NEW YORK — Walgreens has unearthed a new way to draw even more shoppers to its exclusive cosmetics brand IsaDora: mineral makeup.
This month, Walgreens added three to four more feet to its IsaDora department to make room for the Mineral Make-Up Collection. According to Walgreens, the items are already moving briskly in just one week of availability.
“IsaDora has been very successful attracting customers with its high-quality products at affordable prices and the mineral make-up line will be no exception,” said Julie Staggs, beauty category manager for Walgreens. “We believe IsaDora’s Mineral Foundation will have strong appeal for our customers looking for healthier color cosmetic products. These customers will appreciate that the line is 100 percent minerals and offers a lightweight makeup option that protects the skin while allowing it to breathe.”
While major brand names such as L’Oréal, Neutrogena and Physicians Formula battle it out for sales in the mass mineral market, Walgreens is the first of the chains selling a proprietary beauty line to add mineral formulas. There are also mineral offerings from up-and-coming brands, too, including Jane and Milani. Retailers said the big question now is whether there is room in the market for all of the mineral contenders.
At Walgreens, IsaDora will get a competitive edge over the other mineral lines thanks to recommendations from the chain’s 21,000 beauty advisers who have been trained on the line, which at this point is available at 4,500 select stores.
“And this is the only 100 percent mineral line in the mass market,” added Ingrid-Marie Johansson, export director at Invima AB, the parent company of IsaDora. She also said that many consumers don’t realize that mineral makeup offers natural sun protection.
Currently, the Mineral Make-Up Collection includes a mineral powder foundation priced at $15.99, a mineral powder blush for $14.79 and mineral powder brushes retailing for $9.99 each. The makeup is available in seven shades.
Johansson isn’t ruling out line extensions, perhaps into eye products. There will also be holiday gift collections based on minerals later this year. The starter gift box will retail for $29.99.
Walgreens has an advertising effort planned to support the mineral line, as well as in-store videos. “We think we are bringing in new customers who are not buying drugstore cosmetics,” said Johansson. Mineral makeups until recently have only been available in more upscale venues or on TV home-shopping shows.
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In an interesting marketing twist, IsaDora is also launching the minerals in Europe, where the trend hasn’t fully hit yet. Traditionally, most makeup trends start in Europe and then spread to the U.S. The Mineral Make-Up is being sold in Douglas and specialty stores in Europe.
IsaDora is one of several proprietary initiatives launched by Walgreens in the past few years. Another major beauty push is behind European skin care brands. There is also a new jewelry line and other products in the works. These efforts helped the chain record impressive front-end sales for the second quarter of its fiscal year. “We saw solid sales increases in the front end of the store, especially during the Christmas season,” said Walgreens president and chief executive officer Jeffrey A. Rein in a statement.
According to the company, IsaDora is one of the top-performing beauty lines. The collection was added to all stores last year. Sales, according to industry sources, exceed $3 million in the U.S. IsaDora was able to get prime retail presentation in a new universal fixture that is being implemented at Walgreens. Some of the footage was freed up when Revlon pulled the plug on its Vital Radiance line. Walgreens also shuffled many brands, including moving some from the wall to off-shelf presentations.