Women in Business Award 2017

Start-up name: Look Fabulous Forever
Founder: Tricia Cusden
Started in: 2013
Based in: London
Business description: Pro-age makeup brand

A YouTube star in her own right, Tricia Cusden’s make-up tutorial videos combined with her message of “pro-age not anti-age” has enabled her to enjoy over four and half million views since starting her online channel back in September 2013.

But her career is about much more than vlogging… the 65-year-old’s make-up brand Look Fabulous Forever (LFF), which caters for the over-55 market – a demographic often overlooked by the major beauty brands – has grown to serve over 27,000 customers across the UK, the US and Australia.

With 25% of all sales currently going stateside, LFF’s offering includes foundation, bronzer, mascara, eye shade and lipstick, among other cosmetics products.

Holding a five-star TrustPilot rating, based on over 4,500 reviews, LFF’s impressive roster of ambassadors also includes the likes of novelist Sandra Howard, actress Annette Badland, High Court Judge Lady Justice Anne Rafferty, and the ex-high mistress of St Paul’s Girls School, Clarissa Farr.

Not just a marketing slogan, LFF’s pro-age philosophy really does extend to all aspects of the business too.

The start-up only uses real, un-airbrushed women in its images and videos, campaigns for greater visibility for older people both in the workplace and in society in general – and makes a conscience effort not to discriminate against age in the recruitment process.

Proof that age is not a barrier to succeeding in business, the majority of LFF’s employees are aged over 50, with its customer services team holding an average age of 52 – and one of its make-up artists in her early 60s.

Cusden was up against worthy and inspiring opponents in the Women in Business category; female entrepreneurs Kintija Belska and Monika Ludwiczak of beauty brand Everlasting Brows were awarded Highly Commended, and Nikki Cochrane and Kathryn Tyler, the founders of Digital Mums – the social training provider that helps mums get back into work – won the Commended title.