Bethany in the New York Times Blog!

Our brilliant creator and savvy entrepreneur Bethany Karlyn is one of 3 business people giving their advice in the latest installment from the New York Times Small Business Blog.  What do you think?

Would a Home-Shopping TV Appearance Damage a High-End Brand?

By JOHN GROSSMANN

 
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times


On a single live broadcast, Ms. Pearl could reach multitudes and build her brand.

Case Study

What would you do with this business?

We just published a case study about Eve Pearl, a cosmetics company named for an Emmy-winning makeup artist who created a line of products with skin care nutrients. Begun by Eve Pearl in her New York apartment in 2005, the business moved three years later to an Upper East Side boutique with an address befitting the high-end positioning of her goods.
By last year, she had built sales to about $1 million through three primary outlets: retail sales in her shop, wholesale distribution to makeup professionals she cultivated at trade shows, and retail sales on her Web site (which accounted for the vast majority of her business). Eager for faster growth, Ms. Pearl faced a big decision when ShopNBC, the nation’s third-largest home-shopping network, invited her to appear in front of its cameras.
Ms. Pearl immediately recognized both pros and cons. On a single live broadcast, she could reach multitudes and build her brand. But her profit margins would shrink drastically, and waiting 60 days for payment, minus returns, could cause cash flow problems. She worried, too, about whether the mass sales platform offered a good fit for her high-end cosmetics.
Below, you will find the recommendations of business owners familiar with the outcome of a home shopping network appearance. Please use the comment section to share your thoughts. Next week in a follow-up post we will give you an update on what Ms. Pearl decided.

Jen Groover, creator of the Butler Bag and chief executive of Jen Groover Productions, which is based in Philadelphia and New York: “Home-shopping television is ultimately a branding strategy for most vendors. Think of it as your eight-minute commercial. How much would you typically spend on an eight-minute commercial? It allows the creator to tell her story in an extremely saturated category of business. But in order to not jeopardize the equity of her brand, she should offer slightly different product configurations on ShopNBC or create a diffusion brand, a step-down line extension of an existing high-end brand. If Eve Pearl performs well on ShopNBC and her personality shines, she’ll raise consumer awareness and increase her ‘celebrity,’ which should, in turn, increase street traffic into her store. What most people don’t realize is, when products are on a home shopping channel, it actually increases the sales in brick-and-mortar stores.”

Scott Jordan, founder and chief executive of Scottevest, which makes multipocketed travel clothes and is based in Sun Valley, Idaho: “The home-shopping networks typically require a highly demonstrable product and a charismatic owner/entrepreneur to make the presentation. It appears Eve Pearl has those things. Moreover, QVC told me they appeal primarily to women buying for themselves — so she qualifies for that as well. But unless you have excess inventory, like we did, or insane margins, or you do real volume with them, you need to consider it a complete advertising proposition.”

Bethany Karlyn, founder of Prtty Peaushun Skin Tight Body Lotion in Sherman Oaks, Calif: “Maintaining a high-end brand image in a home-shopping venue is not the challenge it once was. In fact, she’ll find herself in good company. The schlock impression has changed with high-end brands such as Elizabeth Arden, Benefit, Lancôme, Vincent Longo, Lorac and Shiseido, on HSN. On QVC, Perricone has a two-ounce product selling for $495. Since cosmetics are an aspirational product and every socioeconomic group is aspiring to the next level, exposing only the top 1 percent to your brand is a death sentence.
“You may want to consider hiring P.R. to further your reach, if it is within your budget. If not, then do an in-house outreach to beauty editors and beauty bloggers to review your products and expand your social networking to promote. Encourage your celebrity clientele to support you with tweets and perhaps an appearance on your shopping network segment or at least a call-in during the segment. You may also want to consider freshening up your Web site so it is as beautiful to enter as the physical store itself.”
What do you think?

Click here to read comments:    
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/would-a-home-shopping-appearance-damage-a-high-end-brand/

Are Self Tanners Safe?

We've recently read several articles questioning the safety of self tanners.  Mainly the focus is on DHA.  Below is an excerpt from the blog No More Dirty Looks.   It provides a balanced approach to the topic.  The reason it is being posted here is to make clear that Prtty Peaushun is NOT a self tanner and does NOT contain DHA!!  Below the article you will see our ingredients.  We are very proud of our formula and it's safety!!


Dihydroxyacetone—that’s DHA to you— which is the active ingredient in self-tanners (even clean ones) and spray tans (none of which are clean) “has the potential to cause genetic alterations and DNA damage,” according to a panel of scientists in an investigation done by ABC News.
Now before you run to the bathroom and ditch your Chocolate Sun, let’s take a closer look at what we know so far.
What are the news reports saying?
That DHA has the potential to cause genetic alterations, DNA damage, and cancer.
What’s DHA anyway?
DHA is a sugar that interacts with amino acids in the top layer of your skin to produce pigment called melanoidins; that’s the brownish tanned look these products achieve. DHA can be manufactured synthetically, or it can be derived from natural things, like beet sugar or cane sugar. It was approved by the FDA for topical use in 1977 (and many orange tans ensued!) and is widely accepted as nontoxic when applied to the skin.
So is it toxic?
Some research showed that when it’s applied in the form of a lotion, DHA does not migrate past the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of skin that’s also sometimes called the “dead skin layer.” Which sounds gross, but it’s good news, we thought, for your organs and your blood if you’re applying it in a cream as opposed inhaling it in the form of a spray tan or a spray-on self tanner.
Up until now, there’s been the most concern about spray tans, because the application method means you might inhale the stuff. Even the FDA, which is typically mum about all things cosmetics-related, has a warning on its website about them. Which means that for the love of all things good (and good looking) you should not be getting a spray tan!
Fine. But I’m good to go with a self tanner, right?
Not so fast.

FDA reports dating back to the 1990s, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, cited research that some DHA can migrate to the living layers of the skin after all. How much of it—and where it goes from there—is anybody’s guess.

Read more here:  http://nomoredirtylooks.com/2012/06/are-any-self-tanners-actually-safe-making-sense-of-the-new-research-about-dha/

Here are our ingredients::

Fred Segal loves us!

If you live in L.A then you most definitely have heard of the ever popular boutique Fred Segal.  If you don't live in L.A you may have read about Fred Segal.  If you have never heard about Fred Segal or read about Fred Segal, it is an amazing boutique carrying the hottest in fashion and beauty.  We at Prtty Peaushun are THRILLED to be sold in their beauty boutique!  Check out what the staff has to say about Prtty Peaushun, it's pretty awesome!!

NewBeauty at Fred Segal Product Pick: Prtty Peaushun

Posted Wednesday, May 30, 2012 by NewBeauty Editors

Every day at the NewBeauty at Fred Segal store in Santa Monica, CA, we find out which beauty products our sales team and customers rave about regularly! That's why we're sharing our staff's product picks of the week so you can find out what's popular and give it a try too.

This week, our store manager Elena Severin says she's in love with a product that makes your skin photoshoot-worthy within seconds. It's called Prtty Peaushun Skin Tight Body Lotion ($36) and she says, "It gives your legs and body a hint of color and shine without the hassle of a self tanner. Plus, it has green tea, rosemary and arnica to help with veins, bruising and water retention. Our customers love the way it smells and how it helps fake a bikini-ready body!"

Since it started selling at our store in April 2012, it's been a hit with customers. One fan has already purchased it twice and says it's the only thing she wears with dresses and shorts because it's like "an outdoor workout in a bottle" since it helps tighten skin and evens out the color.

Look for it online or stop by NewBeauty at Fred Segal to find out more. It's a great way to get perfect skin in a hurry and garner lots of compliments too. "I had it on this weekend and three people complimented me on how great my skin looked," says Severin. No wonder stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett swear by it too.

Read More from The Daily Beauty here:  http://www.newbeauty.com/dailybeauty/default.aspx

25 Best Summer Skin Tips EVER by InStyle.com::

Using Prtty Peaushun is one of the 25 Best Summer Skin Tips according to InStyle.com:: We couldn't agree more!!  Thanks InStyle.com!!!!

http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20390988_20504195_20980899,00.html

"The Evolution of Body Shimmer"

Makeup Artist and writer/contributer Marissa Nemes names us in this Beauty Etc. article about the different ways makeup artists use body shimmer.

http://www.beautyetc.com/blog/beintern/evolution-body-shimmer



Check it out!