Did you know that one-third of high-growth businesses worldwide are now being run by women?* Hell yeah! We’ll find any excuse to champion talented women here at The Handbook, and International Women’s Day gives us the perfect excuse to highlight the women in beauty that deserve to be known and supported for their achievements and of course their game-changing products and services to the beauty industry. Here are the women-owned beauty to know, and love…
*(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2022)
Hope Dworaczyk Smith, MUTHA
Why we love her? Founded the luxury natural skincare line, MUTHA in 2019. The brand’s core message is to celebrate women from BAD MUTHAs to badass go-getters, and their bodies at every stage in their lives. Plus, MUTHA contributes 5% of online sales to International Medical Corps which help women across the globe deliver babies.
Hero product: Mutha Body Butter, £80 – Not to be confused with real butter! Yellow-coloured with the smoothest creamiest texture that smells amazing and keeps your skin super hydrated all day and beyond.
Jenny, Taylor & Ally Frankel, Founders of NUDESTIX
Why we love her? It’s a family affair with this mother and daughters team. A collection of easy-to-use products perfect for getting the ultimate nude glam on the go. Having grown up in the beauty industry Taylor and Ally turned to their mum Jenny Frankel, who commenced her career formulating products for industry giant MAC Cosmetics, identifying a white space in the industry for innovative, easy-to-use products. Enriched with skin-saving vitamins, antioxidants and moisturisers, every product is packed with goodness. NUDESTIX has also collaborated with inspiring women in the beauty industry such as Mary Phillips!
Hero product: Mini Nudies Best Seller Kit, £55 – Contains six of the iconic, multi-tasking Nudies All Over Face Blush, Bronze and Glow hues so you can create your perfectly nude ‘you’ on the go. And so dinky they can fit in your handbag or even your pocket.
Sarah, Emily & Erin Potempa, Founders of Beachwaver
Why we love her? Winning awards left, right, centre, this is the most innovative hair tool to hit the global market. Founded in 2010 by sisters Sarah (who is a leading celebrity hair stylist), Emily and Erin Potempa, Beachwaver is dedicated to innovation, accessibility and empowerment (which is what IWD is all about!) Loved by stylists and beauty editors to working mums and their daughters, this rotating curling iron is a miracle worker and completely foolproof even to hair appliance virgins. To create the perfect curl all you need do is simply press the arrow going in the direction you want to curl, release the button to stop the rotation and then release the hair. It’s a game-changer for DIY hair styling and takes seconds to perfect.
Hero product: Neon Collection Rotating Curling Iron, £119 – for natural waves in seconds.
Erim Kaur, CEO & Founder of ByErim Luxury Hair & Beardcare brand
Why we love her? Erim Kaur is the largest Sikh influencer in the U.K, ByErim is an award-winning, luxury haircare brand – 100% natural, vegan, cruelty-free and sustainably made.
When Erim was 8 she devastatingly lost her mother to cancer, and made it her lifelong goal to continue the legacy of her mother’s signature long hair which she had lost during chemo. After also suffering from alopecia, Erim turned to her Dhadi (grandmother), the keeper of all magical and traditional remedies and set to work in her kitchen and ByErim was born! In 2022, Erim won the NatWest & Telegraph’s 100 Female Entrepreneurs to watch for her inspiring journey & impressive business accolades!
Hero product: Luxury Hair & Beard Oil, £40 – 100% natural, washes out in one rinse, non-sticky, smells beautiful – contains 8 pure oils and suitable for all hair types. What’s not to love?
Kat Burki, Skin Nutritionist, CEO & Founder of Kat Burki Skincare
Why we love her? After a successful career in nutrition and disease management, Kat could not find products that focused on skin health and holistic healing. She believed just like food, skincare should heal the body in multiple ways and so with 20+ years experience, she created a skincare range that employs Nutritional Medicine with the main focus on the health and wellness of the skin. Based on individual needs, the range is divided into 4 categories: Prevention, Reversal, Renewal and Skin Canvas. Kat Burki challenges the status quo and is absolutely bossing it!
Hero product: Kat Burki Super Peptide Firming Creme, £225 – A supercharged powerhouse moisturiser packed with Kat’s patented KB5™ Complex peptides, antioxidants and hyaluronic acid.
Laura Rudoe, Founder of Evolve Organic Beauty
Why we love her? Having grown up with homemade skincare products around her and having suffered from skin issues, Laura is a passionate advocate of natural and sustainable living as well as ethical and environmentally friendly business. In 2009, Laura set up Evolve Organic Beauty with a mission to make products that deliver effective results, yet are healthier, greener and kinder for you and the planet. Each product is artisanally made in small batches with the finest clinically-proven natural and organic ingredients, to ensure the freshness of the natural oils, butters and extracts. Plus, it’s one of the first 1000 B Corp companies in the UK. In 2021 Laura launched her second brand, Adaptology. This is definitely a name you’ll be seeing again and again!
Hero product: Hyaluronic Serum 200, £32– this multi-award winning oil-free serum, hydrates and plumps your skin leaving it with an enviable glow.
Susie Ma, Founder and CEO of Tropic Skincare
Why we love her? Accoladed as one of the UK’s most successful female entrepreneurs, in 2018 she was named Entrepreneur of the Year and recognised as one of Forbes 30 Under 30. At the age of 13, Susie was aware that her mum was having difficulties with paying bills which led to her selling her own homemade body scrubs at Greenwich market, inspired by her Grandma. On her first day, Susie sold 50 jars, from then she had the buzz and would return to the market daily with new batches of her homemade body scrub. Motivated by success, she continued to spend weekends at Greenwich market selling what’s now known as Tropic’s best-selling ‘Body Smooth’, from this she was not only able to help with paying bills but also afford to buy her mum their first home. From Susie’s kitchen to the London market, little did she know, she was building her own empire, Tropic.
Hero product: Super Greens Nutrients Boost Oil, £44 – this algae-rich formula is made from a whole host of green superfoods that stimulate cell renewal that leads to luminous skin.
Jeanette Thottrup, Seed to Skin
Why we love her? Thottrup created her skincare line during her personal journey and struggle to start a family. She swapped to an all-natural lifestyle and diet and whilst discovering the untapped potential of nature’s active properties in skincare, two years later her son was born!
Hero product: Seed to Skin The Radiance Microdermabrasion Glow Treatment, £66 – This exfoliating peeling cream polishes and removes dead skin cells to reveal the glowiest skin EVER.
Zanna Roberts Rassi, Milk Makeup
Why we love her? Co-founder of Milk Makeup and ultimate cool girl. Zanna has a plethora of glam tips and tricks up her sleeve from not only building a beauty empire whilst juggling a family but from all the BTS intel she has from interviewing the most glamorous and sort after celebrities as part of E! Live red-carpet team.
Hero product: Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer, From £17 – An award-winning makeup primer that grips makeup for up to 12 hours while hydrating the skin too and leaving your complexion with a post-Bikram yoga glow.
Gaelle Lebrat-Persannaz, Manucurist
Why we love her? A family affair: This mother-and-daughter collaboration has grown into a female-run business. Gaelle founded the brand with her mother and took over as CEO in 2016. She wanted to develop a new type of nail polish and nails treatments with non-toxic and clean formulas that are accessible at home.
Hero product: Green Flash Pro Kit, £79 – Everything you need for a DIY express manicure that lasts up to 10 days and can be removed with normal nail polish remover. Bonus!
Sarah and Lauren Murrell, By Sarah London
Why we love them? This sister act duo is the first female-owned brand in the UK to be B Corp certified. Need we say more? When Lauren was diagnosed with leukaemia, she struggled to find anything that she could use on her highly sensitised skin and was surprised that even many ‘natural’ skin options contained sneaky irritants and chemical preservatives. Her frustration led to a life-saving stem cell transplant from Sarah, which ultimately led to the launch of By Sarah London.
Hero product: Hero Facial Oil, £34 – Full to the brim of natural scent-free organic plant-based oils. This oil doesn’t leave a claggy film but instead absorbed beautifully giving skin a healthy radiance
Kim Smith, Co-founder Kloris CBD
Why we love her? In 2018, Kim and other founding members decided to create Kloris. Each member had discovered CBD for different health reasons, from anxiety and insomnia to menstrual cramps and back aches. Kim is dedicated to educating about CBD and its benefits, giving free information via talks and workshops across the country to pass on the information that helped her to heal her own health issues. Recently, Kim spearheaded an initiative with the Woodland Trust to plant trees in deforested lands in Central America, resulting in 40k m2 of trees being planted. There’s no stopping Kim!
Hero product: Kloris Restore Bath Block, £15 – Imagine a grown-up bath bomb with skincare properties and added CBD that you can satisfyingly watch sizzle in your bathtub.
Shani Darden, Facialist and Skincare
Why we love her? Shani creates radiance in everything she touches. She is a celebrity facialist renowned for creating the clearest and most luminous complexions. Shani has worked on the faces of Emily Ratajkowski and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley to name a few. But the best news is, she has a hardworking skincare line so we can all get a little bit of Shari Darden magic in our lives.
Hero product: Shani Darden Skincare Retinol Reform, £80 – An ultra-gentle serum with 2.2% encapsulated retinol to give skin a boost but without irritation.
Samantha Jameson, Soapsmith
Why we love her? A born entrepreneur, Sam was just 24 when she set up her first business. Her determination, tenacity and drive saw exceptional business success which she threw into her first love, scent. From this, she created Soapsmith, which is now an award-winning artisan bath and body range known best for its signature London-inspired scents, handmade formulas, and quirky and sustainable packaging.
Hero product: Soapsmith Bloomsbury Bath Soak, £30 – Throw this coconut milk powder, Epsom salt and Dead Sea salt mix in your bath for an incredible skin-softening sensory experience. Plus, the rose, honeysuckle and peony essential oils will make your bathroom smell incredible too.
Michelle Roques-O’Neil, Alchemist and Aromatherapist
Why we love her? Michelle works as a healer, spiritual life coach and energy bodyworker and also has her own face and body brand, Therapie. Michelle has the most beautiful aura and energy that spills over into her treatments and her products too. She has been working with aromas, oils, and fragrances for over 40 years which makes her knowledge second to none. An all-around remarkable lady.
Hero product: Himalayan Detox Salts, from £10 – www.therapielife.com Like a natural version of Valium, these bath salts calm stress-based palpitations, balance your energy flow and help combat insomnia (but sadly aren’t suitable for use during pregnancy).
Shop the women-owned beauty products we love
for more beauty highlights, check out our beauty section
The products on this page have been selected by our editorial team, however, The Handbook may make a small commission on some of the products purchased through affiliate links.