sustainable beauty products accessible to everyone so the next step is to expand the product range on offer. I’d like Fair To Look Fabulous to someday be a one-stop-shop for all things beauty and be known for how eco-friendly and ethical it is so I’m in the process now of making that happen. As well as this, I now have the £500 marketing budget to hopefully spread awareness of FTLF and start some exciting projects with beauty influencers.  

Have you participated in any enterprise activity or programmes at university? 

I was first introduced to the enterprise team through the ‘What’s Your Side Hustle?’ talk and I am now in week 4 of 10 of the Design Your Future programme. Through both, I have had the opportunity to meet (virtually) business professionals based in Liverpool who are passionate about their careers and making a positive difference to the community (both as a side venture and full time). Listening to their experiences and advice is significantly valuable for a young entrepreneur and I’ve really enjoyed being involved with it so far.  

I am on the Design Your Future programme to have the opportunity to network with professionals and other enterprise students which helps me to stay focused and motivated as a business owner. The programme also covers a wide range of business topics which allows me to develop my own business knowledge and skills. Already it has been really beneficial to me and is helping me take FTLF to the next level! 

Tips  

I’d say don’t worry about everything being absolutely perfect when you launch, you just need to go for it and put your business out there! Take advantage of the opportunities available to you and the contacts around you and their networks, you never know what can come of it so make sure to ask or you won’t get- the worst that can happen is they say no! You’re more often than not going to be pushed outside of your comfort zone and on some days will definitely feel deflated/ unmotivated, it’s normal, just remember to always believe in yourself and what you are capable of! And finally, I’d say to trust the process!  

Website: www.fairtolookfabulous.co.uk 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fairtolookfabulous