Australian beauty salon owner Kate Flammea is making her mark in the beauty retail market with the launch of a makeup collection designed to be stored and carried in a “smartphone-sized capsule”.
The Pressplay Cosmetics collection features 27 products (including foundation, concealer, highlighter, powder, blush, eyeliner and mascara) and the capsule (which can store up to seven of the products as well as a mirror for “on-the-go applicaton”).
Kate, who has worked in the beauty industry for 10 years and owns four Smart Skin Clinics in Melbourne, created the collection to meet her own needs and those of other modern women who need “a compact makeup solution that doesn’t scrimp on style or quality”.
She says the “sleek, luxurious and functional” capsules are the perfect antidote to “overflowing makeup bags”
“Pressplay Cosmetics is the only beauty brand to recognise the changing needs of women and to create a unique storage and application system that fits their lifestyle.”
All the products in the collection are “produced in some of the most advanced cosmetic laboratories in Italy, Germany and Australia” and are therefore “highly pigmented and long lasting”.
Professional Beauty asked Kate a few questions about how she managed to launch the innovative collection while running her four salons:
When/how/why did you come up with the concept for Pressplay?
“I came up with the idea in a mad morning rush. I was juggling to get my 3 year old son ready for the day and preparing for everything I had planned for that day. All of this whilst trying to get myself presentable. This scenario was all too familiar and I often found myself walking out the door with my makeup look half done! I wished for a compact that would always be ready for me to grab when I’m rushing out the front door and apply my makeup whenever and wherever I could later on. I couldn’t find anything like it so I decided to make one. This was two years ago now. Since then, I have worked on the design tirelessly, traveling overseas to source the finest materials and ingredients. It wasn’t an easy ride, but I loved every minute as I knew it was worth it to help other women that were in my situation.”
How did you find the time to develop the concept while running four salons?
“When you have a deep passion for something, you make time! My schedule was, and still is crazy, however I knew I had to create this product to help other time poor women out there. By streamlining our beauty routine and having a convenient option that works around your lifestyle, we can all get on with our day and focus on more important things like conquering the world!”
Did your salon background help you in creating/launching the product in any way?
“Owning my own skin clinics has helped me understand customers. Most of my clients are females, so hearing about their lives and how busy we all are helped me to create an optimal range of products.”
Is launching a makeup brand similar/different to launching your own salons?
“It is quite different. Launching a makeup brand is a much bigger operation. We market our Pressplay products for national and international reach via online distribution, whereas our clinics are usually targeting the local community or region. We also work closely, and on an ongoing basis, with partners to create Pressplay products and bring ideas to life while with the clinics it can all be done inhouse and quite quickly too.”
What are you major plans with your salons and Pressplay in the year ahead?
“We are now working on global distribution for Pressplay Cosmetics and I am looking forward to expanding on the services we provide at Smart Skin Clinics.”
As a salon owner yourself, do you have any plans to stock the brand in salons?
Yes definitely! The product is already in Smart Skin Clinics – and we are now working on national distribution at other wholesalers, which would include other clinics too.”