Re:New Beauty's Richard Lipsitz on the company's rebrand
Why did you decide to rebrand from Bio Sculpture GB to Re:New Beauty?
"Some opportunities started to come our way to expand our portfolio beyond Bio Sculpture. Essence Glitters was the first; the brand’s owner wanted to sell to our clients and it got confusing to sell another product when our company name was Bio Sculpture GB.
"With Essence, we realised there was an appetite for people to buy other product from us, but we don’t want to become a wholesaler, so we’re doing it differently and only selling to people who train with us, which is what we’ve always done with Bio Sculpture. We’re very strict on that and it’s what makes us different, so it got us thinking that maybe there are other brands that could take a similar approach – premium, training-led brands."
Why have you also moved premises?
“The lease was up on the old place and it was time for an upgrade. This new HQ is just 15 minutes away so we’re still in Hemel Hempstead but it’s a nicer space. We want to have aspirational offices to attract great talent to come and work for us.
“And we’re selling premium products so we don’t want to have tired looking offices. We own this building so we don’t need to worry, we can invest in it freely. We have a big, open-plan office space, multipurpose training rooms, and a modern kitchen and break out area for staff. The warehouse is now in the same building too.”
Can you tell us about the new make-up brand, Mud, that you’ve recently taken on?
“We discovered Mud make-up at a trade show.
They’ve been running training in New York for 30 years, so very similar to Bio Sculpture in terms of heritage. It was founded by make-up artists for make-up artists. They’ve got several studios in the US. Over there, training is a lot more formal for make-up and beauty – you have to be licensed. They then brought the concept over to Europe under the Mud Studio brand – in Rome, Milan, Vienna and Berlin – but rather than having seven or eight classrooms, which is what they do in the US, they set it up like a high-street store with a classroom in the back.
“They never came to the UK so we’re trying a bit of a hybrid of the two models here, as in having the single classroom as part of our wider offering. The training is expensive because in America people have the mind-set of paying for further education, so we’ve got to gauge the market. We’re aware that make-up is a whole different ballgame and is very new to us. I’d say we aren’t really aiming to sell lots of make-up, we’re looking to sell lots of make-up training.”
What about your new lash extension brand, Moka & Sarah?
“Moka & Sarah also takes training very seriously. The owners actually came to us through Instagram and we approached them because we know that the biggest overlap with our Bio Sculpture clients is lashes. Almost half our clients do lashes and there are lots of great lash brands out there, but Moka & Sarah offered something a bit more niche and bespoke.
“Moka Kanai brought the technique over from Japan. It was a start-up and was doing great but needed our help from the infrastructure side. It’s a very exciting time for us.”
