P.Louise isn't just a beauty brand, it is an empire. At least, it is to those who know and love the homegrown make-up line, although there is much truth to the sentiment. P.Louise boasts a following of almost three million on TikTok, a 40,000 square foot Barbie pink HQ and warehouse in Stockport, Manchester, a make-up academy, and a new world record. Last week, P.Louise broke TikTok records after making £1.5 million in 12 hours via a single TikTok Shop Live, selling two products every second. As a result, the brand is set to make over £60 million in 2024 alone. At the centre of it all is Paige Williams, who is shaping up to be one of the most impressive new figures in the beauty industry.
As far as start-up stories go, Williams' is as inspirational as they come. The founder and CEO has been open about her challenging upbringing from growing up on a council estate with no qualifications, no business plan and no money to caring for her younger brothers while her mother worked to make ends meet, which in many ways, she says, robbed her of a childhood.
'My childhood and my younger years were spent changing nappies,' Williams says. 'I think that a huge amount of the brand vision came from this place and the things I missed out on. On a personal level, I wanted to almost create a childhood for myself that I never had. But above all else, I wanted to create memories for people that I never got to make.’
It is the reason why P.Louise keeps a close ear to the ground with a strong ethos and community initiatives like the P.Louise Kids Eat For Free scheme for the six-week holidays. It's achieving all this with a joyful approach to products and packaging. You need only look to its Stockport HQ for the proof, which resembles a beauty wonderland equipped with a Pink-Island Cafe (serving Halal food), masterclasses, redeemable makeovers, a shop with exclusive deals, a projector playing Disney films, plenty of photo ops, and launch parties, which welcomes all and is intended to 'create customers not sales', according to Williams.
What is P.Louise?
First and foremost a make-up brand, P.Louise began as a make-up academy in 2014, when Williams was just 21-years-old working between a beauty counter and her freelance gig as a South Asian bridal make-up artist, before evolving into a cosmetics line in 2018. In many ways, it was her foundation as an artist that helped her to forge the kind of products that would soon amass a loyal following.
‘I was using these products each and every day and seeing so many missing items. The cost of many of the products was incredibly high, too. Alongside this, the eye base I was using daily was being discontinued - so I created my own. And that’s the P.Louise base that you see today,’ she says.
That base she speaks of is the bestselling P.Louise Rumour Base, £13, which even got the attention of online make-up legend NikkieTutorials who dubbed it the world's best eyeshadow primer. Nikkie wasn't the only fan. After selling 300,000 units of the stuff within just over a year since its launch, Williams cashed in a cool £6 million.
Williams was able to get the word out about her game-changing primer thanks to her massive online presence, which saw her share make-up hacks and bold beauty looks. In fact, her artistry was so in demand, she started out by offering online make-up courses, which quickly sold out, culminating in her first live course earning her over £100,000.
That same following only grew with the addition of expert-made cosmetics, which now includes everything from viral blushers to lip oils and even skincare. Its success online has meant that P.Louise hasn't relied on a bricks and mortar unit, physical retail presence or a helping hand from a big beauty conglomerate to find success. Instead, it has chosen to focus on its community.
'The success of P.Louise is due to the consistent commitment to our community, innovative use of social media, and a relentless focus on creating high-quality, affordable products that resonate with our customers' needs and desires,' Williams says. 'I’m always looking for ways to improve our offering. I am constantly going through customer feedback, encouraging the team to share their thoughts, and letting my ideas come to life - no matter how crazy they may be. Because we are not in retail it means we can invest our profits back into maintaining low price points, constant new product development, and experiences for our customers.'
The TikTok Shop Live, in which the brand successfully broke records, is a product of that community-first spirit. Offering up rewards in the form of big discounts, giveaways and new product launches, the live video rewarded viewers for their mere presence without any pressure to purchase. It was an exercise in appreciation, as Williams puts it.
But the live was also a lesson in the power of social media for business. 'TikTok has been our main point of sales and point of contact with our customers for a while now. The team create authentic, engaging content that resonates with our audience every single day. TikTok Shop has played the biggest role in our business growth since day one. We launched on that platform when the market wasn't saturated, carved a space for ourselves with the content we created, and have managed to build a community of nearly three million people on the platform now. It's a key platform for consumer-facing brands because it makes shopping easier and more impulsive than it ever has been before.'
What are the the best P.Louise products?
The P.Louise Rumour Base is without a doubt the brand's best product and, in fact, it sells one every minute thanks its ability to create the perfect blurred and concealed canvas for eyeshadows. If you've been scrolling on TikTok, you will have seen the P.Louise The Cheek Of It - Liquid Blush, £14, a number of times. The water-based, featherweight blush is loved by many for its lasting pop of colour. The brand's latest offering, the P.Louise Under-Eye Brightening Powder, £18, rivals the industry's leading pressed powders thanks to its next-level smoothing and blurring properties.
Shop: The Best P.Louise Products
The product that started it all. After her favourite eye base was discontinued, Williams decided to fashion her own. It blurs imperfections, cancels redness and intensifies eye shadows to really make them pop.
Viral for good reason, this blush boasts ample shades for every mood and comes with a water-base lightweight that makes blending and building long-lasting colour a breeze.
plouise.co.uk
If you love a blurred, smoothed and lifted look, this is your next contender. For its first foray into the complexion category, the brand started strong with a product primed to provide a filter-like finish to the skin.
Sameeha Shaikh is Grazia's beauty writer, working across all categories to bring you insights on the latest trends, industry news and the products you need to know about, viral or not (most probably viral).
