Carol Shaw is planning to go well beyond the surface with her two new skin care offerings this fall.
“What good is great makeup if the skin you put it on doesn’t look good?” asked Shaw, a California makeup artist and the founder of Lorac. “Even the best makeup can’t fix bad skin.”
For that reason, she formulated Makeup Prep, an exfoliator, and Aqua Prime, an oil-free makeup primer.
Makeup Prep comprises the proprietary ProMC3, a mix of calcium, magnesium and aluminum crystals, teamed with hydrating jojoba beads. “The best thing about this exfoliator is that no matter how sensitive your skin is or whether your skin is oily, dry or whatever, you can use this product without irritating anything,” said Shaw, who adds that she was watching her employees tear up their skin with harsher formulas. “With this formula, you can control how hard or gently you’ll use it — a sponge if you’ve got sensitive skin, your fingers if you really want to go deep with it.”
Shaw, who has also been testing the formula on herself, said she has seen a “dramatic improvement” in her skin’s appearance. “I have acne scars, and this is really reducing their appearance,” she said. “Plus, if you’re constantly exfoliating, you’re ridding yourself of dead, flaky skin cells, which will make you look younger.” Makeup Prep will retail for $32 for 3.7 oz.
Shaw sees Aqua Prime, a water-based makeup primer designed to facilitate smooth makeup application, as the second half of the “perfect skin” duo. The colorless gel is oil-, fragrance- and silicone-free, and contains sodium hyaluronate for moisture and to help diminish the appearance of fine lines. It will retail for $30 for 1.35 oz. “It gives your skin a good drink of water, and hydrated skin holds makeup on the skin much more effectively,” she said.
Speaking of makeup, Shaw has two color collections on tap for the second half of the year: Her fall 2006 collection, Animal Attraction, bows in September, and her holiday collection, Social Butterfly, is out in November. Animal Attraction includes a limited-edition face palette called Snake Charmer, $35 for a jeweled compact with four eye shadows and a blush — not to mention a faux-snakeskin armband — and four limited-edition Brow Kits, each $22.
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The centerpiece of the holiday collection —a $49 palette called Social Beautyfly —will be exclusive to Sephora, and includes six eye shadows as well as blush, luminizing powder and lip polish.
While Shaw wouldn’t comment on projected sales, industry sources estimated that the new products would do upward of $1 million on counter in their first year.
Lorac is in about 160 doors, including Sephora and a lineup of boutiques. The brand is also sold on QVC and qvc.com, and will enter the Sephora shops slated for J.C. Penney doors. “What I most enjoy about QVC is that customers get to hear my methods and about my products from me,” she said. “It’s not a diluted version of what I hope people are saying in stores. It’s like the ultimate personal appearance — people can call in and ask specific questions. Also, QVC is a good partner, and we are building a business together. They do an amazing volume of business.” Shaw appears on the channel roughly once a month.