Like every good success story, this one also begins in a moment of crisis. A professional crisis in the protagonist's life and a crisis on the planet, submerged in an unprecedented pandemic. The arrival of covid-19 forced Anna Arbós to change her life at 25 years old. She had to leave Hamburg because her contract in the marketing department of the luxury goods group Montblanc was not renewed ("We did wonderful international events," she recalls) and return to Barcelona with no plans in sight and with the prospect of mandatory confinement at her parents' house.
In that context, she began to receive tons of inquiries about cosmetics and beauty from her friends, concerned about the effects of confinement on their skin and hair. Many more than she usually received. Because Anna has been self-taught for four years in a field she knows and has always been passionate about: "I'm a real freak; I've always spent what I earned on buying products to try them, whether they were three-euro or 150-euro serums," she says with great humor.
The forced confinement at home gave people time to think and also to take care of themselves. "My friends told me their skin was dull from lack of sun, that they would like to change their toner or choose a good mask, so I decided to write a very organized guide explaining the basic steps to care for the skin, a kind of shopping list of what you need to survive a confinement. It was so successful, it circulated so much, that they started asking me to do something more professional and on April 10 of last year I opened my Instagram account, Glow by Anna," explains this young entrepreneur, who immediately realized how that strange moment of general shutdown gave her the opportunity to create a platform to gather her friends and advise them in a less dispersed way.
She took great care of the design, established easy access and clear content criteria ---product reviews, ingredient descriptions…---, and in a few months she saw how her followers grew (22,000 today) and how she could take her vocation as an advisor in skin care and beauty much further than her immediate surroundings.
Dynamic and energetic as she is, in December Anna went a step further by opening a website where she markets medium-high-end products that she carefully selects and groups into routines (oily skin, combination skin, basic pack, ageless...). A year and a few months after the start of the adventure, her small, totally digital business continues to grow. She already sells a hundred units a month. "I feel very proud because I did it alone, with loans, it's a very personal project that I never imagined I could achieve."
The key to success, connecting with the consumer
Although the National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics (Stampa) confirms a 10% decrease in the general consumption of perfumery and cosmetics during the pandemic, the purchase of skincare products continues to occupy the top positions in this ranking and the incursion of e-commerce has accelerated (from 6.15% of the sector's total in 2019 to 10% in 2020) with a "striking" increase in its sales.
Anna has intuitively taken advantage of the favorable trend to make a reality of an initiative that she categorizes as the dream of her life. "I dedicate 14 hours a day to my project, it's my job but also my hobby," she says while laughing, remembering how her sink has always been full of all kinds of creams and makeup, to her mother's despair.
"I dedicate 14 hours a day to my project, it's my job but also my hobby," says AnnaShe understands beauty as a basic that improves our lives and highlights the aspect of having fun, discovering new products and learning. "I'm all day trying, smelling, studying and following up on recommendations: I interact daily with about 30-50 people privately on Instagram," says Anna with such confidence and passion that she generates trust. "It is important to connect with the consumer because the cosmetics market is saturated with products, people are lost, they don't know what to choose and they like me, I explain what each thing is in a didactic way, they notice that I am totally honest and they believe me," she explains proudly.
Since it all started among friends, she continues to call her followers that, who are mostly between 24 and 34 years old, although there are also younger ones. They are millennials and some from Generation Z. She is also very attentive to feedback. Among the most common questions she receives are those referring to spots or pimples, "because they are the most visible and what worries people the most, it's difficult for someone to be interested because they have a damaged skin barrier function."
"I don't treat skin problems or manufacture cosmetics"
What happens if someone consults Anna about a problem like psoriasis or hives? "I am very clear that I am not a doctor, nor a pharmacist. I do not in any way usurp the work of a health professional," she responds emphatically, adding: "Nor do I manufacture or am I responsible for the production of a cream. I limit myself to acting as an intermediary between what brands offer and the public." She compares her role to that of a store, which filters and chooses products for its customers. And she does it "clearly and sincerely," without hidden interests.
Glow by Anna's approach is to offer basic knowledge to care for our skin, and answer general questions, such as what is the difference between vitamin A and B, or between an SPF15 or SPF100 sunscreen. "I have been training for four years, attending courses, master classes, buying books, reading specialized articles... ", explains the entrepreneur, who week after week, has been creating a solid community of followers, eager for new suggestions.
"I think cosmetics are very addictive, you start watching videos and you want to try everything! It's just that when you take care of yourself and feel your face clean and fresh, you feel great, it's not frivolous at all. Also, my followers are very interested in what they buy and they don't mind reading five pages about a beauty routine."
An innovative sales platform
"They continuously asked me where to buy the products that appeared on my Instagram account, and I thought that there should be a platform where people were helped to identify what type of skin they have and products were offered in a very simple way, so there wouldn't be 300, but only five, but that would adjust to what you need," explains Arbós, who was greatly surprised to see that this approach did not exist in the market.
If someone wants to discover their skin type, they can fill out a multi-question test on the website that indicates whether their skin is oily, dry, combination, or acne-prone. From here, one can choose between several different routines that contain a cleanser, toner, serum, and cream; and to which eye contour or exfoliating toner can be added. Anna is guided by the motto: there is no age, there is need "because you might find a lady with acne at 40 and an 18-year-old girl with incredible wrinkles."
"I thought there should be a platform where people were helped to identify what type of skin they have and products were offered in a very simple way, so there wouldn't be 300, but only five"The approach is very basic. "I am very clear about what I want to achieve, for example for dry skin, luminosity and hydration." In October, she plans to launch a body line, and others for travel or for getting ready for events.
In these beauty routines, she mixes products with different labels and brands that she changes to vary, surprise consumers, and encourage dialogue and opinions among users. "I thought of a list of 20 brands I would like to work with and a dozen of them said yes," she explains, satisfied. They are always of medium-high quality, "neither low cost nor very expensive." The basic ageless pack, for example, which she has detected many girls give to their mothers, is dedicated to skin that has lost luminosity and firmness, and costs 115 euros.
Although Anna perfectly controls the ingredients of each product, she has "a specialized doctor to review the routines and certify that everything is correct."
What do we do with the maskne caused by masks?
The routine that fights acne is striking and very successful. "I created it from my own experience after years of suffering from it. I went to many doctors and couldn't get rid of it until I decided to go from doing everything to doing nothing. It's that simple. The best thing is to calm the skin, give it a detox with gentle and basic products with aloe vera, super light cleansers…", explains Anna.
Anna's technique for acne: "The best thing is to calm the skin, give it a detox with gentle and basic products with aloe vera, super light cleansers…"That same advice can be applied tomaskné, the neologism that describes acne problems caused by the continuous use of masksprotective against covid-19 that we can't seem to get rid of. "A humid microclimate with little oxygen is created under the masks, causing the appearance of very internal pimples. The best thing is to calm the skin with gentle moisturizers, not to exfoliate it non-stop, scratch it, and wash it continuously because we will destroy its natural protection and it will not regenerate."
Also, Glow by Anna's men's line is focused on detoxifying male facial skin, "which tends to have more cystic acne due to beards." It's a very basic routine with three very simple steps and soothing products. There are fewer products but more quantity "so you don't have to worry about replenishing them in six months."
Coexistence with the aesthetics sector
Anna's profile is not that of a medical expert, nor that of a journalist specialized in beauty, not even that of an instagramer. "My source of income is the website, so I have no need to generate paid content for brands or promote products to make money," she explains and defines herself as an "e-commerce businesswoman and content creator."
Anna assures that coexistence with all actors in the sector is very good because each one performs their function. "Doctors, brands, and aesthetic centers that have wanted to work with me know that I speak the language of consumers and can make very technical terms understandable," comments the entrepreneur, who also tries professional face and body treatments in beauty institutes and recommends them, "only if I liked them."
Anna's profile is not that of a medical expert, nor that of a journalist specialized in beauty, not even that of an instagramerBecoming an entrepreneur has meant learning to run a business and she confesses that she has had to resolve more than one setback. For example, when some creams from a best-selling routine did not arrive due to a problem with an English distributor because of Brexit."Whenever I can, I try to work directly with brands", apostille.
The future of cosmetics lies in personalization
At this moment, Anna Arbós has a team consisting of her right-hand woman, Paula, who helps her with communication and logistics; a graphic designer, Ayme, and a person in charge of the financial part of the project. She is very clear that her business will do well if customers believe in her, and that is her top priority. "I have a lot of faith in my project and I'm not looking to become a millionaire overnight." In fact, she is already selling beyond the border: "I have detected that there is a small Spanish community in Amsterdam that buys from me," she explains.
Is the future of cosmetics personalization? "Yes, the millennial consumer wants exclusivity, to feel that they are spending their money buying something great that they like. It doesn't have to be very cheap but not very expensive either," says the expert, who is fully committed to online sales. "It's much easier and faster to buy online because you don't have to interact with anyone in a store or leave your house, and it also allows you to search and take your time before deciding to buy."
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