Really gutted that both becca and JK are going to be no more. As you said both are amazing and I adore them both but you're right, somewhere along the way something has gone belly up. Disappointed to lose these two brands.
This is such a shame as I love their ultra sheer foundation and will be going to buy a back up. But I agree with you 100% about it not being widely available enough in shops. Although I happily buy all my haircare/skincare online I think buying make-up esp base products in 'person' is so important. I live in London and buy my Becca from Fenwicks which is a store I would never choose to go to I just happene to work near there. kittymakesup.wordpress.com
Also, what is the story here? It's not clear from your post -- when you say Becca is being 'imminently liquidated' do you actually mean the whole company is being liquidated (rather than entering administration), or is Becca just withdrawing from the UK and liquidating a UK arm? Is it an insolvent liquidation?
HI Anon.. check here: http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60342/notices/1717003/recent=10;category=corp-insolvency-winding-up-creditors;subcategory=meetings-creditors
Have to say, I don't think I've heard of Becca. Wonder how many others out there are the same as me? May be not reaching a bigger audience was a factor?
Thanks for the link. I wonder about this -- I can see that a UK company is being liquidated, but how much of the story behind it do you know? Probably unlikely, but they could be restructuring the company. Also, is the company in question definitely the main UK operational arm? Have you heard that they are definitely withdrawing from the UK or is this a global liquidation? It's interesting that they are choosing to liquidate rather than going for administration...
I did a quick search and found the same London Gazette clip you just linked to. But there are no other news, maybe they are just withdrawing from the UK? Just back in October they were announcing a major partnership with Sephora in the US...
Hi Anon.. I guess we may never know the answers.. as I understand it, it the UK arm that is liquidating and also as I understand it, it is not the main arm of the brand. I have no doubt they'll continue to flourish in other markets. I'm more interested in why it didn't work here..
Maybe lack of publicity was a factor for Becca? I've been reading quite a few beauty blogs consistently for the past year or so and I've never heard of them.
For JK - maybe the fact that they constantly seem to be given away free with magazines - it's a catch-22 situation. Want more publicity, so give products with magazines, but then consumers think there's no point buying it when it'll be on a magazine soon enough.
To slightly deviate from the other comments, I liked your remark about people not being entirely happy to buy expensive makeup over the internet.
Without being able to see the colour of a product on your own skin, it's a very big punt to take when it's expensive. And right now, people are feeling the pinch and aren't prepared to take that punt.
I think there's a lesson there for a lot of niche brands. It's important to get your product onto the backs of potential customers' hands. I suspect the Marks and Spencer foray into beauty might be an ideal opportunity for some brands to get out of the blogs and onto punters' faces...
Interesting - I walk past their Chelsea boutique every day on my way to and from work and it's been closed for the past week due to an electrical emergency. Wonder if it's all connected!
This is a real shame. However, I must admit I ended up not buying anything from them because I don't live near anywhere I could go and test their products and I dislike buying things for the first time online... I did get their lip and cheek tint in a beauty box and love it though, I would happily have repurchased that again and again.
Becca is a great line and they do have many foundation shades to accommodate every skin color. Yet, when I think of the line, I think of Kryolan which I shouldn't because I know Becca has their own formulation.
I just think a consumer is not willing to pick and choose from the vast array of foundation choices anymore nor does the consumer have the patience to look. Unless one is a makeup artist, foundations and the laid back neutral colors can be found in pro lines where they are needed.
Now, it is packaging together colors, palettes and such to grab the consumer's eyes in that split second.
Speaking of Kryolan, I know Illamasqua is manufactured by them (different formula catered to its needs) and they have their own catchy style which consumers love to look at.
I hate to think Becca is out of the picture, yet at the same time many of these cosmetics lines fail to see the big picture--consumers grow up and older and the tastes change. The new generation of makeup aficionados are more savvy with less patience.
I have a lot more to say but will leave it to this, the makeup business is not easy and to predict the buying power of the consumer is as accurate as a psychic picking out the lotto numbers!
This is not a brand I had heard of. Personally I would not order make up that I had not tried on the internet, especially if it is a premium brand. It is sad though when a company withdraws from one of its markets, or closes altogether.There will be people who have lost their jobs. These are tough and difficult times and you have to be on top of your business game to survive.
I think this is entirely down to lack of accessibility to seeing the products in person. A quick check on their website reveals that there are only eight places we can buy in london, pretty much all concentrated in central. Imagine how few places that is around the rest of the country then (the entire northeast is missing!).
As I don't go round that way too often (and it isn't too far from me!) I don't get a chance to play enough, so won't buy much.
It's a lovely brand I'd be sad to see go as I had just started getting into them. Sadly I didn't get to know it well enough.
If it had been more easily available, I think it would be the type of brand to do quite well here. Easy to wear colours, wide variety of foundation shades and excellent products will be successful. In my opinion, wider distribution would have saved the brand.
It is sad. They had a simplistic and elegant position and quality products from what I could see and hear.
I think that there are a number of factors to a brand's long term success. I think that your core customer base needs to have a reason to return and return and return again. Essentially it's about the product quality and uniqueness. There are personal care products that I purchase and will continue to purchase time and time again. For example, John Master's bourbon tangerine hair texturizer. Expensive, small quantity, but nothing beats it for me on the market. I have used Clarins for skincare for years and nothing comes close to how it performs on my skin. If a niche brand that is highly priced falls short (for whatever reason), there are twenty competitors biting for the customer's money.
In make-up its so complex. The quality is paramount and education is crucial. However the discussion is infinitely more intricate. Financing concession style arrangements in department stores is brutally challenging. Then the conversation loops back to the quality and customer loyalty. A brand needs serious sales to maintain a high profile presence.
Its all conjecture as we don't know why they have been so challenged, but I will say we don't make it easy in the UK for niche brands to thrive. I will say that I'm not sure that their marketing or visual aesthetics haven't compelled or touched / excited me. I know that every time I see a Nars ad or image it speaks to me and makes me desire respect their products.....
Sadly I hope that they can reinvent and phoenix with fresh energy. x
Whilst this is sad, it's not a personal sadness for me... never tried them and probably never would. No counter nearby and always seemed too much to spend on somethign I couldn't test. Only thing I have ever been tempted by is the Beach Tints...but still didn't quite get round to it...
I've also always wanted to try Becca products - a lot of WOC bloggers rave about it - but have never found a counter I could have a play at. I think budget ranges are fine as online only businesses, but who in their right mind would buy a £28 foundation blind? It makes no sense. I think it's a real shame if Becca is no more because I do think it's innovative and a range I would invest in, but again, because I don't walk past a counter very often, I can't say I'll be missing it either if it is no more. Stila is an interesting example of how things are changing - before it was only available in Space NK, and was marketed as a high-end brand. It didn't go well for it, and it had to leave and return via Boots to now become a brand a lot of people are talking about.
22 comments:
Really gutted that both becca and JK are going to be no more. As you said both are amazing and I adore them both but you're right, somewhere along the way something has gone belly up. Disappointed to lose these two brands.
This is such a shame as I love their ultra sheer foundation and will be going to buy a back up. But I agree with you 100% about it not being widely available enough in shops. Although I happily buy all my haircare/skincare online I think buying make-up esp base products in 'person' is so important. I live in London and buy my Becca from Fenwicks which is a store I would never choose to go to I just happene to work near there.
kittymakesup.wordpress.com
What is your source for this?
Also, what is the story here? It's not clear from your post -- when you say Becca is being 'imminently liquidated' do you actually mean the whole company is being liquidated (rather than entering administration), or is Becca just withdrawing from the UK and liquidating a UK arm? Is it an insolvent liquidation?
HI Anon.. check here: http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60342/notices/1717003/recent=10;category=corp-insolvency-winding-up-creditors;subcategory=meetings-creditors
Have to say, I don't think I've heard of Becca. Wonder how many others out there are the same as me? May be not reaching a bigger audience was a factor?
Thanks for the link. I wonder about this -- I can see that a UK company is being liquidated, but how much of the story behind it do you know? Probably unlikely, but they could be restructuring the company. Also, is the company in question definitely the main UK operational arm? Have you heard that they are definitely withdrawing from the UK or is this a global liquidation? It's interesting that they are choosing to liquidate rather than going for administration...
I did a quick search and found the same London Gazette clip you just linked to. But there are no other news, maybe they are just withdrawing from the UK? Just back in October they were announcing a major partnership with Sephora in the US...
Hi Anon.. I guess we may never know the answers.. as I understand it, it the UK arm that is liquidating and also as I understand it, it is not the main arm of the brand. I have no doubt they'll continue to flourish in other markets. I'm more interested in why it didn't work here..
Maybe lack of publicity was a factor for Becca?
I've been reading quite a few beauty blogs consistently for the past year or so and I've never heard of them.
For JK - maybe the fact that they constantly seem to be given away free with magazines - it's a catch-22 situation. Want more publicity, so give products with magazines, but then consumers think there's no point buying it when it'll be on a magazine soon enough.
To slightly deviate from the other comments, I liked your remark about people not being entirely happy to buy expensive makeup over the internet.
Without being able to see the colour of a product on your own skin, it's a very big punt to take when it's expensive. And right now, people are feeling the pinch and aren't prepared to take that punt.
I think there's a lesson there for a lot of niche brands. It's important to get your product onto the backs of potential customers' hands. I suspect the Marks and Spencer foray into beauty might be an ideal opportunity for some brands to get out of the blogs and onto punters' faces...
Interesting - I walk past their Chelsea boutique every day on my way to and from work and it's been closed for the past week due to an electrical emergency. Wonder if it's all connected!
A sad loss as they have some superb products! Their cream cheek products and shimmering skin perfector are amazing....RIP
I feel like we didn't even have time to get to know becca here in the US! All I could find we're just a few things at Sephora. What a bummer!
What a bummer! I didn't even have time to get to know Becca here in the US. I could only ever find a small selection at Sephora.
Simplyskindeepbeauty.blogspot.com
This is a real shame. However, I must admit I ended up not buying anything from them because I don't live near anywhere I could go and test their products and I dislike buying things for the first time online... I did get their lip and cheek tint in a beauty box and love it though, I would happily have repurchased that again and again.
Becca is a great line and they do have many foundation shades to accommodate every skin color. Yet, when I think of the line, I think of Kryolan which I shouldn't because I know Becca has their own formulation.
I just think a consumer is not willing to pick and choose from the vast array of foundation choices anymore nor does the consumer have the patience to look. Unless one is a makeup artist, foundations and the laid back neutral colors can be found in pro lines where they are needed.
Now, it is packaging together colors, palettes and such to grab the consumer's eyes in that split second.
Speaking of Kryolan, I know Illamasqua is manufactured by them (different formula catered to its needs) and they have their own catchy style which consumers love to look at.
I hate to think Becca is out of the picture, yet at the same time many of these cosmetics lines fail to see the big picture--consumers grow up and older and the tastes change. The new generation of makeup aficionados are more savvy with less patience.
I have a lot more to say but will leave it to this, the makeup business is not easy and to predict the buying power of the consumer is as accurate as a psychic picking out the lotto numbers!
This is not a brand I had heard of. Personally I would not order make up that I had not tried on the internet, especially if it is a premium brand. It is sad though when a company withdraws from one of its markets, or closes altogether.There will be people who have lost their jobs. These are tough and difficult times and you have to be on top of your business game to survive.
Susann
I think this is entirely down to lack of accessibility to seeing the products in person. A quick check on their website reveals that there are only eight places we can buy in london, pretty much all concentrated in central. Imagine how few places that is around the rest of the country then (the entire northeast is missing!).
As I don't go round that way too often (and it isn't too far from me!) I don't get a chance to play enough, so won't buy much.
It's a lovely brand I'd be sad to see go as I had just started getting into them. Sadly I didn't get to know it well enough.
If it had been more easily available, I think it would be the type of brand to do quite well here. Easy to wear colours, wide variety of foundation shades and excellent products will be successful. In my opinion, wider distribution would have saved the brand.
Leila
It is sad. They had a simplistic and elegant position and quality products from what I could see and hear.
I think that there are a number of factors to a brand's long term success. I think that your core customer base needs to have a reason to return and return and return again. Essentially it's about the product quality and uniqueness. There are personal care products that I purchase and will continue to purchase time and time again. For example, John Master's bourbon tangerine hair texturizer. Expensive, small quantity, but nothing beats it for me on the market. I have used Clarins for skincare for years and nothing comes close to how it performs on my skin. If a niche brand that is highly priced falls short (for whatever reason), there are twenty competitors biting for the customer's money.
In make-up its so complex. The quality is paramount and education is crucial. However the discussion is infinitely more intricate. Financing concession style arrangements in department stores is brutally challenging. Then the conversation loops back to the quality and customer loyalty. A brand needs serious sales to maintain a high profile presence.
Its all conjecture as we don't know why they have been so challenged, but I will say we don't make it easy in the UK for niche brands to thrive. I will say that I'm not sure that their marketing or visual aesthetics haven't compelled or touched / excited me. I know that every time I see a Nars ad or image it speaks to me and makes me desire respect their products.....
Sadly I hope that they can reinvent and phoenix with fresh energy. x
Whilst this is sad, it's not a personal sadness for me... never tried them and probably never would. No counter nearby and always seemed too much to spend on somethign I couldn't test. Only thing I have ever been tempted by is the Beach Tints...but still didn't quite get round to it...
I've also always wanted to try Becca products - a lot of WOC bloggers rave about it - but have never found a counter I could have a play at. I think budget ranges are fine as online only businesses, but who in their right mind would buy a £28 foundation blind? It makes no sense. I think it's a real shame if Becca is no more because I do think it's innovative and a range I would invest in, but again, because I don't walk past a counter very often, I can't say I'll be missing it either if it is no more. Stila is an interesting example of how things are changing - before it was only available in Space NK, and was marketed as a high-end brand. It didn't go well for it, and it had to leave and return via Boots to now become a brand a lot of people are talking about.
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