I’ve had this post brewing for a good few months and I’ve spent the whole time mulling it all over and trying to process what my thoughts are on this new way to buy beauty products. I’m sure you’ve seen the multitude of posts introducing you to Beauty Pie, but just to give you a quick overview, it’s a subscription service that allows you to buy top range (unbranded) beauty products at considerably reduced costs whilst paying a monthly membership fee. For example, they currently have a bottle of foundation that they are selling to non-members for £30, but if you’re a member it’ll cost you £4.75. Because I’m still yet to form a complete conclusion, I thought I’d share with you both sides of the argument so you can hopefully decide for yourself!
How could anyone who really loves their beauty not want to get stuck-in to a service that’ll allow access to some of the very best brands at massively reduced prices? Of course you can’t name names, but it only takes a quick mooch at the products available to easily work out which brands these products have originated from, and for a tenner a month, you can pick up a top-of-the-range concealer worth £20 for £3.67 and a £17 brow pencil for £1.85. Thanks to the popularity of blogs and online magazines, we now know exactly what it means to have a branded product and how much of a mark-up there actually is, so we don’t need to waste money on something with a pretty label when we can purchase exactly the same product – same formula, colour and finish – for a massively reduced price as long as we’re happy to forgo the label attachment, and thanks to Beauty Pie, access to these types of products is now even easier.
The last few years have seen budget beauty brands really up their game, so there’s no longer a massive gap between budget and luxury. It used to be the case that you had to head to the most expensive beauty counters to find exact shade matches and blendable formulas, but the high street is now packed with an array of reputable budget brands providing seriously impressive products, whether you’re seeking dupes of your favourite luxury items or completely new and innovative developments, you simply don’t need to spend a fortune anymore, so luxury beauty is a choice, rather than a necessity. Consequently, a service that charges you for access to unbranded products that promise to be luxury without the fancy brand label seems a little late to the party – this service would have been a dream come true 10 or so years ago when the offerings of budget brands was a lot more limited, but now we’re lucky to have the best of both worlds. I don’t see a place in modern beauty buying for a service like Beauty Pie.
Beauty Pie costs £10 a month and you’re limited to £100 of purchases (of the actual price of the product, rather than the reduced membership price) each month, although, whatever remains each month gets rolled over to the next, which is handy. To be honest, I think this is the sort of service that will divide – some will absolutely love it and think it’s genius (and in some ways it is) whilst others will find it a tad pointless. Aren’t we lucky to have so many amazing options when it comes to sourcing beauty products?
Check it out for yourself, here – link.
*PR Sample
