Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Doyle.
Hi Robin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Right before the pandemic, I took a trip to India which transformed my outlook on the consumer industry. Witnessing firsthand how western shopping behavior affects a developing country, I had an idea to create a collective of fair trade, mission-driven beauty brands that put people and the planet before profit. Welcome to Beautyologie, an online e-commerce marketplace for conscious consumers who seek beauty brands that truly make a difference, not just on the surface of their skin but in the world we live in.
I have worked in the beauty industry for the last 26 years as a writer and brand publicist, so I guess you can say I’m incredibly happy to be using my knowledge as a force for good in a world I love and know a lot about.
My very first job at 15 was working at the cosmetic counter of the Northridge Pharmacy wrapping expensive boxes of perfume and playing with Borghese’s Fango Mud when no one was looking. Out of college, where I studied English, I landed a position as a beauty editor for a teen magazine where I tested and wrote about every product ever made. I also interviewed hundreds of inspirational entrepreneurs, which catapulted me to start my own venture at 25, a hair accessories brand called Wrap Star. This helped me buy my first house.
After several years of growing the business, it became very challenging to juggle as I became a new mom. I eventually fell into PR and created Charmed PR, a boutique PR agency that has provided laser-focused campaigns leading to product placement, brand awareness, and creative marketing for the last 17 years.
However, during the pandemic, I quickly lost my passion for the PR industry, which has changed so much over the years to become less creative and much more transactional. I first created Beautyologie as a blog where I wrote about mission-driven initiatives surrounding fair trade. The blog soon transitioned into a marketplace when I realized I was getting a lot of attention for the fair trade products I was writing about.
In the last year and a half that Beautyologie has been operating, I have grown to offer more than 40 brands from several countries around the world including Peru, Ghana, Morocco, and the Dominican Republic. My goal is to shine a spotlight on the ingredient producers from these developing countries who, without their hard work, would not make your body cream or face serum possible.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Any solo entrepreneur that tells you it’s been smooth sailing the whole way is a total liar! But that’s what makes the journey so worth it. I came into this knowing a lot about the beauty industry and public relations, but all the other facets that go along with building a start-up? Well, it’s been a learning experience, to say the least. I feel like I have gone back to school. And I welcomed it all because I wanted a challenge. Everything from learning about online shopping platforms, SEO, Google Ads, FB ads, social media, newsletters, email flows, Google business profiles, etc. I knew nothing about any of it, but now I do. And I am still learning every day.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Beautyologie is a definite labor of love. Having worked in the beauty industry in some capacity or another for my entire career, I feel I owe it to myself and to my customers to provide a place online where the money you choose to spend on any skincare, haircare, or cosmetic product, is going to help someone in the world that sourced its ingredients or helped make it in the first place.
Aside from offering “clean,” toxic-free products, which in and of itself is vital these days, the brands I choose to work with truly use the beauty industry as a vehicle for social change.
The reason they created their businesses was as a means for empowerment and employment for the communities they’re invested in. On Beautyologie.com, you can find beautiful, efficacious skin serums made with ingredients sourced from the Amazon that give their communities fair and dignified work. I offer shea butter formulated with shea directly from Northern Ghana female cooperatives that pay their workers 5x a living wage. You can also find hair accessories made by Indian Artisans who make a living doing this work and provide well for their families because of it.
This is what sets Beautyologie apart from all the other beauty sites. Because of what I am creating, I was invited to join the nonprofit Fair Trade LA, and am proud to help promote the importance of shopping fair trade products in my hometown.
When I first started creating Beautyologie, I never gave brick-and-mortar retail a thought. However, I have opened up a few “shop in shops” around town and the feedback has been really great. Aside from the website, you can shop a collection of Beautyologie brands in person at Amarte Fair Trade Collective in Long Beach, the Valley Salt Cave in Woodland Hills, and The Local Source Coop in the Westfield Mall in Sherman Oaks.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I love reading all kinds of travel writing, I always have. From all of Bill Bryson and Peter Mayle’s books to Tales of a Female Nomad, Wanderlust, and The Geography of Bliss.
The podcasts I listen to most are The Daily, Conversations with Warrior Women (I love Liz Svatek, and Fair Trade Talks.
I really like the Calm app, but I don’t use it as much as I should!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beautyologie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautyologie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautyologiewebsite
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkGyQkjEOJM-URNWJW5JYXg
