Despite the tales of woe from the high street, there are a few positive stories emerging from the retail sector. We’ve heard about booming chocolate sales and poinsettia plants, but not much has been said about beauty.

Surprisingly upmarket skin care boutiques are popping up all over the place, from Edinburgh to Buxton and Leicester to Bristol. And they are thriving. Surely beauty is a luxury we should be doing without? Indeed it seems that the beauty salons and hairdressers are noticing the pinch, but the shops that sell the products for consumers to use at home are facing a mini-boom.

Space NK was the trailblazer for the up-market independent beauty boutique. Over the last year or so others have followed, selling unique, niche beauty brands in intimate, retail spaces and always offering high levels of personal service.

Sarah Vorbach, founder of Face Boutique Ltd, the natural skin care brand for teenagers, shares her retailing experiences from the last few months. “Whilst we get our volume sales through the likes of House of Fraser, Fenwicks and Urban Outfitters, the smaller independent boutiques are really important to us. We’ve noticed more and more springing up. Most importantly they share our brand values. For instance Linden Aromatics in Leicester sell only top quality brands with natural ingredients. DollyLeo Apothecary in Edinburgh seek out the latest global skincare products and only sell those that they know are truly effective. Like Face Boutique, they have a niche and communicate it well, genuinely caring about their customers.  It seems to be working as our products are selling like hot cakes through the independent stores!”

So why are these small beauty boutiques thriving whilst the high street is in decline? As the economy dips consumers are becoming more selective, savvy and conscious of their buying decisions. Women prefer to spend more on one natural, skin care product that they know will work rather than buying several poorer quality mainstream brands. “I used to try out anything new that came out,” explains Mandy Green, aged 22. “Now I’m sticking to my ‘peachy clean’ and ‘fresh faced’. I know they work and I won’t be wasting my money.”

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For more information please contact:  info@faceboutique.com

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