There are people who know how to make a home look good, and people who know how to make one feel good. Reena Simon is very much the latter.

For more than a decade, the interiors expert, influencer and author has been studying the business of calm. And reassuringly, her formula doesn’t involve replacing your kitchen, moving to Copenhagen or asking everyone you live with to vacate the premises.

It’s much simpler than that.

Turn off the overhead lights. Clear the surfaces. Stop trying to make everything match. Think about what your senses: what your home feels like and smells like, not just what it looks like.

Reena believes scent is fundamental to how we experience a space, which is why her new candle collaboration with Beauty Pie started not with three fragrances, but three moments.

Rêves D’Èze is a fresh, breezy morning, before the day demands anything from you.

Time Well Spent is that late-afternoon golden hour, when the day starts to soften.

Midnight Cashmere is for the end-of-day exhale, when you’re officially unavailable for further comment.

Three candles. Three moods. One extremely good argument for staying home.

We asked Reena about the collection, the interiors rules worth breaking and the small changes that can make a surprisingly big difference to your home.

Q: Reena, you’ve spent more than a decade writing about calm at home. What’s one misconception people have about creating a beautiful home?

A: I think what people often really want is a home that feels calm and tranquil. But the thing they think is the problem often isn’t. Sometimes they simply haven’t looked at their home and thought about what they could edit out. Once you start removing things, the space naturally begins to feel calmer.

Q: So what are the three easiest ways to make a home feel calmer?

First, I always turn the overhead lights off. During the day, I try to rely on natural light. In the UK, we don’t always benefit from much of that, so then I turn to table lamps, softer lighting and floor lamps.

Second is scent. Having signature scents at home does something to your nervous system where you just exhale, you breathe deeper and your body relaxes. So I’d say that scent and candles are really important for calm.

And third is clearing and making space. Clearing the surfaces, tidying a little and letting things reset. When you have clear surfaces, your mind hasn’t got lots of things to look at, and so that evokes more calm and tranquility.

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Q: Why did you choose to theme the candles around different times of day?

A: Because our homes are never just one mood.

I really wanted to give people three deliberate and intentional points in the day where they could go out of their way to light one of these candles, to really reflect and mirror what’s going on at that time.

Q: When would you light the Rêves D’Èze candle?

A: I would light Rêves D’Èze in the morning. It has notes of Basil, Mint and Eucalyptus, and those really speak to the start of the day. It smells like when you step outside and the fresh air just hits your face.

Q: What does “Time Well Spent” mean to you personally?

A: Time Well Spent was very much designed with golden hour in mind, because golden hour is my favourite time of day, whatever season we’re in. It’s a time when I feel really grateful for the day, and this candle reflects that softness with notes of Sandalwood, Plum and Cardamom.

Q: Describe the ideal “Midnight Cashmere” evening…

A: When the house is at its quietest and calmest, and it’s just a very cosy time of the evening. This has notes of Smoke, Cashmere and Amber. It’s for a time when you feel cocooned and you’re just not going to move…

Q: If you could describe the collection in three words, what would they be?

A: Sensorial, tactile and evocative.

Q: Why candles?

A: I’ve been writing about how to bring calm into your home for over a decade, and scent is fundamental to that, and I really do believe that you can’t design any kind of room or space without a signature scent.

I was also able to design a three-wick candle. By having three wicks, it means that you’ve got more wax, and the scent reaches more of the space you’re trying to fill.

Q: Did any parts of the development process surprise you?

A: The way perfumers talk about candles, and the way that they build them, is all actually very technical. It’s very similar to the way that architects talk about load-bearing walls! When we were building and designing the candles, and each scent, you have to layer the notes. You have base notes, heart notes, top notes. It’s just very similar to the way that you design and build a house.

Q: Tell us about the vessel design.

A: I was really, really pleased to be able to introduce ceramic to Beauty Pie’s beautiful collection of glass candles. I think ceramic is a really exciting material to work with. I really wanted to design a candle that was useful and beautiful, and something that doesn’t get left behind or thrown away. I wanted it to be a keepsake.

Q: We love a bit of rule-breaking at Beauty Pie. What’s one interior design rule that you completely ignore?

A: Everything matching. I just feel like things shouldn’t match. I love asymmetrical design, I love design where you pair different textures and materials. I just think that’s what brings homes uniqueness and personality.

Q: What is something people are always surprised to learn about you?

A: I’m actually quite a restless person. So although I’ve spent my life talking about calm, and I write about calm, I’m actually always on the go.

Q: How do you personally reset after a busy day?

A: I’m often in London week to week, or I’m with my daughters, and so my version of resetting is just being at home, taking all of my makeup off, putting my comfy clothes on, hair up, and lighting a candle.

Q: You’re a less-is-more person when it comes to skincare. Any Beauty Pie products make the cut?

A: I have a few favourite Beauty Pie products. I love the Silk Dip liquid blush, and the Under-eye corrector. I also start my mornings with the Triple Hyaluronic Acid Serum.

Q: And one more thing – should you burn the good candle or save it?

A: Always burn the good candle!

Pretty much daily, somebody asks me which BEAUTY PIE products are my favourite. Which ones constitute ‘ride or dies’. How many serums (or superdrops) I really layer on to prevent the inevitable.

The truth isn’t on my bathroom shelf. It’s in the things I’ve emptied out that are sitting in a bin on my bathroom floor, waiting to be rinsed and recycled.

Which BEAUTY PIE products I use…

…is a ridiculously difficult question to answer. Because this changes constantly, when I’m testing new formulas, revisiting old lab submissions and reminding myself of why something we launched 5 years ago still beats the newest ‘try hard’ on the block. (I reject hundreds of lab submissions, even mid-project, because something we’ve already launched is just better.)

Plus, I rotate my skincare and makeup with the seasons. What I’m using in January will not bear much resemblance to what I’m slapping on with aplomb in August (except for the ABC + SPF, obviously). And if we’re in NPD high-season at BEAUTY PIE, the side of my sink might look like some kind of speed dating event for elasticity (or hydration, or brightening) serums.

Which is why the most ‘honest’ answer I can give to the ‘what do YOU use?’ question is what’s in my ‘empties’. A rather unglamorous white metal IKEA basket with a wooden handle that sits on the floor until full (when I use it first and foremost as a physical reorder list, before rinsing and recycling).

My ‘empties basket’ is not influenced by TikTok or K-Beauty formula novelty, or the latest trend in snail mucus serums. It’s the cold hard truth of what is worth using up all the way to the end if you’re a skincare expert that’s been doing this for decades. And that is the highest compliment any beauty product can get. (Any beauty junkie will know this. There are entire YouTube channels that ‘do’ empties.)

In fact, using something until the bottom of the bottle? It’s surprisingly rare. Think about your own bathroom.

Somewhere in it is a moisturiser that you abandoned for a more exciting one. Your shower stall probably holds at any given moment three half-used shampoos. There’s that super-expensive-but-not-so-exciting serum that you keep meaning to use up. And 87 lipsticks bought for occasions that you’ll never really wear (until you break out of your lipstick ‘rut’).

You’ll agree, no? Beauty optimism is always hovering around, but beauty commitment is the real deal.

My empties basket? That’s the ‘commitment basket’.

And right now, here’s what’s in it that I need to reorder.

AcidEnzyme Face & Body Wash

Originally formulated for people with bumpy skin or back and chest acne, or teenagers with ‘breakout face’, I’ve started to use as a double-exfoliating wash (as the name implies, it has acids and it has enzymes) on heavy sunscreen days to make sure I strip away all the sunscreen from my neck, chest and arms.

Then I discovered it gives the smoothest leg shave imaginable.

And if you have those tiny rough bumps on arms or legs, you really should never be without a bottle.

It’s one of those products that every household with a teenager and anyone who shaves kind of has to have.

Also incredible on razor bumps, btw.

YouthBomb Five

A fully depleted set of the YouthBomb Five, plus my very first empty bottle of YouthBomb Advanced Renewal Oil (launched just a couple of months ago). These I deploy for the Retinol, Niacinamide, Vitamin C, the Peptides, the doctor-developed extreme glow, the collagen boosting, the plumping and the cell youthspan-extending – courtesy of GGA AKA RENOVAGE – which lengthens your skin cell telomeres so your face, well, holds up longer.

Also, I am over 40. Way. This is the ticket/shortcut/just-do-it-skincare if you’re over 40. Plus SPF, obviously.

Stronger Shinier Hair Shampoo & Elastic Repair Treatment

Another tube of Stronger Shinier Hair Strengthening Shampoo, emptied. Because my hair is spectacularly fine. Think baby hair with some highlights, some lowlights. And I’ve realised that sometimes I need conditioner, but most of the time, I need reinforcements. I use Elastic Repair Treatment in place of conditioner twice a week, as professional-strength support. In fact, I panic a little when I run low on this.

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Daily Magnesium

I take two every evening around 8pm without fail. And my sleep is 100% sounder. It also seems to have put a stop to the 3am lower leg cramps, so I’m very happy about that!

Chollagen Powder

Possibly the easiest way to ensure you take your daily hydrolysed collagen peptides, if that’s something that you’re trying to commit to. Supplement claim regulations are strict, so we can’t say anything about your joints feeling more elastic, your feet not hurting in the morning, your jawline feeling a heck of a lot firmer with regular use, but I go through one tub of this a month.

I’ve also finished two jars of YouthBomb Elasticity Support.

Do you detect a theme developing?

Dr Glycolic Glow Toner

Twice a week. Good cleanse first. Cotton pad. T-Zone. Back of ears. Done. Simple. Effective.

Also £18 (if you’re a member) and it lasts for a year.

Orris Florentina Body Crème

I. Am. Officially. Obsessed. (Also officially obsessed with the original Super Healthy Skin orange scented version, but.. variety.)

I have also just found out that the reason that the ‘bulk’ is so expensive for this stuff (it’s not an inexpensive cream to make) is that the chassis is actually the same as a certain luxury French brand’s face cream. Which explains quite a lot.

Hyper Beach Eau de Parfum

This has entered what fragrance conservationists would describe as a ‘vulnerable’ phase.

This summer’s batch is now on fumes. People coming in to grab the new Stole The Morning have seemingly also been grabbing themselves a side bottle of Hyper Beach (who wouldn’t, really). So we’re down to the last bottles.

I’m ordering three backups. I highly recommend getting one before they’re gone.

Featherlight SPF50

You know why.

If you’re in the USA, where this stuff is not yet allowed, I apologise for even mentioning our iconic SPF50 (and for spelling apologise the British way). But we do have this fabulous mineral SPF 30 for you. Sunscreen isn’t the exciting part of your skincare, but it does ensure all that effort you’re making (the layering, the dropping, the LED-masking) isn’t going to waste.

Ok, that’s it (for the moment at least).

I’ve still got many other ‘daily faves’ mid-flight and not in the recycling bin yet.

But for the last two weeks, these are the items that have survived distraction, curiosity and having to test 10 new lab samples on various parts of my face and body.

And if something keeps making it into the empties basket, it’s because in my beauty routine it’s irreplaceable.

I’d love to know what’s in yours.

The thing about fragrance prices is that nobody talks about them honestly. You walk into a department store, you’re handed a blotter, you catch something extraordinary, turn the bottle over, see the price - and put it back on the shelf. This has always happened. The difference now is the numbers on the bottom are even more eye-watering than ever before.

Niche fragrance (the artisanal, independent, often single-ingredient-obsessed end of the market) has entered a new pricing era. What the beauty world classifies as “premium” fragrances now run from £80 to £250, “luxury” fragrances are priced between £250 and £600, and “ultra-luxury” creations that go well beyond that. Between 2020 and 2025, luxury fragrance prices surged across the board - and the niche segment is growing faster than any other category in beauty, at more than 9% annually, which means more brands, more launches, and increasingly ambitious price points.

So why does a bottle of Eau de Parfum cost what it costs? And more importantly: does exceptional quality require that number?

The answer starts in the south of France, and ends somewhere rather more uncomfortable.

It All Starts in Grasse

About 25 kilometres inland from Cannes, in the hills of Provence, sits the town that made modern perfumery possible. Grasse has been growing fragrant flowers since the 16th century. Its specific terroir, the altitude, the Mediterranean climate softened by alpine proximity, the particular chemistry of its soil, produces florals with a depth that other growing regions cannot replicate. This is not marketing. It is measurable.

Grasse Jasmine Absolute, for example, costs upwards of €12,000 per kilogram. Rose de Mai, the distinctive Centifolia Rose cultivated in Grasse, commands between €8,000 and €14,000 per kilogram of absolute, depending on the vintage. To produce one kilogram of that rose absolute requires approximately five thousand kilograms of petals, picked by hand at dawn, before the volatile compounds begin to degrade. (You are not paying for branding when you buy a fragrance made with genuine Grasse rose. You are paying for arithmetic.)

What the fragrance industry doesn’t always tell you, though, is which fragrances actually use exceptional materials at meaningful levels. And the answer, of course, is: not all of them.

Where Your Money Goes: The Markup Breakdown

Here is the number that tends to surprise people. In a £150 bottle of designer perfume, the actual fragrance ingredients, the scented liquid itself, may represent somewhere between £1.50 and £10 worth of raw material. The juice. The thing you’re buying. One to two percent of the retail price

So where does the rest go? Several places at once.

Packaging is the first destination. Heavy crystal flacons, custom glass moulds that can cost £50,000 to commission, magnetic closures, embossed outer boxes: the bottle and box of a luxury fragrance typically cost four to six times more to produce than the liquid inside. This is worth knowing the next time you admire the weight of a bottle.

Marketing is the second, and larger, destination. In European markets, fragrance brands spend 35 to 40% of their revenues on advertising. Celebrity endorsement deals, the ones involving faces you recognise standing in deserts looking dazzling, run into the tens of millions. A single full-page advertisement in a major fashion magazine can cost tens of thousands of pounds, too. And these costs can, of course, be passed directly to you.

Then comes retail. Department stores can take a margin of between 45% and 60% on every fragrance they stock. That bottle changes hands several times before it reaches the glass counter, and each intermediary in the chain adds their cut. In the end, for a mainstream luxury fragrance, marketing, packaging, and distribution account for 80 to 90% of the retail price.

Not ideal, obviously.

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The Perfumers Aren’t Playing Along

Here is the thing that the traditional luxury fragrance model would rather you didn’t know. Many of the world’s most celebrated perfumers, the artisans who actually create the scents behind those expensive bottles, do not work exclusively for expensive brands. They work for fragrance houses whose clients might span the spectrum from uber-luxury to drugstore.

The expertise doesn’t live inside a particular price bracket. Training as a master perfumer takes years, the study of thousands of individual materials, and the development of what the industry calls a “nose”: an almost forensic ability to identify, layer, and balance raw ingredients into something that works emotionally as well as chemically. That knowledge doesn’t become more or less available depending on what a brand charges.

Case in point - Master Perfumer Frank Voekl created our Love The Remix and Brazilian Lime, Fig Leaves & Tea scents - and was the nose for Le Labo’s Santal 33 and Glossier You).

What changes between a £35 fragrance and a £250 one is rarely the perfumer. It is more often the marketing budget, the distribution strategy, the weight of the bottle, and the number of zeroes the brand has decided to place after the first digit.

What Actually Makes a Fragrance Worth Wearing?

This is the more important part.

A genuinely exceptional Eau de Parfum has three non-negotiable qualities: it smells interesting on the skin (not just on a blotter), it evolves over the course of a day, and it lasts. These qualities come from the quality and concentration of the raw materials in the formula, from the skill of the perfumer who composed it, and from where those materials were sourced.

None of this requires a celebrity campaign. It requires access to exceptional ingredients, a skilled perfumer, and a willingness to charge for what’s in the bottle, not for what’s on the billboard.

Not Your Average Luxury Perfume

At Beauty Pie, we make all of our fragrances in Grasse. The same region. The same fragrance creators. The same access to the same extraordinary raw materials that go into bottles costing seven times more.

What we don’t do is spend 40% of revenue on advertising campaigns. We don’t pay for retail distribution, premium counter placements, or heavy crystal flacons. We pass that saving directly to you, our members.

The result is a collection of Eau de Parfums formulated by internationally recognised perfumers, made in the fragrance capital of the world, at prices that reflect the quality of what’s inside the bottle rather than the scale of what wasn’t spent promoting it.

There’s Stole The Morning, our extrait-strength perfume that captures the scent of fresh meadows at sunrise. (Yes, it’s Tte kind of scent that makes other people turn around on public transport to ask what you’re wearing).

Orris Florentina is the sophisticated, sun-drenched Italian one: a hymn to pure, precious Tuscan Iris Root. Iris root (Orris) is one of the most labour-intensive ingredients in perfumery: the rhizomes require three years in the ground before they develop their characteristic powdery, slightly violet quality. This one earns its complexity.

Love (The Remix) is the ultimate scent of white flowers, created by one of the world’s best perfumers. White florals, tuberose, gardenia, jasmine, are technically demanding to compose because they can tip either too sweet or too sharp. This one does neither.

The expensive, citrussy Beauty Pie signature scent is Orange Absolute. Bright, clean, and genuinely lasting. The sort of citrus fragrance that, unusually, doesn’t disappear by 11am.

Brazilian Lime, Fig Leaves & Tea is the perfect, refreshing, zesty cologne-like one. For days when you want to smell like the best version of air. Lighter in register, longer on skin than most eau de colognes.

Our soft, addictive, elegant Sandalwood scent is Le Smash Santal. Sandalwood is the olfactory equivalent of a well-cut cashmere coat: it makes everything around it smell better, and it is deeply difficult to stop wearing.

Let’s talk about lipstick. (Not the ‘trend cycle’ version of that conversation, the one that breathlessly declares lipstick “back” every eighteen months as if it ever actually left), but real talk, about what we actually want to wear on our lips right now.

Lipstick is a beauty icon. It always has been. There is a particular pleasure in the ritual of it: the weight of the tube, the rich colour, the deliberate gesture. It belongs in a category of beauty objects that transcend product and become something closer to object of desire. No one is throwing out their lipstick collection. No one is renouncing lipstick. We are not that sensible.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t also want something new.

The problem with lipstick (and the problem with everything that was supposed to replace it)

Here is where we’ve collectively landed: beautiful, full-bodied, colour-saturated lipsticks are amazing, and also slightly demanding. A richly-pigmented classic requires commitment. You apply it carefully. You reapply after lunch. You are aware of it. This is part of its charm, but it can also demand something of the wearer: something that you don’t always have the wherewithal to give.

So the labs gave us alternatives. Liquid lipsticks, which deliver intense colour and staying power in exchange for a flatter, more powdery finish. Tinted crayons and balms, which are genuinely lovely, nourishing, effortless, but more of a whisper of colour, the beauty equivalent of a polite suggestion. Glosses, which were back, then polarising, then back again as oils and again as butters, and which occupy their own aesthetic category somewhere between “undeniably pretty” and “I’m not cycling anywhere.”

What we want now is something that gives you it all: the colour presence of a lipstick, the feel of a balm, and the modern finish of a gloss, all in one product, all without asking anything of you as a wearer. The kind of lip product that looks like you made an effort without requiring any.

We found it in one of our favourite beauty labs in Korea. Naturally.

Why Korea is changing the makeup game (and has been for a while)

You will have heard about Korean skincare. The multi-step routines. The glass skin. The fermented ingredients. The textures that feel like nothing you’ve experienced from any other cosmetic tradition. Korean skincare has, at this point, comprehensively colonised the global beauty industry, and for good reason: the science is serious, the innovation is relentless, and the philosophy (skin health as long game, not quick fix) is one that makes total sense.

What gets talked about less is the makeup.

The same labs, the same scientific rigour, the same philosophy of skin compatibility and wearability that made Korean skincare genuinely transformative are now being applied to makeup formulas. And the results are every bit as exciting.

At Beauty Pie, some of our most-loved makeup products come from elite Korean labs. Wrap Star Tubing Mascara, which changed the minds of everyone who thought they’d found their mascara long ago. Silk Dip Luminous Liquid Blush, the kind of blush that looks like you came back from a weekend in the countryside, not like you’ve applied blush. Unlipstick Modern Matte Lip Tint, which delivers colour without any of the density or dryness you’d expect. The Perfect Waterproof Mascara, which does exactly what it says and nothing it shouldn’t.

What unites them: each formula pushes the boundaries of its category. Each asks almost nothing of the wearer in return for something that looks genuinely elevated. And each exists because Korean labs approach makeup the way the best skincare labs approach actives: with a curiosity about what is actually possible, rather than what is simply acceptable.

Futurelipstick Deluxe Shine is the latest in this high-performance roll-call. We think you’re going to like it.

What it actually is (and why the formula is smarter than it looks)

At its most basic, Futurelipstick Deluxe Shine is three things at once:

1. It is a lipstick: richly pigmented, with colour that is definitely present, visible, intentional.

2. It is a balm: formulated with Squalane, which delivers visible plumping by attracting and retaining moisture at the lip surface, and Vitamin E, which nourishes and supports the skin barrier of the lip. The texture is genuinely buttery. The colour glides. There is no dragging, no patchy application, no moment of grimacing and hoping for the best.

3. It is a gloss: but a grown-up one. The finish is high shine and modern without being wet, sticky, or what one might charitably describe as “tweenage.” The kind of gloss finish that photographs beautifully and also looks just as good in person.

No touch-ups required. No careful positioning over soup. No recalibrating your relationship with food. The lipstick just gets on with it.

The four shades (and the thinking behind them)

Futurelipstick Deluxe Shine comes in four shades. Each was created to work on anyone, whether you are reaching for something neutral and barely-there, or something with a little more intention.

• FLING is a warm-toned soft brown with just the merest hint of deep berry. It is the shade that looks extraordinary with a touch of bronzer or a deep blush, a Silk Dip in Muga, for instance, and which manages to feel both cool and deeply flattering. Low effort. High return.

• INSTINCT is a warm-toned light pink nude: that perfect, slightly toasted deep pink neutral that everyone is always looking for but rarely finds without the chalky undertone that can make nudes look flat or clinical on the lip. This one just looks chic. Expensive, without the price tag.

• DAMZEL is a neutral rose pink, and the shade to reach for when you want to add radiance to your complexion without reaching for much else. This is the one that works miraculously on the face as a whole: a lip application and your whole face looks brighter. That is not an accident. Neutral rose has a way of harmonising with the face’s natural colouring in a way more dramatic shades don’t.

• SLIP is a warm-toned peach - that colour of expensive underwear - for when you want soft, pretty, and no-makeup. Its slightly pinky-peachiness is precisely what keeps it modern rather than saccharine, a distinction that is harder to achieve in a peach lip shade than it sounds. Really clever, genuinely cool. The shade for when you want to look like you woke up like this, even though you very much did not.

The bit about price (because this is Beauty Pie, and we always say the bit about price)

The formula in Futurelipstick Deluxe Shine was not created cheaply. It was found in one of the most technically advanced cosmetic labs in Korea, developed with ingredients selected for their quality and efficacy, not their cost-effectiveness. The kind of formula that, in another brand’s hands, would arrive in packaging that costs more than the formula and retail for considerably more than it needs to.

At Beauty Pie, we don’t charge you all the old-world luxury beauty markups. Which is why we’re where all the smart people shop for beauty products now.

Because the most modern thing about a lipstick formula this good is not, in the end, the finish or the shade range or the skincare ingredients. It’s about the difference between choosing to buy beauty products that cost a fortune. Or choosing the ones that just work like they do.

At Beauty Pie, we partner with the same world-class labs and use the same exceptional ingredients as the ‘big guys’ – just without the traditional retailer markups.

The result? Exceptionally effective moisturizers. For a lot less. Take your pick…

Whipped? Intense? Japanese?

From our favourite lab in Japan, the Triple Hyaluronic Acid Deep Moisture Miracle Cream is an incredibly light-textured but deeply moisturizing elixir is in our Triple Hyaluronic Acid collection, formulated around three weights of Hyaluronic Acid for instant and slower-release hydration. The unfathomably-light-for-the-nourishment whipped cream is also formulated with 4% Idealift, a gravity-defying Peptide and 1% tightening Exopolysaccharides to instantly firm skin and help fill in wrinkles.

An ‘Identity Crisis’ Serum/Cream Hybrid?

Shinkai Electrolyte Drench is the face cream for people who think they don’t like wearing face cream. It’s an all-in-one cream-serum powered by an electrolyte-rich Deep Sea Mineral Infusion, youth-boosting Tripeptide Complex and firming Kombucha Essence for skin that looks plumper, fresher and hydrated. It’s perfect for summer, or if your skin is prone to dehydration (it’s not just a hydrator, it’s a cream that teaches skin how to hold its drink) - or if you prefer a light, almost serum-like texture for your day and/or night cream.

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Something Especially For Sensitive Types?

Dry? Sensitive? Meet your new comfort cream. This biomimetic Ceramide-gel Cica moisturizer helps calm, soothe and strengthen the skin barrier while delivering long-lasting hydration. Formulated with Centella Asiatica, AKA CICA, a powerful skin calming agent from triterpenoids to soothe irritated skin, plus a Biomimetic-Ceramide Gel Matrix that supports the skin’s barrier function for long-lasting hydration.

With A Side Of Retinol?

This superstar Swiss overnight moisturiser is perfect for both first-time Retinol users or anyone who wants a gentle option. With 1% Encapsulated Retinol, antioxidant Ficucell Vita, Hyaluronic Acid and vitamins E & C, it’s super-smoothing, fine-line tackling, brightening, and possibly the best ‘starter’ Retinol ever. Follow with SPF by day.

Or… Just An All-Round Overachiever

...of Super Healthy Skin Creams. Our ‘one and done’ moisturiser was described by one dermatologist as the ‘kitchen sink’ of daily face creams, thanks to its next-gen, actives-packed formula. Formulated by a Swiss skincare genius, with 3% stable Vit-C Complex and 2% Niacinamide, Hyaluronic Acid, O-Lift Complex and Grape Stem Cells. Brightening. Firming. Visibly plumping and fine-line smoothing.

There are currently people on TikTok applying sunscreen with makeup brushes, measuring it with teaspoons, layering four different SPFs simultaneously, and behaving as though a missed patch on their left nostril is a matter of national security.

At the same time, there are millions of people who still don’t wear sunscreen at all.

Welcome to the modern SPF conversation.

A place where good advice, bad advice, fear-mongering, marketing, pseudoscience and genuine dermatology have all been thrown into a blender and served over ice.

How Sunscreen Became A Personality Trait

Perhaps the strangest development of the last decade is that sunscreen has moved beyond being a product and become an identity.

Some people now talk about SPF the way CrossFit enthusiasts talk about deadlifts. But the irony is that most dermatologists are remarkably practical. They generally focus on sensible habits rather than performative rituals - while the internet often prefers theatre.

So we thought we’d separate fact from fiction, because sunscreen is important. (Just not for some of the reasons the internet thinks it is.)

Lie #1: If You Don’t Wear SPF Every Day, Your Face Will Fall Off

You’d think, if you spent enough time on social media, that stepping outside without SPF50 is roughly equivalent to smoking three packs of cigarettes while lying on a tanning bed.

Reality is slightly more nuanced.

Sun exposure is absolutely the biggest external contributor to visible skin ageing.

It’s also a major risk factor for skin cancer. But context matters.

Walking from your house to your car is not the same as spending six hours on a yacht in Mykonos (you lucky thing, you).

A 10 minute dog walk at 8 am on a cloudy Tuesday in Cincinnati is not the same as a beach holiday in Dubai.

Risk exists on a spectrum.

Unfortunately, nuance doesn’t go viral.

Panic does.

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Lie #2: SPF 100 Is Twice As Good As SPF 50

This is one of the influencer’s favourite magic tricks.

People see 100 and assume ‘double the protection of 50’.

Not true.

SPF50 blocks approximately 98% of UVB radiation. SPF100 blocks approximately 99%.

The difference is real. 1% kind of real.

But it is nowhere near as dramatic as the numbers suggest.

This is the sunscreen equivalent of upgrading from first class to slightly more first class.

Lie #3: Mineral Sunscreens Are Always Better

This argument has become the skincare version of the Apple versus Android debate.

Both camps have become slightly exhausting. The truth? The best sunscreen is the one you wear regularly.

Chemical filters have improved dramatically, and mineral filters have advantages.

Both, it could be argued, have disadvantages.

Neither category possesses magical moral superiority.

What matters most is broad-spectrum protection, adequate application and consistent use. Boring, but true.

Lie #4: You Need A Full Shot Glass Of Sunscreen Every Morning

TikTok has become obsessed with sunscreen quantity - and technically, many influencers are not wrong.

The SPF on the bottle is tested using a specific application thickness.

Use less and you may get less protection. Fair enough. But social media has turned sunscreen into an Olympic event.

If your choice is between a huge uncomfortable amount you hate wearing OR a comfortable amount you’ll actually wear every day, then of course real life matters: compliance beats perfection every single time. (The fitness industry learned this years ago. The beauty industry is still catching up).

Lie #5: You Need To Reapply SPF Every Two Hours No Matter What

This advice originally came from conditions involving significant UV exposure.

Think: beaches, skiing, sailing and outdoor sports; NOT working in accounting. If you’re spending the day indoors and occasionally walking to make coffee, your sunscreen needs may not resemble a lifeguard’s.

Again: context. Always context.

Lie #6: Sunscreen Is The Entire Anti-Ageing Conversation

This might be the biggest misconception of all. And of course - sunscreen is important. Unquestionably so.

But social media increasingly talks about it as though it is the sole determinant of ageing. And it isn’t.

Skin ageing is influenced by genetics. Hormones. Menopause. Smoking. Sleep. Alcohol. Stress. Nutrition. Environmental exposure. Skincare routines

If SPF alone explained ageing, every dermatologist would look 23. They do not.

The Real Reason You Should Wear SPF

Not because TikTok said so, or an influencer shined a UV camera at somebody’s face.

Not because someone frightened you into it.

Wear sunscreen because:

● It helps reduce cumulative UV damage

● It helps reduce pigmentation issues

● It supports skin health

● It reduces skin cancer risk

Those reasons are already good enough - no exaggeration required.

The Bottom Line

Wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen you genuinely enjoy using.

Apply enough.

Wear it consistently.

Be more diligent during periods of high UV exposure.

Don’t panic if life occasionally gets in the way.

And remember:

The goal isn’t to win the internet’s sunscreen Olympics.

The goal is to have healthy skin twenty years from now.

Those are very different competitions.

Thanks for reading! Just a note that we have different links for our UK and US websites. To see our sunscreens in the UK, click here. For the US, click here.

Ten years ago, if your partner walked into the living room and found you wearing a glowing red silicone face mask, they would probably have assumed something had gone badly wrong - alien invasion, maybe?

Today, this very same scene is practically a sign of financial responsibility. After all, you can do quite a lot of almost-dermatology-level treatments at home now.

You can DIY your own Retinoids, follow up with heavy doses of Peptides. Pack clinical-strength Vitamin C in your carry-on. Even deliver a 655nm red light therapy treatment directly to your hair and scalp from the comfort of your sofa.

At some point between the rise of wellness culture, biohacking, longevity obsession (at least skin-longevity obsession) and social media, LED masks leapt into the mainstream bathroom essential category.

(Or bedroom, if you’re one of those who velcros yours on every morning when you hit the ‘snooze’ button.)

Of course, if you analyse the data, the LED trend didn’t happen by accident.

The Beauty Industry’s Favourite New Category

Every decade has a beauty obsession.

The 1990s gave us exfoliation (AHAs, BHAs, microdermabrasion. The 2000s gave us anti-ageing (Retinol, SPF obsession, Vitamin C). The 2010s gave us injectables (Kybella, Juvederm, Restylane). And the 2020s appear to have given us devices.

Because devices solve a very modern problem: we all want visible results, but few of us want needles, downtime, swelling, bruising.

LED technology sits neatly in the middle. It’s science-y enough to deliver serious results. Easy enough to feel ‘doable’, every couple of days.

And there’s something about remembering to strap yourself in and hit that button (while meditating, or doing 10 minutes of somatic yoga, or listening to your morning positive affirmations) that makes you feel like you’ve actually accomplished something.

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Then Came The Longevity Crowd

What really accelerated the LED wave wasn’t the beauty industry - it was the ‘longevity’ trend.

Suddenly, Brian Johnson was telling people not to die on a Netflix documentary, and people everywhere were scrambling to get on the bandwagons of recovery, inflammation, cellular health and ‘better ageing’.

It was like the beauty industry and the wellness industry started dating. And LED was a right swipe for both.

Which is why you’ll now find red-light devices being discussed by dermatologists, athletes, wellness founders, tech bros and aestheticians with equal enthusiasm.

The Iron Man Effect

Now, let’s be honest, part of LED-mania is psychological.

Skincare products can feel a bit passive. You apply them regularly (especially your ABC + SPFs).

You wait. You have expectations after one full skin cycle (6 weeks). But there’s a willing suspension of disbelief until you see your face change.

On the other hand, devices feel active. You’re actually doing something. We humans love that feeling. It’s why Pelotons sell, and fitness trackers sell. And why people buy standing desks and cold plunge pools and weighted training vests. Of course, whether or not those things get used consistently is a very individual thing.

And no, perching your vitamin gummies on top of your standing desk does not ‘pretty much’ mean you’re using that desk daily. (Did you read the recent headline: Sitting is killing us?)

But Do LED Masks Actually Work?

Here’s the truth - compared with a lot of other beauty trends (South Korean snail mucus, anyone?) the underlying science for LED is very respectable.

It’s not ‘facelift’ territory. No miracles will be experienced, nor will it shave twenty years off your face.

But LED therapy is legitimate, particularly when used consistently over time.

Red and near-infrared light are used to support skin function so that it looks smoother, firmer and more even over time. And the same lights (red and near-infrared) are associated with collagen-production-related pathways, can reduce visible redness and deliver general skin regeneration.

The catch? Consistency.

LED masks work best as a habit. Three or four sessions a week. Regularly. They will do nothing when deployed as an emergency flare you fire at your face three days before a wedding.

This is where at-home devices make sense. Use your Face LED Mask while repeating your morning positive affirmations on Spotify. Your Neck LED Mask while answering emails. Your Hand LED Mask while watching Law & Order reruns.

Low drama. Low effort. Much better odds of it actually happening.

Because the real question isn’t:

“Do LED Masks really work?”

The real question is:

“Will you actually use your LED Mask?”

Because even the best device in the world has a remarkably poor track record when left in a drawer.

The Bottom Line on LED Masks?

To LED or not to LED?

Well, LED masks aren’t popular because they’re fashionable; they’re popular because they sit at the intersection of three powerful modern desires: to look younger, to avoid expensive invasive procedures (and pain), and to feel like we’re keeping our skin as healthy and ‘youthful-looking’ as it possibly can be. (While simultaneously plastering ourselves in Swiss Retinoids, powerful stable Vitamin C, Peptides, Niacinamides and daily SPF, obviously.)

A critical mass of people (experts included) have given LED-ing the ‘thumbs up’. Which means, yes, as part of a modern skincare routine, you will probably want to LED.

But if you travelled back ten years and showed someone a room full of average adults voluntarily sitting on sofas watching Netflix dressed like glowing stormtroopers, they probably wouldn’t have believed you.

Beauty Pie’s C-Wave Facial LED Masks come factory-direct from the manufacturer in Asia, with the same technology as the £395 Mask that’s on the market. We cut out the middlemen, so you can buy one for £199 (and even less, if you’re a Beauty Pie Member).

In the USA? Our masks are $235 (versus $299 Typical Retail) and again, you save even more if you join Beauty Pie.

Here’s a beauty industry secret worth knowing:

No brand is an island.

There has been a certain amount of social-media hoohah lately about who really develops beauty products, who owns the formulas and whether two brands can sell products built around similar technology.

The internet, having already appointed itself restaurant critic, political strategist and relationship counsellor, is now Head of Cosmetic Chemistry.

So let’s explain how product development actually works.

Because the truth is not especially scandalous. It is simply more complicated than a 14-second video featuring two ingredient lists and the Law & Order sound effect.

First, who actually invents a beauty product?

Sometimes the original idea comes from a brand.

Sometimes it comes from a specialist laboratory that has developed proprietary technology, such as microscopic bubbles containing Omega-9 oils (as found in our Micro-Caviar Mask, above) or a system that suspends soft oil droplets inside a formula (see our Deluxe Body Moisture Crème).

Sometimes it begins with a raw-material supplier that has created a patented ingredient, an encapsulated Retinol like this, a Granactive Retinoid like this or a particular Peptide complex like the incredible one used here.

And sometimes it is a collaboration between all three.

A laboratory might combine its proprietary encapsulation system with a patented Peptide complex, then formulate the technology into a face cream exclusively for one brand.

Which is admittedly less romantic than imagining a lone beauty founder having a revelation at 3 a.m. and sprinting towards a laboratory in a silk dressing gown.

It is also much closer to reality.

But here is the part that matters more than the origin story:

What is in the finished formula, at what level, how stable is it and how effectively is it delivered to the skin?

Because a fascinating ingredient added at decorative levels is still largely decoration. It is the skincare equivalent of putting one book on a shelf and calling the room a library.

So how does Beauty Pie develop products?

At Beauty Pie, we work with many of the world’s leading laboratories, manufacturers and ingredient suppliers.

That includes laboratories with proprietary technologies, suppliers developing cutting-edge actives and, often, partners willing to make an exceptional existing formula available to us.

Most of our skincare products are formulated from scratch.

With makeup, we often work with elite laboratories that offer proven formula technologies to several brands. This allows the laboratory to spread the considerable cost of research, development and testing across multiple customers.

We test extensively, select the formulas we believe are outstanding, choose our shades, textures and finishes, and package them as Beauty Pie.

And this is where the plot thickens.

We may visit a manufacturing partner and be shown an eyeshadow, lipstick or complexion formula built around technology also used by other brands in the prestige beauty market.

The differences might include the packaging. The shades. The ever so slight fragrance. The precise amounts of the ‘support’ ingredients.

And, of course, the big difference is what happens to the price after the product leaves the factory and begins its glamorous journey through branding, distribution, retail and a campaign involving an extremely expensive cheekbone.

For us, innovation does not become less valuable simply because it originated in a laboratory rather than under our own roof.

Your serum does not need an auteur.

It needs to be brilliantly formulated.

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What Beauty Pie does differently

Beauty Pie gives members and customers access to exceptional beauty products without many of the traditional brand markups that can accumulate between the manufacturer and the person actually applying the product.

So when we evaluate a formula, we are not asking:

Who thought of it first?

We are asking:

Is the technology outstanding? Is the formula excellent? And does it deliver a brilliant experience for our customers?

To understand why this matters, it helps to know the main ways beauty products are developed.

And no, “someone found it on TikTok” is not technically one of them.

1. The completely bespoke formula

This is the beauty equivalent of commissioning an architect to create a house from the ground up.

The laboratory formulates something specifically for the brand. Under some agreements, the brand may own that exact formula permanently, meaning nobody else can sell it.

This is generally the most exclusive route. It is also usually the most expensive and the slowest.

It is the Grand Designs of product development, hopefully with fewer conversations about the windows arriving from Belgium.

The formula is fully custom and, depending on the contract, may be permanently owned by the brand.

2. The bespoke formula with limited exclusivity

The product is still formulated from scratch, but the ownership agreement is different.

A brand might have exclusive rights to the formula for three, five or ten years. After that period, the laboratory may be permitted to use parts of the formula or technology elsewhere.

Think of it as a highly committed relationship with a contractually agreed review date.

The formula is custom, but the exclusivity is time-limited.

3. The stock formula

Now we reach one of the most misunderstood corners of beauty.

A stock formula is a product the laboratory has already developed. It may already have performance data, stability information or a history of successful production, although the final packaged product must still go through the appropriate testing and validation.

A brand selects the formula, chooses its packaging and brings it to market.

This can be a faster route to launch, but the brand does not usually own the underlying formula.

And “stock” does not mean “bad”.

Ready-to-wear fashion is not automatically inferior to couture. It simply uses a different development model.

The formula is already established, development may be faster and ownership normally remains with the laboratory.

4. The modified stock formula

This is where things get more interesting.

A brand begins with an existing formula and requests changes.

It might add a peptide, adjust the level of vitamin C, change the fragrance, alter the finish or refine the texture.

Depending on the extent of the modifications and the commercial agreement, the brand may own or have exclusivity over that particular version.

It is the beauty equivalent of buying the very good house, replacing the kitchen, knocking through a wall and insisting that the downstairs bathroom be painted a colour called Elephants Aura.

The formula is part established and part custom.

5. The formula using proprietary laboratory technology

And now we reach the backstage talent.

Sometimes the laboratory itself owns the most important part of the innovation.

It might be a patented delivery system, a specialist encapsulation method or a sophisticated active-ingredient platform.

This technology is the laboratory’s crown jewel, so the laboratory generally retains ownership. Several brands may be given access to it, but none of them owns the underlying system.

It is rather like several film directors using the same brilliant cinematographer. The final films may look different, but some of the magic comes from the same person behind the camera.

The laboratory owns the technology. Brands license or receive access to it.

Here is the detail the ingredient-list detectives often miss

When a laboratory uses related technology across formulas for different brands, the finished products may still contain meaningful differences.

The laboratory might change the supporting ingredients, adjust certain levels, alter the fragrance or create a different texture and finish.

Brands generally do not want their products to appear identical, either in the packaging or on paper.

At the same time, reformulating is not a casual administrative exercise conducted between lunch and a 3 p.m. meeting.

Stability assessments, preservative testing, packaging compatibility and other safety and performance checks can take considerable time. Any meaningful change must be properly evaluated.

So laboratories may develop distinct versions around the same core technology rather than beginning with a completely blank screen every time.

Even Hollywood reuses good lighting.

Different ingredient lists do not always mean completely different products

This is where online beauty analysis can become a little too CSI: Bathroom Cabinet.

Consumers often assume that two products with different ingredient lists must be fundamentally different.

That is not always the case.

Two formulas may be built around the same proprietary delivery system or active-ingredient technology. The surrounding ingredients may vary, but the shared technology can still account for an important part of how both products feel and perform.

The reverse is also true.

Two products can contain many of the same familiar ingredients and still perform differently because of their concentrations, ingredient grades, processing methods, stability, pH, supporting formulation or delivery systems.

An ingredient list tells you what is present.

It does not necessarily tell you how much is present, how the ingredients were processed, how stable they remain or how effectively they are delivered to the skin.

An INCI list is useful evidence.

It is not the complete Netflix documentary. And even the Netflix documentary is, well Netflix.

Sometimes the most important similarity is not what changed.

It is the technology that stayed the same.

So is one product a “dupe” of another?

Sometimes products are genuinely similar.

Sometimes they share a finish, a format or a core laboratory technology.

Sometimes they merely come in approximately the same shade of beige packaging and the internet has decided to convene a public inquiry.

“Dupe” can be a useful piece of consumer shorthand, but it does not explain who owns the technology, how the formula was developed, what levels of actives are present or whether the products will perform in the same way.

Two products can look similar and behave differently.

They can also look different and have more in common than their branding suggests.

Beauty, like a group chat, contains nuance.

The real question to ask

Great innovation can originate anywhere: a brand, a laboratory, an ingredient supplier or a particularly productive meeting involving all three.

What matters is whether the finished product is properly formulated, appropriately tested and genuinely excellent to use.

Beauty Pie’s job is to find that innovation, access it and deliver it to our members and customers at exceptional value.

Because the cleverest thing about a beauty product should not be the mythology created around it, it should be the formula inside the bottle and the fact that it’s priced fairly, so you can use it like you mean it, without wondering whether your accountant would approve.

All four shades of our Awesome Bronze Gorgeous Sun-Kissed Bronzing Cream have now landed back in the warehouse for summer, and if history is any indication, they may not be there for long.

Made in the lab in Italy for cream bronzers, in Italy. The formula is ultra-light, matte, buildable, and soft-focus (four words that, taken together, describe something considerably harder to achieve than they individually suggest).

Into bronzers? Your aficionado sensibilities will be entirely impressed by the power of its near-imperceptible ‘second skin’ effect.

Cream bronzer-phobic? This is the one. Buildable, soft-focus, pretty much impossible to overdo.

The finish is the tell. Natural, sun-kissed, the sort of glow that reads as “spent a fortnight somewhere warm” rather than “applied a brown product to my face with some enthusiasm.”

And it comes in four perfect shades.

We get one summer shipment a year - because a jar generally lasts a year, even if you’re ‘big’ on bronze. (However, hurry, because the world cannot behave normally around a silky Italian cream bronzer).

Expensive French Riviera bronzer energy: very much present.
Luxury markup: absolutely not.
Because we’re getting you a bigger piece of the BEAUTY PIE.

Shop Awesome Bronze in the UK→
Shop Awesome Bronze in the US→

We asked our founder, beauty expert Marcia Kilgore, for the answers.

Q: CAN I GET MY DARK SPOTS TO FADE WITHOUT SPENDING £800?

A: Fortunately, yes. The winning combination is usually a Retinoid, Vitamin C - like these 30% Vit-C Serum-Capsules, some Azelaic Acid for really stubborn old spots. (Not taking out a second mortgage.) And daily SPF, of course

Q: WHY DO I HAVE PIGMENTATION THAT LOOKS LIKE A MOUSTACHE? SPECIFICALLY?

A: Usually because the skin above the lip is particularly prone to pigmentation triggered by sunlight, hormones or both. Vit C, Ferulic and Tranexamic Acids can really help - which is why we put them all in this. (And sunscreen, obviously. Always.)

Q: WHY DOES MY SKIN LOOK TIRED EVEN WHEN I'M NOT?

A: Dehydration, dullness, uneven texture and loss of radiance can all make skin look less energetic than its owner. Start with exfoliating (light bounces off smoothed skin with more enthusiasm): if you like a scrub, go for this superb, creamy-paste-like microdermabrasion-inspired formula, and if you like more of a peel, the results from this Glycolic-and-Fruit-Acids-infused 5-minute facial peel have to be seen to be believed. Then infuse with humectants - a light layer of super-hydrating serum will work beautifully - then seal with a good moisturiser.

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Q: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RETINAL AND RETINOL AGAIN?

A: Retinal is one conversion step closer to the form your skin actually uses.
Think of it as taking the express anti-wrinkle train instead of the local.

And no, retinoids don’t make the sun any stronger AND they repair your skin in real time. Wear SPF every day, use your Retinal at night, and your skin should look better post summer than it did before!

Q: WHAT HELPS 'THE NECK'?

A: The same things that help the face. Sun protection. Retinoids. Elasticity Peptides. Hydration. Consistency. LED treatments - especially this one which is specially-shaped to wear across both your neck and décolleté. Your neck's main complaint is usually being forgotten.

Q: CAN ANYTHING HELP DROOPY EYELIDS, REALLY?

A: Get this, as you get older, your skill literally shrinks. Which means if you had droopy eyes to begin with, you might start to notice it even more. But there’s ONE ingredient - BeautifEYE - that actually tightens loose eyelids - and it’s in this.

Q: WHAT GETS RID OF ROUGH BODY SKIN? CHICKEN ARMS?

A: Exfoliation. Dis-inflammation. And Rehydration. Boring but true. Oh, and using this genius face & body wash.

Q: WHAT TO DO ABOUT CHRONIC CRACKED HEELS?

A: Because they're constantly dealing with pressure, friction and foot strikes (while walking), the solution is usually regular maintenance rather than dramatic intervention. Use this foot buffer and this foot cream.

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Q: CAN I USE MY FACE RETINOL ON MY HANDS?

A: Absolutely. Or better, Retinol body cream on your body, Retinol hand cream on your hands. Hands spend years exposed to sunlight and very little time receiving skincare. SPF in the daytime, too, please.

Q: WHAT EXACTLY IS BOND REPAIR?

A: Bond repair products target structural bonds inside hair that can be weakened through colouring, heat and chemical treatments. MERCIFULLY, modern hair science has solved this problem.

Q: WHY DOES EVERY BEAUTY EXPERT SUDDENLY CARE ABOUT PEPTIDES?

A: Because skin does. Peptides help support skin's natural proteins, including collagen, making them particularly effective when unnatural levels of firmness are the goal. If you’re not sure where to start, start with a fabulous face cream. This Youthbomb Biologic Collagen Peptide Cream was made by some of the best minds in anti-ageing with a Peptide Amino Acid Complex that helps visibly lift and firm skin, as well as softening expression lines. There’s nothing like starting as you mean to go on!

NOTE:
Readers from the US! The links above will all take you to our UK landing pages - so here are the US pages, just for you:

Youthbomb 360 Body Concentrate
Super Retinol Anti-Aging Hand Cream
Bond Bombshell Hair Treatment
Youthbomb Biologic Collagen Peptide Cream
AcidEnzyme Face & Body Cleanser
Footopia Cream
Youthbomb Retinal Triple Renewal Serum
C-Wave LED Mask For Neck & Décolleté
Triple Hyaluronic Acid Elastic Lifting Eye Serum
Wonderscrub Bio-Dermabrasion Face Polish
Fruitizyme Five-Minute Facial
Superactive Capsules Extreme Vitamin C Serum
Happy Face Azelaic Acid Skin-Clearing Gel-Cream

This week, Nice Legs, our new Tinted Super Blur Body Lotion, went straight to number one. Which wasn’t entirely surprising: it’s equal parts magic and logic; a body lotion that hydrates, tints and soft-focus blurs in about thirty seconds, then washes off at the end of the day.

No streaks. No orange wrists. No sacrificing white linen trousers to the beauty gods. Just smoother, more even-looking, satiny sun-kissed legs, in 30 seconds flat.

Its winning formula has definitely helped make it a winner: t’s lightweight, buildable, hydrating and formulated with Hyaluronic Acid and Glycerine, so skin feels AND looks good.

But most importantly, it delivers a very specific kind of relief: you can put it on quickly and trust that you won’t emerge looking like an ambitious GCSE art project.

But that’s only half the story.

The more interesting question is why this particular product seems to have rushed up the ranks so fast. (It’s hit number one, on top of our most powerhouse triple-Retinoid serum, YouthBomb Extreme Retinal AND our original all-round super-cream, the Super Healthy Skin Ultimate Anti Aging Cream. It even eclipsed the return of the Japanese deep-hydration moisturiser marvel Shinkai Electrolyte Drench, which we never dreamt would happen - not this many days in a row.)

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So why does everyone want Nice Legs?

Here’s what we think.

Women are increasingly unwilling to turn beauty into admin. For years, nice summer legs came with a project plan. Exfoliate. Wait. Tan. Start negotiations with your bedsheets. Develop. Retan. Hope. Discover a mysterious dark patch on one ankle.

Meanwhile, wider culture has been moving firmly in the opposite direction.

AloYoga built an empire on wearing tights everywhere, for comfort. Left On Friday is building one on swimwear you can actually move around in. The fantasy holiday isn’t a week posing on a yacht anymore (sorry Jeff, sorry Lauren). It’s disappearing to a beach town in Costa Rica, attempting to surf, eating lunch in your swimsuit. Or at least looking like someone who might.

The point is not perfection. The point is freedom. (Also why people now micro blade their eyebrows incessantly (easier for the pencil to follow a pre-ordained shape).

Nice Legs fits neatly into this vibe shift because it asks almost nothing of you. Apply. Wash hands. Get dressed. Leave the house. No calendar invitation(s) involved.

Which brings us to another point. The product is called Nice Legs, but the appeal isn’t really about legs.

A fact many people don’t know is that Beauty Pie founder Marcia Kilgore also founded FitFlop, built on what was once considered a surprisingly radical idea: women would quite like to wear shoes that look good and feel good at the same time.
Probably while having Nice Legs, if you think about it.

More magic and logic products?

Our Youthbomb 360 Body Repair Treatment uses Retinol, Glycolic Acid and Niacinamide to help improve the appearance of old sun damage while you sleep. Our AcidEnzyme Body Cleanser helps tackle body breakouts on the chest, back and shoulders, while improving the look and feel of ‘KP’ (aka chicken skin on your upper arms) over time. Our Deluxe Moisture Body Crème, made in the South of France, uses soft oil-drop technology to deeply moisturise even very dry skin without the waxy aftermath. (Rumour has it the formula bears a striking resemblance to a rather famous luxury French face moisturiser, but we digress…).

All of these solve problems.

Nice Legs solves one too:

For those moments when you’ve been invited somewhere approximately 17 minutes before you need to leave. And it’s 28 degrees. And a dress is in order. And your legs haven’t received a formal briefing on the situation.
And perhaps that’s why it’s become such a hit.
Not because women suddenly woke up desperate for better legs. Because they’d just like one less thing to worry about.

Scroll beauty on TikTok for 20 minutes and come away convinced you need a £500 glowing helmet and upper arm collagen infusion. Acronyms are the new glycolic acids. Beauty tech sales are up 400 percent. And your bathroom has become the new salon. Because why leave the house when you can sit under LED lights with Netflix on and convince your scalp it’s thriving?

LED Hair Growth Caps are having a moment (that’s ours, above), now that collagen-boosting LED Face Masks have basically gone mainstream. And it’s not just because they look futuristic. Low-level red light reaches the mitochondria in the hair follicles, supporting microcirculation and cell energy, which helps keep hair in its growth phase for longer.

Then there are peptides.

They’re doing incredible things for your complexion - see this Youthbomb Biologic Collagen Peptide Cream, above, which has an advanced Peptide Amino Acid Complex that can actually help reduce the appearance of expression lines. But they’ve also slipped out of skincare and into everything: hair that behaves better between root touch-ups. Lips that look naturally fuller and glossier. Even your Collagen powder.

But that’s only the start.

Weight-loss drugs are quietly reshaping skincare conversations. Rapid shifts in facial volume have created a new focus on formulas that help your skin act more elastic.

At BEAUTY PIE, we saw all this coming a long time ago.

Our All Systems Grow H-Wave LED Cap takes clinic-level light therapy and hides it inside an entirely unsuspecting cotton baseball cap. Inside, 125 LEDs at 655nm get to work in just ten minutes a day, supporting visibly thicker, fuller hair over time.

Then there’s the Youthbomb 360° Hair Restore Scalp Serum. A fine mist formulated with peptide technology, Anagain, Caffeine and Niacinamide to hydrate the scalp and support denser-looking hair where it tends to thin first.

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Now the face. This is where it gets more interesting.

Youthbomb 360° Radiance Concentrate brings together fifteen active ingredients, including Hexapeptides and Marine Biotechnology, to help skin look brighter, smoother and more resilient. There’s also the Double Vitamin version for those who prefer their ‘elasticity and radiance’ plus Niacinamide and Vitamin C in one decisive step.

And then Retinoids. Our Super Retinal Rejuvenating Serum uses an exclusive Microencapsulated Retinaldehyde alongside Niacinamide and Ceramides to help smooth texture and support firmness, without turning your evening routine into a sensitivity negotiation. If you’re a Retinoid pro, there’s also YouthBomb Triple Retinal, which literally overhauls your skin while extending its life span.

And btw, the legendary Shinkai Electrolyte Drench (above) just dropped into the warehouse, complete with its new Collagen upgrade. We make it in an elite Japanese skincare lab that approaches hydration differently. (It teaches skin to hold onto moisture instead of begging for more by 3pm.) And it makes Shinkai for us, a totally exceptional, ligtht-as-air whipped gel-cream that melts on contact, and delivers all the collagen-supporting credibility of a heavy-duty anti-aging cream (without the heavy).

Finally. Even lip gloss has evolved.

Our new Wondercolour Glossy Peptide Lip Butter delivers that wet-look shine, with a Triple Peptide Complex and Hyaluronic Acid doing something useful underneath it. Fuller-looking, but in a way that still feels like your lips.

And here’s the part where you’re in control of it all:

At Beauty Pie, all of this arrives regularly, without all the crazy markups that the luxury beauty industry typically charges.

Which means you can try the things everyone is talking about, without paying the wild retail prices everyone else is regretting.

There was a period in the 2010s when protein powders seemed to operate on one guiding principle:

If it tastes faintly pleasant, someone immediately goes into a lab and adds chalk.

You’d buy the tub because it promised “glow” or “tone” or maybe even “six-pack abs,” and then spend the next three weeks holding your nose while gulping down something with the mouth feel and flavour architecture of wet plaster.

Protein-tastic is not one of those protein powders.

In fact, buried on the back of this very utilitarian-looking packet is an unexpectedly intelligent ingredient list, including a genuinely well-formulated natural flavour profile. But the more you dig in, the more interesting it gets.

And honestly, if you’ve been searching for the best protein powder for women that doesn’t taste synthetic, sugary, or vaguely traumatic, Beauty Pie’s Protein-tastic starts making a very strong case for itself.

Why is the protein blend in Protein-tastic actually smart?

The base of Protein-tastic is Pea Protein Isolate, supported by Hemp Protein Powder and Brown Rice Protein Isolate.

Which might sound very “woman who owns resistance bands she never uses,” but stay with us here.

Pea protein is having a genuine moment for good reason. It’s naturally rich in branched-chain Amino Acids, particularly Leucine, which matters for muscle repair, satiety, and maintaining lean muscle mass.

In other words: the exact things many women are trying to support while simultaneously eating lunch over the sink or dealing with an algorithmic emergency at work.

Together, they create a more balanced Amino Acid mix than either would alone.

Which is one reason Pea and Rice Protein blends are increasingly popular in high-quality vegan protein powders for women.

And unlike some whey-heavy formulas that can leave your stomach feeling bloated enough to qualify as a soft furnishing, Pea Protein is often easier on digestion.

Which is important because no one has ever said: “You know what I want from my post-workout smoothie? Gastrointestinal suspense.”

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The fibre content is also surprisingly excellent

One scoop of Protein-tastic delivers 3.13g of fibre.

That doesn’t sound dramatic until you remember how astonishingly difficult it is for many adults to hit daily fibre targets without becoming someone who discusses Chia seeds at dinner parties.

And many women are under-consuming fibre, despite the fact fibre intake is associated with digestive health, blood sugar balance, satiety, and overall gut health.

A scoop of Protein-tastic sneaks it in without turning your morning smoothie into a bowl of gravel.

The fibre comes partly from Baobab Fruit Powder, which is essentially the overachieving ‘exchange student’ of fruit ingredients.

Naturally rich in fibre, with a subtle tangy sweetness that helps products taste brighter rather than aggressively “healthy.”

The rest of the ingredient list is also unexpectedly sophisticated

There’s:

• Organic blueberry powder

• Pineapple fruit extract

• Brainberry® aronia extract

• Vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin

• Calcium citrate

• Hemp protein

• Cactinea™ cactus extract

At this point the formula starts reading less like a generic vegan protein powder and more like someone painstakingly assembled a panel of overachieving botanicals. Brainberry® is particularly intriguing: it’s an Aronia Berry extract that has been studied for its potential links to cognitive performance and mental fatigue support.

And to sweeten things up, Protein-tastic contains Stevia Reb A97 and Thaumatin. This matters more than you think.

If you’ve ever had a bad Stevia experience, your caution is understandable: some Stevia products taste like betrayal unfolding in real time. But not this one. Stevia Reb A97 is a highly purified Steviol Glycoside specifically selected to reduce bitterness and that lingering metallic aftertaste that makes some “healthy” drinks taste faintly…haunted.

And Thaumatin? Thaumatin is fascinating. It’s a naturally derived sweet protein from the Katemfe Fruit. Not sugar. Not an artificial sweetener. Literally a sweet-tasting protein.

Which sounds completely made up, but is in fact real. Thaumatin is intensely sweet in tiny amounts, so formulators can use very little while still softening flavour edges and improving palatability.

Translation: this protein powder tastes good without dumping in loads of sugar. Which explains why it only contains 1.15g sugar per serving. That is vanishingly low in a category where some “wellness” shakes contain enough sugar to qualify as pudding.

So, is this actually one of the best protein powders for women?

Honestly, it makes a compelling argument.

What really makes Protein-tastic interesting isn’t that it contains one miracle ingredient pretending to solve modern womanhood.

It’s that the whole thing feels intelligently balanced.

High protein.
Low sugar.
Useful fibre.
Plant proteins combined thoughtfully.
Natural sweeteners that don’t leave a strange chemical encore.
Micronutrients in bioavailable forms.
Fruit extracts that feel purposeful rather than decorative.

It feels formulated by people who understand that women are not looking for wellness products that demand unsustainable sacrifice anymore.

They want products that work with real life.

The kind of life where breakfast sometimes happens between meetings.
Where energy matters.
Where digestion matters.
Where getting enough protein without turning every meal into a chicken breast administrative exercise matters enormously.

And perhaps most importantly: blended up in a Nutribullet with Greek yogurt, frozen bananas, berries, and maybe a scoop of collagen - if you’re really committed - this tastes like something a human being would happily have for breakfast again tomorrow.

Find Protein-tastic and all Beauty Pie’s other expertly-formulated, high-performance nutritional supplements at Beautypie.com (yes, we’ve taken on the supplement world too with our ‘no crazy markups on truly great products’ mission).

We opened a counter at Liberty
Yes. That Liberty.

The breathtakingly beautiful Tudor-revival fever dream on London’s Regent Street, where the clientele is so chic and the lighting is so flattering you briefly consider becoming the sort of person who owns house shoes.

In other words: not an obvious destination for a beauty brand like us built on the premise that traditional retail markups are, fundamentally, a bit of a scam. And yet…

We’ve moved into one of the most beautiful department stores in the world without suddenly deciding to charge £98 for cleanser in a heavy jar with the emotional tone of a Roman mausoleum.

Which is where things get interesting.

Because the beauty industry has spent decades convincing us that luxury works like this: beautiful shop + beautiful counter + beautiful person in expensive knitwear handing you a serum = terrifying price tag.

We’ve all accepted the choreography. Soft lighting. Tiny spatulas. The hushed atmosphere suggesting somebody nearby is purchasing a fragrance “inspired by memory and smoke.”

Meanwhile half the industry is quietly marking products up by about a thousand percent and hoping nobody asks too many follow-up questions.

Beauty Pie has always been the loud friend at the dinner party going:

“Sorry, wait. How much are we all paying for moisturiser exactly?”

Ten years ago, we started Beauty Pie based on a very specific idea.

Same quality. Radically different maths. Over the years, we applied it to makeup. To skincare. To bodycare (including *that* French body cream that’s so good, other brands sell it as face cream). To fragrances (made by the same perfumers who create for Le Labo and Guerlain, as it happens). Haircare. Supplements (including the collagen powder that tastes of chocolate and dissolves in your morning coffee).

And for years, the beauty industry’s response was essentially: “that’s not how this is done.” (Which, historically, is often what people say shortly before something changes completely).

So when Liberty was on the cards, we had a moment.

Not because we suddenly wanted Beauty Pie to become a luxury retail experience. Nobody here woke up desperate to whisper near a marble countertop while wearing a beige jumpsuit and an expression of spiritual hydration.

But because Liberty itself has always felt slightly resistant to the normal rules of retail. It has taste. Actual taste. Not trend-chasing. Not algorithmic beige minimalism. Not clean girl sameness. Liberty stocks things because somebody there genuinely likes them, which now feels almost radical.

And that matters. Because walking into Liberty still feels like entering a world curated by humans rather than quarterly targets.

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But what does it all mean for members?

Well, it means this: Beauty Pie members can shop in Liberty at members’ prices.
Let’s just pause on that for a second.

You can now walk into Liberty. Touch the serums. Smell the fragrances. Try the makeup. Wander around feeling faintly cinematic under the window and the cornices- and still pay the same member prices you’d pay shopping online at midnight while watching Netflix in an old sweatshirt.

Not ‘retail prices, or we’ve added £40 because the shelves are prettier’ prices.

Actual member prices.

Which feels a little bit like getting away with something.

And if you’re not a member yet?

The guest prices are still dramatically lower than most comparable luxury beauty brands, because we’ve never built the business around funding celebrity advertising campaigns, or influencer yacht trips, or moisturisers packaged like Fabergé eggs.

We spend the money on the fomulas.
The labs.
The ingredients.
The perfume juice.
Not the helicopter shot of someone walking through the desert in a cream silk suit.

(Although obviously we enjoy that aesthetically.)

And this is probably the bigger point.

People often talk about ‘accessible luxury’ as if accessibility automatically makes something less desirable. As if transparency somehow ruins glamour. But honestly? Nothing has made beauty feel less luxurious over the past decade than realising how much of the price was theatre.

Once you know a cream costs £12 to formulate and £120 to buy, it becomes difficult not to feel slightly emotionally mugged by the entire experience.

Beauty Pie was built on the idea that the beautiful thing and the honest thing should be able to exist in the same room. Preferably next to a very good candle.

So yes, opening inside Liberty is surreal. Slightly rebellious. And a total thrill.

The anti-markup beauty brand has entered one of the world’s most iconic department stores and, against all known retail logic, has no intention of behaving properly once inside.

If you’re in London, come and find us. Walk through those famous Liberty doors. Linger near those scarves. Then make a beeline for our ‘corner’. Pick things up. Rub things on. Spray something expensive-smelling onto your wrist and have a small main-character moment.

Then look at the prices, and have a little insider smile.

That’s the whole argument right there.

Come and visit us at Liberty →

Or shop from your sofa in pyjamas →

Both are extremely valid lifestyles.

This week at Beauty Pie, we launched our Glossy Peptide Lip Butters. We made them in one of the best lip labs in Korea. It’s a totally new, meltingly soft, gleamingly shiny pigmented glossy lip formula, clinically proven to hydrate lips for 12 hours. There was a moment on Monday night (the day we launched them) that the orders were coming in faster than the warehouse team could unpack them, and they briefly registered as ‘sold out’. You could say everyone has been waiting for these. Five beautiful, wearable shades. A glossy-but-not-too-glossy texture, and a side of Peptide plumping. What’s not to love?

What Gloss Was Always Reaching For

Strip back the nostalgia and the early Noughties packaging, and lip gloss had a perfectly reasonable ambition: make lips look fuller, glossier, and somehow more modern than they do in ordinary lipstick. The texture catches the light in a way that helps your face light up. The colour is present but subtle. The overall effect says ‘polished but not boringly so.’

The problem was structural, not aspirational. Traditional gloss formulas rely on sticky polymers to generate that high-shine finish. The same molecular mechanism that delivers the light-reflection also delivers the tackiness. Wind becomes a plot development. Hair becomes an active participant in the look. The effect reads as maximum-gloss, which is genuinely excellent at nineteen and a more considered choice thereafter.

The beauty industry spent decades trying to solve this. Balms added colour, which was useful, but the finish remained matte. Tints added lasting pigment, also useful, but could be drying. Lipsticks don’t generally give you the level of shine we’re talking about here. At Beauty Pie we have incredible Wondergloss Collagen Lip Oils which are a move on from traditional gloss, and are perfect for when you want high-shine gloss without the stickiness. But when you want a touch more colour? Lip Butter is what you need.

What our Glossy Peptide Lip Butter does is take the best bits of all of the shiny lip things we’ve tried over the years, and combine them : think colourful tint, nourishing balm and glossy shine in one. (We also gave ours a side of Peptide plumping and a very chic silver applicator to elevate the experience still further, because: why not?).

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The Sophisticated Gleam (As Opposed to the Other Kind)

The difference between gloss shine and lip butter shine is underappreciated, and worth taking a moment to understand.

Gloss shine is wet, high-sheen, and deliberately youthful. Maximum light-reflection, minimum subtlety. It’s the right finish for certain purposes and certain lights. It reads brilliantly in a photograph and considerably more specifically in a fluorescent-lit office on the kind of Tuesday that does not require an audience.

Lip butter shine is what you might call a sophisticated gleam. The luminosity without the lacquer. The light-catching without the slick. The finish is closer to “lips in exceptional condition” than “lips wearing a product,” which is, if we’re being honest, what everyone was going for and what traditional gloss only occasionally, and somewhat accidentally, achieved.

The texture is part of this too. A good lip butter formula is conditioning in a way that gloss formulas have never needed to be, because the conditioning base is part of the structure rather than an afterthought. The wear is comfortable. The colour stays even rather than separating and pooling the way traditional gloss tends to do about forty-five minutes in.

Three Products, One Step (Not a Marketing Claim, an Actual Description)

Beauty Pie’s Glossy Peptide Lip Butters are, technically, three products operating in combination. (Spoiler: this is not the kind of breathless claim that turns out to mean “it also has SPF in it.” It is a product description).

A balm: the base formula is richly conditioning, formulated with peptides (short-chain amino acid sequences that support the skin’s natural collagen signalling processes, which matters here because the lip area is among the first places that structural protein loss becomes visible) to maintain genuine hydration throughout wear.

A tint: pigment is distributed evenly through the formula, which means consistent, buildable colour. This distinction matters more than it sounds: many balm-based tints produce uneven coverage as the formula wears away, which is fine until it isn’t.

A gloss: the finish is luminous. The right kind of luminous. The gleam rather than the slick.

Getting all three to coexist in a single formula without meaningful compromise is a genuine cosmetic chemistry challenge. Conditioning bases tend to dilute pigment concentration. Glossy finishes that perform without stickiness require a specific emollient architecture. Multiple textures in one formula can easily produce something that does three things adequately rather than one thing well.

Which is precisely why this formula comes from Korea.

Why We Chose This Formula (From Every Lip Formula In The World)

At Beauty Pie, we scour the globe to find the very best formulas. Our business model is straightforward, even if its implications are slightly annoying for the traditional beauty industry: we find the best formulas from wherever in the world they exist - in this case, South Korea - work directly with the labs to perfect them, then remove the traditional retail markup that ordinarily funds the elaborate marble beauty counters and advertising campaigns and the shopping bag you feel vaguely guilty about throwing away - and offers the results at the price that that removal makes possible.

The best lip formulas right now come from Korea. So that is where this formula is from. The texture is as delicately technical as you’d expect from a Korean lab, and the peptide integration is at the concentration you’d expect from a Korean prestige beauty product.

In fact, it’s infused with three Peptides plus Collagen and Hyaluronic Acid - as well as Camellia and Jojoba Oils - in a formula that helps to soften fine lines and is also clinically proven to deliver 12 hours of hydration, keeping lips soft and moisturised as well as supporting the skin barrier all day.

And Finally: What They Actually Look Like

Five gloriously wearable, chic and effortless shades.

The perfect dusky rose. The deep-but-not-too-deep berry you’re always searching for. The faded pink for ‘non-uniform’ days. The peach for when your complexion needs a little brightening up. And the soft caramel that oozes sophistication.

No hair incidents. No sticky residue. No wrestling with the formula every time the weather disagrees with you. Just the shine, the colour, and the peptide conditioning, operating together in a formula that happens to cost considerably less than a premium beauty counter would charge, because the premium beauty counter is not involved.

Gloss always had the right ambition. It just needed the formulation to catch up.

The Glossy Peptide Lip Butters are available now.

PS: Don’t forget: many luxury beauty products cost 10–20x more at retail than they cost to make.

Beauty Pie gives you direct access to the really good stuff, made in the world’s best labs, at radically fair prices. (Meaning: without the markups that traditional luxury brands charge). Find out more about how we do it.

The truth? A handful of the world’s best fragrance houses (like the ones behind Le Labo and Byredo) are making scents for multiple brands at once.

At Beauty Pie, we make our fragrance with those same suppliers, too.

Which means this summer, instead of choosing one luxury fragrance, you could have a whole wardrobe.

One for morning. One for late dinners. One you almost want to gatekeep. Layer in the matching body crème (we use our so-good-other-brands-use-it-as-a-face-cream Super Healthy Skin Deluxe Body Moisture Crème for gleaming limbs and a more lasting scent trail. And yes: it’s also French. Also exceptional. Also not priced like it.)

Because now, smelling expensive is easy.

Paying for the illusion of it? That’s optional.

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The Art of the Markup: Why Perfume Costs What It Costs

Let’s talk about why a 50ml bottle of prestige fragrance costs £120 to £280 at a department store counter.

There are reasons. Some of them are even legitimate.

Perfume is positioned as an art form. You’re not buying molecules suspended in alcohol (though that’s technically what it is). You’re buying the vision of a master perfumer, three years of development, the romance of Grasse, the heritage of a storied maison. You’re buying the feeling you get when someone asks “what are you wearing?” and you can say, casually, “Oh, it’s Le Labo Santal 33.” As though you hadn’t thought about it. As though the £180 price tag was incidental.

Which, to be fair, it might be. Luxury operates on different economics.

The prestige fragrance model depends on exclusivity. Limited distribution. Beautifully designed bottles (weighted glass, substantial caps, that satisfying magnetic click). Counters staffed by elegantly dressed consultants. Advertising campaigns shot by renowned photographers. Collaborations with artists and celebrities. Brand events. PR budgets that could fund small nations.

All of this creates perceived value. Perfume becomes not just scent, but status. Identity. Self-expression through consumption. You’re not buying fragrance. You’re buying membership in a club of people who appreciate the finer things. Who understand. Who can afford to smell this good.

And to some extent, this isn’t wrong. Fragrance IS an art form. A well-composed scent is utterly beautiful. The way a perfumer balances top notes against heart notes against base notes, creating something that evolves over many hours on skin, revealing different facets as you move through your day, is a legitimate skill. It takes years to train a nose. The raw materials (particularly naturals like rose absolute, jasmine sambac, oud, ambergris) can be eye-wateringly (should that be nose-runningly?) expensive.

But here’s what that £180 bottle actually costs to manufacture: somewhere between £8 and £25, depending on the complexity of the formula and the quality of ingredients. That’s raw materials, bottling, packaging, and production. The juice itself might be £3 to £12 of that total.

The rest? That’s brand building. Marketing. Retail margin (typically 40-50% of the retail price goes to the store). Distribution. Those beautiful flagshjp shops. The consultants. The magazine ads. The influencer seeding. The perception that this fragrance is worth £180 because it costs £180. Circular logic that works remarkably well.

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The Actual Luxury: Having More Than One

There’s something genuinely luxurious about options. About reaching for Brazilian Lime, Fig Leaves & Tea on a Tuesday morning because you’re feeling sharp and optimistic, then switching to Une Balade en Forêt on Wednesday evening because you’re feeling contemplative and mysterious.

Fragrance as mood. As costume. As extension of intention rather than identity.

This, arguably, is more sophisticated than brand loyalty to a single signature scent. The idea of a “signature fragrance” (the one scent you wear always, the one people associate with you, the one that supposedly expresses your essential self) is a marketing concept designed to create brand attachment. It’s effective. But it’s also limiting.

What if you’re not one thing? What if Tuesday You is different from Saturday Night You is different from Sunday Morning After You? What if your scent could shift with context, occasion, season, mood?

This is how people with access actually use fragrance. Watch anyone with money (the kind that doesn’t require thought) and you’ll notice they don’t have one signature scent. They have a collection. A wardrobe. The crisp citrus for day meetings. The warm woody for evening. The fresh aquatic for summer weekends. The rich oriental for winter dinners.

They do this not because they can afford £800 in fragrance bottles (though they can). They do it because having options is the actual luxury. The freedom to choose based on how you feel, where you’re going, who you’ll see.

That’s what becomes possible when you remove the markup. When you can buy four high-quality fragrances for the price of one prestige bottle, you stop agonizing over which single scent represents your entire personality. You just...have options. Like having more than one pair of shoes. Radical concept.

The fragrance house is paid the same regardless. They’re making high-quality perfume according to specifications, using premium ingredients, storing in temperature-controlled facilities, performing quality testing. That’s their business.

What you skip is the accumulation of margins as the product passes through various corporate hands on its way to a shelf in Selfridges. Each hand takes a piece. By the time it reaches you, that £180 price tag represents about £12 worth of fragrance.

This isn’t revolutionary. It’s just... direct. The way luxury goods traveled for centuries before modern retail infrastructure created layers of profitable intermediaries.

You’re still getting the art. The craft. The carefully composed accord of citrus over florals over woods that develops beautifully over eight hours. You’re just not paying for the counter space, the magazine ads, the celebrity face, the beautiful packaging that gets thrown away anyway.

What To Wear This Spring

Brazilian Lime, Fig Leaves & Tea

Zesty lime cuts through soft fig leaves and black tea. Fresh, bright, quietly addictive. The “you smell amazing” text, bottled.

Figuier de Dalmatie

Sun-warmed fig wood, creamy florals and soft vanilla. Smells like you’ve escaped somewhere coastal, with excellent taste and no itinerary.

Orange Absolute Intense

Bright citrus, softened with rose and grounded in sandalwood. Sun-warmed skin, late afternoon, zero effort. The easiest kind of chic.

Une Balade en Forêt

Fir balsam and soft cashmere with a flash of citrus. Unisex and a little mysterious. It’s the one people lean in to inhale.

All formulated in our French fragrance house. Our prices reflect factory-direct access, not diminished quality. Because smelling expensive should be about the scent, not the receipt.

She has tried the famous ones. Used her fingertips to wipe the corners of the jars clean.

Rebought them, occasionally with a small wince at the hit to her bottom line.

She knows the difference between a cream that talks a big game and one that actually improves it.

But lately, something interesting has been happening.

Women who’ve spent years (and small fortunes) on creams from La Prairie, La Mer, Shiseido, and SK-II are quietly switching to a moisturiser that costs £19.

Not because it’s cheaper.

Because it’s better.

(And sure, spending £19 is smarter.)

It’s made in Switzerland.

At the base of the Alps.

In one of the secret laboratories that formulates for brands everybody thinks of as ‘pinnacle’.

And the formula itself reads like it should cost five times the price.

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Meet The Cream That’s Causing All This Defection

Super Healthy Skin Ultimate Anti-Aging Cream is, quite frankly, a very highly-qualified formula.

(If you’re suspicious, you can read the thousands of reviews, which tend to be… unambiguous.)

It’s formulated with ingredients that do not generally travel together at this price point. With hyaluronic acid, oat extract, beta-glucan and antioxidant-rich alpine botanicals - this formula hydrates deeply, supports the skin barrier and leaves skin looking instantly smoother and more radiant.”

• Hyaluronic Acid → for deep, lasting hydration

• OSilift → for that immediate, faintly addictive ‘lifted’ feeling

• Grapefruit Stem Cell Extract → to help defend and regenerate

• Alteromonas Ferment Extract → a marine-derived molecule known for supporting elasticity and structural integrity

It hydrates. Short and long term. Firms (same). Plumps. Smooths. Supports your skin barrier (so it’s soothing).

In other words, for £19, it behaves like something with significantly more ambition, more like a £100+

Which is probably why women describe it, with varying degrees of restraint, as:

• “The G.O.A.T.”

• “PERFECTION”

• “The best moisturiser you can buy”

• And, perhaps most convincingly: “just really, really good.”

Over 200,000 jars have been sold.

And, like many things that just work, it tends to become a repeat purchase before it becomes a conversation.

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So If The Formula Is Comparable - Why Isn’t The Price?

This is where things become less about skincare, and more about changing the game.

Because when you buy a £100 face cream, you are rarely just buying a cream.

You are also, unavoidably, paying for:

• A retailer taking 50–70%

• A campaign (possibly featuring someone famous all over billboards in L.A.

• Store environments designed to feel like marble temples to the cult of good skin

• Multiple layers of distribution, each taking their share

By the time the jar reaches you, the formula is often the smallest part of what you’ve paid for.

When you buy Super Healthy Skin Ultimate Anti-Aging Cream, you’re paying for something much less theatrical:

The formula.

The packaging.

The transport.

The operational cost of getting it from lab to Beauty Pie’s warehouses, and then to you.

And a small annual fee of £59 (saved on a single jar of the aforementioned miracle cream) to access hundreds of equally great products in the the Beauty Pie warehouses.

No retail markup.

Just a simplified line from one of the world’s best labs… to your bathroom shelf.

Which is how a cream that would comfortably sit at £100+ in traditional retail…doesn’t.

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It Sounds Slightly Implausible. Who’s Behind It?

This is, in many ways, very on-brand for Marcia Kilgore.

She opened Bliss in her twenties.

Went on to create FitFlop footwear.

And has spent decades working with the same elite network of labs that supply the world’s most expensive beauty brands.

Which means she has seen, very clearly, how a product moves from lab bench… to retail shelf.

And how, somewhere along that journey, the price quietly multiplies.

Not because the formula changes.

But because the system demands it.

So she did something a bit radical.

She removed the parts you - the applier of said face cream- don’t actually need to pay for.

No retailer margins.

No theatrical distribution layers.

No price inflation disguised as prestige.

Just the same calibre of formulation- in a very respectable minimalist chic packaging- priced closer to what it actually costs to make, for members of a beauty product lover’s ‘buyer’s club’. (It’s like Costco, Beauty Pie, but for luxury beauty.)

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But It’s Not Really All About Price

Or at least, not only about price.

It’s about a shift in your perspective.

Being done with the idea that expensive automatically means better.

Being done with 10x–12x markups as an beauty product industry default.

Being done with the small, repeated feeling of overpaying… for something you understand just well enough to question.

Because once you realise you can get:

• The same level of formulation

• From the same level of labs

• With the same (or better) results

It becomes surprisingly difficult to go back.

Not out of principle.

Just because why would you, really?

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The Bottom Line

If you love your current £100 cream, you should absolutely keep loving it.

But if you’d rather have:

• Swiss lab pedigree

• A genuinely high-performance, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink formula

• And £81 left over

This may be the smartest switch you make all year.

ps. To access hundreds of products, maybe starting with the miraculous Swiss SHS UAA Cream at unbeatably insider prices, you’ll need a membership. Check out UK membership options here, and USA membership options here

The Thing You Don’t Know About Hair Biology

Your hair follicles run on energy. Specifically, cellular energy, or ATP. When that dips, growth slows, shedding increases, and things start to look less ‘robust’.

Which is why red light (LED) for hair is so interesting.

Red light- at very specific wavelengths- has been shown to interact with the mitochondria in cells- which has the responsibility of producing ATP. (This basically decides whether a follicle behaves like it has purpose or ennui.

And in multiple published studies, including work by Paolo Gentile and Stefano Garcovich, low-level light therapy in the 650-655nm range has been associated with:

• longer growth phases

• reduced follicular inflammation

• increased hair density and thickness over time

(Another study by dermatologist Saran Lueangarun showed measurable improvements in both hair count and diameter. So no, this isn’t cosmetic fluff.

It’s about changing the conditions your hair lives in.

Which Brings Us To A Hat That Shouldn’t Work, But Does

The All Systems Grow LED Hair Cap. Which looks like a very normal, very chic grey baseball cap.

Inside: 125 LEDs delivering 655nm red light, directly to your scalp. (No wires trailing down your neck. No weird rituals. No ‘this is not convenient right now’ because I look like an alien wearing it.)

You put it on. You press a button. Ten minutes later, you’re done.

Of course this is where various LED hair devices diverge.

The detail that changes everything.

This cap (The All Systems Grow) deliverys up to 20mW per centimeter squared of optical power density.

For context, many widely known alternatives operate closer to 5mW.

And while that may not sound that sexy, it does change how much energy is actually reaching your scalp during those ten minutes.

And if light is the mechanism, delivery matters.

How this then, actually fits into your life.

Ten minutes a day sounds almost suspiciously reasonable.

Which is why you’ll be more likely to stick with it.

And the studies that show results don’t rely on dramatic effect. They rely on consistent use over 12-24 weeks. Small inputs. Repeated.

This cap is hands-free. Rechargeable. Even washable (but pop the electricals out first please.)

It doesn’t interrupt life. It slips right into it.

And that’s usually the difference between something you buy and abandon, and something that you use regularly and it really works.

Now here’s the part that makes this slightly unfair

Most of the LED hair devices on the market are not cheap.

You might have seen them. Hesitated. (Sensibly).

So at BEAUTY PIE, we did something strategic.

We bought a decent quantity of the All-Systems-Grow LED Hair Cap, specifically for our members, produced at a volume to access significantly lower manufacturing costs.

Which means if you’re a member, you can get it for less than half of what comparable devices are selling for elsewhere.

Not because it’s discounted in the traditional sense. Because it was sourced differently.

This first drop is gauging demand before we scale production further. Which means the current quantity is finite due to logistics. (If you want one, please get it ASAP.)

So what are you actually deciding?

It’s not about whether a hat like this can grow your hair. That’s the wrong question.

It’s more about whether you want to consistently support your hair at a cellular level, using a mechanism that has been studied and refined over time, and whether doing that for ten minutes a day, hands-free, for less than half the typical market price, feels like the kind of thing your ‘future hair’ might appreciate.

Those of us at BEAUTY PIE with thinner hair than we used to have, think it’s a bit of a no brainer.

In the UK, members can buy it here. In the USA, members can buy it here

p.s. if you’re a BEAUTY PIE member, don’t forget to log in to see your member pricing (you’ll also get one of MK’s favourite hair and scalp redensifying sprays with it). If you’re not a member yet, go here in the UK, and here in the USA to join.

Intended Purpose: The All Systems Grow LED Hair & Scalp Treatment Cap is indicated to treat androgenetic alopecia and to promote hair growth in males who have Norwood-Hamilton classifications of 11A-V Patterns of hair loss and to treat androgenetic alopecia and promote hair growth in females who have Ludwig-Savin scale I-1 to 1-4, 11-1 , 11-2 or frontal patterns of hair loss. Both with Fitzpatrick Skin types 1-1V.

(Also: it’s YouthBomb Radiance Concentrate Birthday Month, and if you’re a member, you’ve got a credit sitting there waiting to be used on a bottle. Which, frankly, is already absurdly well priced.)

Let’s get into it.

1. “I should still be using retinoids when it’s sunny, right?”

Yes.

Slightly longer answer: yes, but don’t be careless.

People panic the second the weather improves and assume they need to stop using retinoids. You don’t. In fact, that’s exactly when you shouldn’t suddenly abandon the most effective topical in your routine.

Retinoids help skin behave like fresher, newer skin in real time. That’s the point. And it’s why they remain gold-standard in any anti-ageing routine.

The trick is not stopping. The trick is being sensible. So:

Use your retinoid at night.
Wear a serious SPF every day.
Reapply when needed.

That’s it. Not fear. Just competence.

2. “Why can’t Beauty Pie make a hand cream with SPF?”

We could. But honestly? We don’t need to.

Because when your facial SPF50 is this good, this portable, and this easy to use, the smarter move is to use it everywhere that quietly gives your age away first:

Face. Neck. Décolletage. Hands.

That’s the real answer. The people who don’t end up with sunspots all over their hands and forearms are not genetically blessed. They’re usually just the people with sunscreen in their bag, in their car, in their coat pocket. That’s the system.

Reapply after washing. Reapply after sweating.Reapply after swimming.

Then at night, switch gears.

A retinol hand cream on the nightstand does a lot of heavy lifting. Even massaging in a Vitamin C capsule now and then helps support collagen and tackle pre-pigmentation before it properly sets up camp.

3. “How much Vitamin C do I actually need? 3%? 10%? 15%? 30%?”

This is where skincare starts behaving like an exam you didn’t revise for.

So we simplified it.

A lot of our high-performance daytime moisturizers already contain 3% stable Vitamin C, which happens to be the clinically suggested level for effective daily collagen support and age-preventing maintenance use.

So if you’re a low-fuss person - cleanse, moisturizer (with Vitamin C), SPF, done - you’re covered.

But if you’re more… committed, let’s say.
Or if pigmentation is an issue.
Or you’re worrying about collagen loss.
Or you enjoy a little strategic overachievement (who doesn’t)?

Then do more.

Use Superdose C Rapid Action Brightening Drops in the morning after cleansing, especially if pigmentation is what you’re trying to tackle.

You can mix them into your YouthBomb Serum.
You can layer them with Flash Face Lift Superdrops.
You can also go with a more concentrated capsule approach if that’s your preference, or you’re always on the road .

The point is:

Start simple. Then escalate only if there’s a reason.

Not every skincare routine needs to look like a chemistry set.

4. “I can’t wear t-shirts. My upper arms have little red bumps.”

Ah yes. Keratosis pilaris. Very common.
Still infuriating.

It’s basically a build-up of keratin around the hair follicle. Slower than needed shedding. And this is where people often go wrong, because they assume the answer is to attack it. It isn’t.

The answer is consistent gentle exfoliation. Here’s what actually helps:

Use AcidEnzyme wash about three times a week. Leave it on for 2-3 minutes before you rinse. Use a nourishing scrub once a week.
Moisturize daily to support the barrier. Something with soothing ingredients will help a lot, too.

And then - the part nobody wants to hear - wait.

Skin needs around six weeks to go through a full cycle. So anything promising overnight transformation is, at best, being a little theatrical.

Start now.
Be regular.
And future you, like, in May and June, in a boy-cut t-shirt, will be extremely pleased you did.

5. “Why does my self-tan always streak?”

Because most self-tan is sold as though it’s idiot-proof, when in reality it often requires the precision of someone restoring a Renaissance ceiling.

The usual problems are always the same:

You didn’t exfoliate enough first.
Dry patches grabbed too much pigment.
Elbows, knees, generally other joints betrayed you.
And the entire thing became more stressful than it had any right to be.

Which is exactly why gradual tan is the more civilised option.

It gives you margin for error.
It gives you control.
And most importantly, it removes that awful moment when you realize you can’t go out with your ankles looking the way they do.
Apply more regularly to build a deeper tan.

Keep your dignity.

6. “Should I be scrubbing my body? And with what?”

Yes. Absolutely.

Your body skin doesn’t need to be sandblasted, but it does need proper exfoliation.

What you want is something that removes dead skin cells without leaving your barrier furious with you afterwards.

That’s why oil-based scrubs are such a good idea. Use a good one (ours, obvs) once a week. Either will leave your skin so comfortable you barely feel the need to moisturize afterwards. Just buff off any excess with a dry hand towel, and voila.

And while we’re here: feet.

Possibly the most neglected part of the body until roughly three days before sandal season.

A really good foot cream, used nightly from now, works faster than most people think. Look on the ingredient list for ‘vegan urea’, and ideally enzymes too, if cracked heels are part of the situation.

So, that’s the April briefing.

You now know:

Why you should keep using retinoids.
Why your hand cream problem is actually an SPF placement problem.
How much Vitamin C you really need.
What to do about KP.
How to stop self-tan from ruining your week.
And why your feet need attention immediately.

Useful, I hope.

And a reminder: if you’re a Beauty Pie Member, your YouthBomb Radiance Concentrate Birthday Month credit is sitting there waiting for you. Which would be a shame to forget. If you’re not, you may want to read this.

If you’re shopping in the USA, here are links to the best:

Starter Retinoid, Mid-Level Retinoid, Powerhouse Retinoid, Retinoid Eye Cream, Powerhouse Retinoid Eye Cream, Traceless SPF, Moisturisers with 3% Vitamin C, Single Dose Vitamin C Capsules, Pigmentation-Brightening Vitamin C Drops, AcidEnzyme Cleanser, Soothing Moisturizer for KP, Body Scrub, foolproof Grad Tan Moisture Lotion, and the world’s best Foot Cream.

If you’re shopping in the UK, here are links to the best:

Starter Retinoid, Mid-Level Retinoid, Powerhouse Retinoid, Starter Retinoid Eye Cream, Advanced Retinoid Eye Cream, Featherlight SPF 50, Moisturisers with 3% Vitamin C, Single Dose Vitamin C Capsules, Pigmentation-Brightening Vitamin C Drops, AcidEnzyme Cleanser, Soothing Moisturizer for KP, Body Scrub, foolproof Grad Tan Moisture Lotion, and the world’s best Foot Cream.

Not because it’s a secret. People who ‘work in beauty’ are often well-versed in the supply chain realities. A dozen or so of the best labs - with the best chemists and superior and often ‘patented’ chassis - work with more than one high-quality brands.

But the formulas that come out of this particular bench have a habit of lingering. On skin, yes. But also in memory.

Which is unusual, when you think about it. Good ingredients are hardly rare. Any lab can source something botanical, something buzzworthy, something with a Latin name that sounds expensive. But texture is where things tend to unravel.

You can always tell when a formula has come from this lab.

Not by the packaging - that’s irrelevant. But by the way it behaves the moment it meets skin. To create that ‘dissolve-on-the-exact-body-temperature’ contact kind of emulsion that disappears into your dry calves, making them instantly more revealable, is really a kind of magic.

And this is the lab behind one of Beauty Pie’s most quietly habit-forming products: Super Healthy Skin Deluxe Body Moisture Crème. (We’ve sold tens of thousands of jars. The reviews speak for themselves.)

Body cream sceptics welcome

There are, beauty-broadly speaking, two kinds of people.

There are body cream people, who apply it daily with quiet discipline and - more often than not - own at least one robe that suggests they have their life together.

And then everyone else.

There is the “I don’t really do body cream” contingent. Too busy. Too sticky. Too much standing around half-dressed in the morning with parched shins and elbows that are only going in one direction.

People who were entirely certain they were not body cream people try Super Healthy Skin Deluxe Body Moisture Crème, and change sides.

Not dramatically. No declarations. Just a second purchase. Then a third. Then, for reasons that are never fully explained, two at a time.

We see it happen repeatedly.

Which does prompt a more interesting question than “is it good?”

What, exactly, is going on in that French lab?

A body oil with an identity crisis

The first clue lies in the structure of the formula.

Instead of simply mixing oils into a heavy cream, the lab suspends microscopic droplets of oil inside water. Think of it as a nourishing body oil, broken into invisible pearls and folded into a featherweight cream.

The oils themselves are exceptional: sustainable cold-pressed Hibiscus Flower Oil brings vitamin E (antioxidant tocopherol) and essential fatty acids like linoleic acid, which help reduce trans-epidermal water loss and support the skin barrier.

Then there’s Meadowfoam Oil, unusually rich in long-chain fatty acids that help restore skin’s moisture balance, leaving it feeling elastic, resilient and deeply comfortable.

And finally Liquid Shea Butter - the ingredient responsible for that decadent, silky finish that makes skin feel like it’s been upgraded to luxury upholstery.

The result is the best of both worlds.

You get the nourishment of oils - but without the high-maintenance behaviour.

No slow sinking-in. No transferring onto clothes. No cautious dressing manoeuvres that resemble competitive yoga.

Just instant softness and serious skin comfort.

It’s like face cream… for your whole body

But here’s the real secret.

This product feels less like a typical body lotion… and more like applying a really excellent face cream to your entire body.

That same elegant glide.

That same refined finish. That same ‘fresh’.

That feeling that someone, somewhere, took formulation very seriously indeed.

And once you experience that, ordinary body lotions suddenly feel a bit… municipal.

Why It’s a Very Beauty Pie Product

In many ways, this cream is a perfect little microcosm of what we do at Beauty Pie.

We search the world for the best labs - the ones quietly producing extraordinary formulations for luxury beauty houses.

Then we work directly with them.

Same labs.
Same ingredient standards.
Same formulation expertise.

Just without the traditional luxury beauty markups that can multiply the price several times over.

Which is how a French lab formulation with this level of sophistication becomes a product members use every single day.

In 2021, British Vogue’s Beauty Awards named it “The Body Transformer.”

Which, sure, felt gratifying. But also slightly unsurprising - because Beauty Pie members had already been quietly stockpiling it for years.

The Final Word

Some beauty products are about dramatic before-and-after transformations.

Others are subtler.

They simply make everyday life feel… rich.

With softer skin. A little moment of luxury. A cream you can’t wait to rub on all over.

And if that happens to convert a few previously committed non-body-cream people along the way? Well. That’s just world-class formulation for you.

P.s: if you want to see the body cream in more detail, click here if you’re in the UK, and here if you’re in the US.