I recently went to a preview for BeautyMint, part of the BeachMint umbrella of websites that pairs products with celebrities – they’ve got JewelMint with jewelry designed by Kate Bosworth and StyleMint with t-shirts designed by the Olsen twins. The new beauty site launches at the end of October and is endorsed by Jessica Simpson and backed by celebrity esthetician Nerida Joy. I was skeptical to say the least when I walked into the launch event. Like the other Mint sites you sign-up and take a quiz, in this case it pertains to your skin, after that you’re given a regimen of skincare products that includes five ($39.95) or six ($49.95) products for you to use. The travel-size products are then sent to you and you automatically will get a new skincare kit sent to you every month.
The reason I’m not a member of any of the Mint sites – and believe me I’ve been very tempted by a number of the StyleMint tees (one in particular that was printed with “no…is a full sentence”..love it!) – is that I don’t like that you are automatically “opted in” to have a new product sent to you every month. I don’t want to have to remind myself to opt out if I don’t want a product after buying it one month. For skincare specifically however where it’s not about necessarily finding a new product, but an effective one I can see the benefit of not having to think about replenishing your supply and automatically getting new ones sent to you every month. The one issue is that you always have to get an entire kit since there’s no way to buy products individually. That said BeachMint is very open to customer feedback so that could change if others feel the same way. Jump for more!
The business model aside, I was able to chat with Nerida and she’s awesome. Well-spoken, poised, and at the age of 50 has wonderful skin. She works with countless celebs including Jennifer Garner and it’s clear that she wouldn’t put her name on anything she doesn’t believe really works. To that end, the line of BeautyMint products is packed with active ingredients, so they’re really counting on high volume because despite their frugal price-points these products are not inexpensive to produce. I have yet to try the products for myself so I can’t attest to how effective or not they were for me, but I spoke to a number of people involved with the venture and extensive studies were done to test their efficacy, including video documentation that will be up on the site when it launches.
The big draw, aside from the skincare products, from my perspective, is the amount of informative information that the site promises to deliver. There is a TON of info out there on skincare, but not very much of it is reliable. BeautyMint not only allows for a streamlined process of buying beauty products, but it delivers reliable content and the truth is just by using the right cleanser (a non-foaming one so skin isn’t stripped of moisture – something Nerida highlighted time and time again), and applying products the right way, in the right amounts can make a world of difference. The site is launching with eight products, but more will be added in the coming months.
Lastly, I was wary of Jessica Simpson being involved in the venture since I associate her with bad skin (blame the close-up acne shots in her Proactiv commercials), but I spoke to her rep and those commercials were actually taped years ago and I am told she not only now does not have acne, but more or less uses BeautyMint products exclusively on her face. I haven’t seen her in person so I don’t know the state of her skin for sure, but after speaking to the folks behind BeautyMint, I wouldn’t be swayed by her association. Not only do most celebs have bad skin — just think about the amount of products that go on their skin on a daily basis — but Nerida packs enough beauty cred for the both of them!