This week, I’m highlighting the ways luxury personal shoppers are attracting ultra-wealthy clients through access to private beauty shopping experiences, sold-out products, and celebrity glam squads and aestheticians whose books normally remain closed to new clients. Additionally, the Kardashian sister partnering with a U.K. fake lash brand and the Marvel star entering the kids hair-care space.
In a changing luxury landscape, personal shoppers are using access to beauty products and pros to increase their value to the 1%
As luxury e-commerce continues to tumble, personal shopping firms serving ultra-high-net-worth luxury clientele — often referred to as VICs for “very important customers” — are finding new ways to attract the 1%. As previously reported by Glossy, various economic challenges like inflation have tempered luxury shopping habits, leaving the richest people in the world driving the majority of luxury sales.
That’s why Sukeena Rao, co-founder of London-based personal shopping firm Luminaire, has been quietly expanding her roster of beauty professionals, including celeb glam squads, wellness leaders and cosmetic doctors, as well as hard-to-access products, to better appeal to clients.
“There’s a tsunami of stuff coming at you every day. People don’t know how to navigate that,” Rao told Glossy. “The world is a different place now, and even for that consumer who can afford everything and anything, it’s not so chic to have everything.”
For Luminaire, curation is king, so the company vets beauty brands and pros for limited-edition appointments with clients. This includes facialist Joanna Czech, massage therapist and “skin sculptor” Guendalina and nail artist Harriet Westmoreland. The firm’s team then creates corresponding content for the editorial platform on its website where these artists are featured in elevated articles reminiscent of Violet Grey’s Violet Files blog or Net-a-Porter’s “Porter” magazine.
“We feature a monthly ‘person of influence’ and we have a monthly expert who often crosses into art, beauty, wellness or design,” Rao said. “We try to take out all the noise. [We tell our clients]: “Look at these 10 things this month. Read this, go and see that, do that, buy this and wear it like that.”
She told Glossy this strategy is effective since her clients are well-funded but time-poor. “They don’t have time to be watching Reels on Instagram,” Rao said. “They’re looking for people who are trustworthy and skilled [to show them beauty trends and techniques].”
Instead of watching a celebrity makeup artist or facialist share tips and product recommendations on social media with the masses, Luminaire members are able to attend private, in-person masterclasses or book private appointments not available to the public. For example, Luminaire produced a masterclass in 2023 with Dr. Barbara Sturm for clients to learn about skin techniques and products in a luxury townhouse also stocked with shoppable offerings from Bottega Veneta and Galvan. Brands like Westman Atelier, Augustinus Bader and Chanel Beauty have all participated. Shoppers may pick their wares at the showroom-style event but get to leave empty-handed thanks to wrapping and worldwide delivery services.
Luminaire was launched in 2022 by Rao, who worked as the head of personal shopping at Harrods and Harvey Nichols in London for a combined seven years, and Harriet Quick, a former fashion features director of British Vogue and contributing editor at Financial Times.
Luminaire offers tiered memberships: $57,307 (£45,000) per year allows for high-touch appointments with Luminaire’s stylists, personalized mood boards, appointments with hard-to-book beauty pros (for an extra fee), access to beauty masterclasses and private shopping experiences, as well as brokerage of just about anything one can desire, from apartments to cars. Entry-level membership starts at $6,367 (£5,000) per year and includes recommendations, mood boards, unlimited sourcing, fashion edits and basic access to luxury wardrobe and gift procurement and planning.
A rep from Luminaire told Glossy that in January this year, the firm brokered more than $1.02 million (£800,000) worth of orders for couture garments. They reported that jewelry was the top category for the firm in 2023, including a single purchase of more than $636,785 (£500,000) worth of goods during one appointment at an undisclosed jewelry shop Luminaire had closed for one member.
Rao told Glossy that beauty is becoming a larger part of the business with each quarter. “We tailor-match our clients with the right beauty professionals who are at the top of their game,” she said. This might include booking travel to various countries for the artist. “George Northwood doesn’t cut anybody’s hair — he won’t open his books for anybody. But for us, he will,” Rao said. This helps top artists vet new clients, as well, but Luminaire did not share with Glossy the rates charged by in-demand artists.
A rep from Luminaire told Glossy the firm has approximately 50 clients and the waitlist for entry is around six months. Most new clients start with a wardrobe revamp or help with holiday or wedding gifts then move on to bigger requests like hard-to-find Birkin bags or luxury vintage cars. The company’s clientele is mostly based in London, with a large population of Hollywood celebrities and international shoppers from the Middle East, a growing luxury market.
Luminaire has a team of eight and an office in the Notting Hill neighborhood of London.
But it’s not just hard-to-book beauty pros that are attracting the 1% of luxury shoppers. Gab Waller, a global fashion sourcing professional with a burgeoning business in Los Angeles, told Glossy that she has been receiving more and more beauty sourcing requests from her clientele.
Usually, Waller’s team is hunting down sold-out Chanel sandals, a Celine coat or a Sportmax dress, which she’s recently sourced for Sofia Richie, Lori Harvey and Rosie Huntington-Whitely, respectively, but lately she’s fielded many requests for Rhode beauty products.
Albeit far from expensive — Rhode’s Lip Treatment is $16 and the viral iPhone case to hold it is $35 — but with limited drops and quick sell-outs, its value also lies in access.
Indie sourcing apps are also springing up in the ashes of e-tailers like Farfetch and Matches, and while none appear to have added beauty wares to their offering yet, they’re testing the luxury market for the next way to reach high-end customers. Apps like Sourcewhere, Vetir and Floorr help connect personal shoppers, luxury sales advisors and private collectors who wish to source, buy and trade luxury fashion.
In an attempt to keep up, Saks Fifth Avenue announced an expansion to its Fifth Avenue Club personal shopping offerings last summer, just before news reports were published alleging financial unrest at the retailer, including late vendor payments.
The expansion placed private, standalone personal shopping suites in U.S. hotels like The Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis Hotels & Resorts to better reach ultra-luxury shoppers. This includes locations in Laguna Beach, Napa Valley and Honolulu. Offerings include anything for sale at Saks, including fashion, shoes, accessories and beauty, all hand-picked and organized by an in-house personal shopper.
News to know:
- In its full-year 2024 earnings call on Wednesday, E.l.f. Beauty CEO Tarang P. Amin announced the company had surpassed $1 billion in sales in its fiscal 2024 year. He also announced a new partnership with Sephora to enter Mexico and Naturium Skincare’s entry into Ulta Beauty this summer.
- Lush released a limited-edition “Bridgerton” collection aligned with the premiere of the third season on Netflix. The collection includes six products with series-specific names like Crème Anglaise body lotion and Two Families bath bomb.
- Khloé Kardashian has partnered with U.K. fake lash brand Tatti Lashes. Kardashian’s collaborative collection includes strip and individual lashes, as well as application accessories, all priced from $11.95-$44.95.
- Marvel franchise “Luke Cage” star Mike Colter and wife Iva Colter are launching a DTC line of hair-care products for kids inspired by their daughters’ quest for products formulated for textured hair. The line is called Niles + Chaz and is priced between $16-$28.
- Kiehl’s, the skin-care company owned by L’Oréal, officially started selling on Amazon on Thursday. The company is the latest in a new migration to the site, which includes brands like Clinique.
- Seed, the gut wellness company known for its Daily Synbiotic probiotic, has launched its first vaginal health product. The Vaginal Synbiotic pack is sold DTC for $99 and includes six vaginal probiotic suppositories that are used over the course of one month to support the vaginal microbiome.
- Flower Knows, a color cosmetics brand popular in China and among Gen-Zers on TikTok, launched stateside in Urban Outfitters. Prices range from $8-$50.
In the headlines:
Hims & Hers stock hits 3-year high after announcing $199 weight-loss alternative to Wegovy. Livestream and social commerce concept Bleu Beauty launches with an investment from NYX Cosmetics founder Toni Ko. The 5 hottest summer nail trends, according to Google searches. B.B.C., Chicago’s beauty retailer offering Black-owned brands, expands to L.A. Swiss-Dutch fragrance maker DSM-Firmenich unveils new “Mind Nose Matter” olfactory exhibition. Postnatal retreats are getting popular in the U.S.— here’s a look at two in California.
Need a Glossy recap?
Is Shein hijacking TikTok with fake voices and deceptive bots? E.l.f. Beauty announces Naturium Skincare will enter Ulta Beauty this summer. Katie Sturino on Megababe’s big summer. Gymshark is building an inclusive athleisure brand, from headbands to hijabs. More than half of marketers are focused on growing their events business. And on the Glossy Beauty Pod, Mielle’s Monique Rodriquez discusses prioritizing ‘innovation and meeting the needs of the ever-changing consumer’.
