Victoria Beckham and Sarah Creal Found a Serious Gap in the Beauty Market—So They Filled It
Victoria Beckham and Sarah Creal met five years ago. Sarah was a beauty executive who worked in product development and marketing for brands like Tom Ford, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and most recently, Estée Lauder. Victoria was, well, you know who she is, but at the time she was launching her first makeup collection with Estée Lauder. True beauty stans will remember the collab’s warm, rich tones, luxurious textures, and most of all, the immensely chic black fluted leather and gold packaging. Her shift from pop star to fashion icon and now makeup maven was actually a natural transition for Victoria: “My time in the Spice Girls really defined my passion for beauty and experimenting with different looks.”
The success of Victoria Beckham x Estée Lauder—and the subsequent capsule collection a year later—was just the beginning. Victoria had lofty goals of a beauty line where clean and luxury collided, and she knew just the person to help her make it happen. “Sarah and I had an instant connection, and with her years of product development experience, she really knew how to make my dream products come to life,” says Victoria.
The Beginning of Victoria Beckham Beauty
“It all started with Victoria spilling out her makeup bag,” says Sarah. “She kept this really incredible beauty archive over the years of all of her favorite products.” The pair sat around that table for hours talking through Victoria’s personal stash, what she loves, what she hates, how they could make her favorites even better, and what would set them apart in such a saturated industry.
Their number one goal: creating products at the intersection of clean ingredients and sustainably-minded design with a luxurious experience. “Consumers are so much more informed now,” says Sarah. “They are their own experts. They care about the ingredients in the products they are using and where they are sourced from.”
But developing a brand doesn’t end with product formulation. “The packaging is just as important to me as the product itself,” says Victoria. “I want all of my products to be items that you love to pull out of your bag and show off.” What was equally as important to the duo was creating packaging with sustainably-minded design.
“All of our shipments come with biodegradable foam instead of bubble wrap,” says Sarah. “You can literally dissolve it under running water in about 30 seconds. It's a little detail that makes a huge impact over time.” The brand also uses 100 percent post-consumer waste for all of their secondary packaging, making it both recycled and recyclable (the ideal combination for sustainability), as well as minimizing their plastic use where they can. “That’s why we’ve designed an eyeshadow palette with zero plastic and no space in between the shades to avoid waste,” adds Victoria.
The Products Come to Life
Victoria Beckham Beauty debuted in September 2019 with all the staples you’d need to achieve Victoria’s signature smoky eye, including the Smoky Eye Bricks (eyeshadow compacts with four complementary shades), Lid Lustres (high-shine pressed pigments), and Satin Kajal Liners (some of the richest, inkiest liners you’ll ever find).
The line soon expanded to include skincare in collaboration with Professor Augustinus Bader (a personal favorite of Victoria), and lip products. “My love of lip liner and nude lips started in my Spice Girls days,” she says. “That’s why developing Lip Definer and Posh Lipstick has been so important for me. I’m creating the perfect tools for my ideal defined nude lip.”
Their most recent launch also happens to be their most challenging product yet: Future Lash Mascara (try it in your April Glam Bag Plus!). “The perfect mascara is something I’ve had in my head since day one, but I have truly never found a clean mascara that works the way I want it to,” says Victoria. The years of experimenting with formulation and testing lab samples finally paid off. They were able to create a unicorn mascara that’s ultra-black and creates fluttery, full definition without smudging or flaking. Oh, and did we mention it actually nourishes your lashes and comes off with just warm water? Yup, like we said, a total unicorn.
The Brand’s Bright Future
“When we first started working on this brand, Victoria and I asked ourselves what the most amazing luxury beauty brand would look like in ten years,” says Sarah. “Our journey has been just that, creating what we want to see in the beauty world and pulling away from antiquated ideals and formulations to create a truly modern beauty brand.”
They started with ground-breaking products, and their goal is to continue pushing boundaries to deliver on that brand promise, including their goals of sustainability. “Our biggest limits are in packaging, both in cost and sustainability,” adds Sarah. “We design custom luxury packaging for every product, so that’s where our biggest costs are, and I’m really looking for the next big breakthrough in sustainable packaging. There’s always room for improvement.”
“My days are a balancing act of working on fashion, beauty, and being a mum of course,” says Victoria. “But I spend a lot of time testing new products, finding inspiration for new shades, and working on photoshoots for our upcoming launches.” One place she finds inspiration is in the tips she’s learned from her makeup artists over the years. She’s learned to use lip liner to fill in her Cupid’s bow to make her lips look fuller; she’s learned to dab moisturizer over her finished makeup to help freshen things up; and she’s learned to use two shades of bronzer to the ultimate warmth and definition. “Stay tuned,” she says. “My dream bronzer is coming soon!”
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