This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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Sarah Creal got her start in beauty while working at a Clinique counter. But it wasn’t long before Creal was working in product development and marketing at major brands including Bobbi Brown, Tom Ford and Prada Beauty. In 2018, she co-founded Victoria Beckham Beauty with the former Spice Girl herself — she was CEO of that company until 2022.
Then, earlier this summer, she debuted Sarah Creal Beauty, designed for luxury shoppers over 40. Sold direct-to-consumer since its launch, the brand is made up of a tight edit of skin-care and color cosmetics products including a concealer, a brightening and hydrating essence, a lip balm and a priming eye cream.
Next, on September 3, it will debut at Sephora. And on the 10th, it will launch a line of lipsticks.
On this week’s episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Creal discusses her decision to launch a brand, her brand’s upcoming lipstick and women’s ongoing struggle to raise funds for their own ventures.
Below are highlights from the episode, which have been lightly edited for clarity.
Dreaming up a brand
“I literally woke up one morning from a dream, and I sat up in bed, and I was like, ‘Why is no one talking to me?’ I’m 54 years old, and no one in the luxury beauty space is speaking to me at all — not in a way I want to be spoken to, not in a luxury way or an aspirational way. Nobody’s formulating for me, educating me. It literally was like a lightbulb moment. I felt so strongly. I went through, ‘Well, what about this brand? Are they doing this? What about this brand? Are they doing this?’ And I really could not find a brand that was specifically formulating for my generation, for 40-plus. … And I knew I hadn’t ever done it. I’d always developed for [people in their] 20s and 30s. So, I was part of the problem, which is hilarious now, but I really was. I was part of the system, and that’s the way it’s been.”
The challenges of securing funding
“I started going out and trying to get funding, and that was incredibly challenging. I had a lot of people say to me, ‘You know, I just don’t think older women want to look at other older women.’ … The level of misogyny and, basically, female discrimination that happens in the investment sector is unbelievable. In 2023, Forbes had this statistic. … They always look at where the investment went in the United States. And 3.2% of the investment in 2023 went to female-founded brands. If you had a male partner, that went up to 16.8%, and then the rest went to men. And to tell you the truth, I thought I would be in that 3.2%. … But, ultimately, I raised all of my initial funding. First, I put in a big chunk of my own money so I could start tooling the products and [tooling the packaging]. Jill [Golden, my co-founder] and I both worked for free for months and months, and we just built this thing. I knew from the beginning I had to put money in, because in order to create a luxury brand, you have to make the design beautiful. In my opinion, you really have to create something spectacular. And it was my name on it, [so I was like], ‘I’m leaving it all on the field, I’m doing the whole thing.'”
Launching in Sephora
“I know these amazing women over at Sephora. And one of them asked me what I was up to. And I said, ‘Believe it or not, I’m working on my own brand.’ She said she wanted to see it. … Launching in a retailer wasn’t my focus. I was so focused on creating the formulas, creating the beautiful packaging, creating the branding, and bringing it all together and getting that right. … But when I showed them, they said, ‘I can tell you, this customer is definitely underserved in the beauty arena. You have something here.’ They wanted me to show Amy Abrams [vp of makeup merchandising at Sephora]. … She walked in and she was like, ‘Oh my god. I can’t believe this. Is this ready to go?’ And I was like, ‘Well, actually, we’re going to launch on June 3.’ And she said, ‘Show me everything.’ So I showed her everything. I showed her all the formulas.
“Just as the face of investment is really male, the face of retail is largely female, and Sephora is a great example of that, from Artemis Patrick as CEO to Priya [Venkatesh, global chief merchandising officer] to Amy. It’s all these incredible, powerful women. Amy said to me in that meeting, ‘I love this, and I would love to launch this with you exclusively as soon as you can, whenever that would be. What do you think?’ I was not prepared for that in that meeting. It was amazing. When I said goodbye to her that day, I had tears in my eyes because, obviously, this is a very personal endeavor for me.”
