Joanna French
Born in 2013 through the search for the perfect lipstick, SUZY. Lipsticks is a boutique lipstick brand with a focus on quality, sustainability and affordability. Our lipsticks and lipglosses are vegan, cruelty-free and proudly made in small batches with love right here in Melbourne. Our lipglosses are also made with 99.8% natural ingredients.
Fast forward to 12 years later, SUZY. is one of Australia's leading independent beauty brands. SUZY.'s cult following love the quality and feel, the on-trend colours and collections, the sweet fruity fragrance, and the chic pop-up packaging (that doesn't open up in your handbag)!
SUZY. is retailed in boutiques, professional beauty salons and via makeup artists throughout Australia & NZ.
What inspired the idea for your business?
I was on the hunt for a lipstick that was super pigmented, didn't have that typical 'waxy' lipstick smell, was a pleasure to wear, was affordable and had cute packaging. How hard could it be?! Well it proved to be nearly impossible - everything seemed wildly expensive or the colour just wasn't 'right'! Working as both a model and a marketing executive in the beauty industry, I saw a niche in the market for the 'perfect' lipstick and I got to work!
Where is the business now? And where is it headed?
We are currently stocked in around 2,000 stores throughout Australia and NZ and hope to grow this stockist footprint, and with that growth expand our lip range. We want to be the go to brand for all things lips.
How does your brand differentiate itself in the market?
Ethical values such a small batch production, producing locally in Melbourne, formulating vegan and cruelty-free products, and keeping our RRP accessible at $24.
What challenges have you faced, and what have you learned from them?
What have been your key strengths and weaknesses, and what have you learned from them? Our main challenges we faced early on were around manufacturing in China. 2 years into our business journey (in 2015) we started exclusively manufacturing in Australia and haven't looked back. We have an amazing relationship with our Australian manufacturing partners and wouldn't have it any other way.
What are your core values and guiding principles?
We are a small hands on team and create our products authentically with love. Our core values are quality, affordability and ethical and sustainable production.
What advice would you give to aspiring business owners?
Trust your gut and go for it! It's never the "right" time so just dive in and chase your dream!
What achievement are you most proud of?
Certainly surviving COVID and then thriving on the other side of this hurdle. It was the most challenging time we faced as a business - as you can imagine with masks sales weren't great! And we were dropped by our two largest stockists at that time, but we took the opportunity to rebrand and focus on our independent stockists and we've come out stronger on the other side! I'm so happy and proud of where we are now, and where we are heading!
