Beauty Pie Review

If you are a beauty lover, I am sure you must have heard about Beauty Pie. They launched into the beauty scene last year and everyone was talking about the brand including bloggers and press. Of course, I was interested but I needed to understand the concept and read other reviews before taking the plunge. I was very kindly gifted access* to purchase some products at the member price.  I was so delighted because I spent around £21 for 4 high quality product and this price also include shipping and packaging. At the non-member price, this would have set me back about £100 according to Beauty Pie's non-member prices.  I have been trying out the products for more than a month so I thought it was time to share my thoughts on here.


Beauty Pie Overview
Beauty Pie was launched in 2016 and created by Marcia Kilgore who is an amazing entrepreneur. She is also the founder/creator of other incredible brands such as Soap & Glory, Soaper Duper, FitFlop and Bliss Spa. I have a lot of respect for her and I have read quite a few interviews about her which are really inspiring. You can read about one of her interviews on the Beauty Pie website here.  According to Beauty Pie, their mission is to bring members the world's best beauty products at a transparent factory cost. They are able to do this because they have cut out all the third parties that usually add up to the exorbitant prices of some makeup products and these third parties include retailers, markups, middlemen, etc.  Beauty Pie stocks all kinds of makeup including foundations, powders, lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, eyebrow pencils, eyeliners, highlighters, concealers, etc. They also recently launched their skincare which I am super excited about and I am very, very tempted to give them a try too!! You can read more about Beauty Pie over here.


The Beauty Pie Concept (How it Works)
I am sure many people are already familiar with the way Beauty Pie works but I will still go ahead and explain it. Beauty Pie have described themselves as an exclusive buyer's club for beauty addicts and I have to agree. If you are a beauty love, you will definitely be interested and probably tempted to give it a try. As you might have already guessed, Beauty Pie is a subscription service (not a subscription beauty box though) which gives its members or subscribers exclusive access to the factory price of beauty products. There is a fee of £10 per month and a minimum subscription of 3 months upfront which means you have to pay £30 for the three months. With your subscription service, you have a maximum purchase monthly allowance of £100 (non-member price value of products). If the allowance was for the member price, I would honestly go bananas and order every single thing I want to try from the website. If you don't use up your allowance in one month, it rolls over to the next month and I think that's brilliant especially if they have new launches for the next month. Beauty Pie have backed up their cost transparency claim by showing a breakdown of the cost of each product which includes product & packaging, safety & testing, warehousing and VAT. You also have to pay for shipping & handling which is a standard price of around £6.48 regardless of how many products you purchase. There's also another tiny fee called payment processor charges (the fee bank & payment people charge for processing payments) which is 1.8% but it's quite minimal (always less than £1). You can still purchase products from the Beauty Pie website even if you are not a member but you'd be paying the full price of the product. I did receive a code to provide me access to the non-member price along with a maximum purchase allowance of £100 (of the non-member price). In total, I spent £21.19 which got me four lovely products and this price also included shipping & handling which is impressive if you ask me. You can find out more about how it works here.




Packaging
Before I got to try Beauty Pie, I had read on the website that they don't add additional weightings to their packaging (lipsticks and compacts) in order to preserve the environment. I expected the packaging to just be regular but I was very pleasantly surprised. I thought they will be too light and maybe not great quality but they are really well made. It is light enough to facilitate easy travelling but they don't feel cheap at all. I love that they chose the monochrome theme for their packaging as it makes the product look classy. You can never go wrong with monochrome!! The foundation bottle is made from glass and has a pump which I am so pleased about. The bottle is slightly frosted (unless my eyes are deceiving me) and I love that effect as it makes the foundation look and feel luxurious. The lipstick is quite lightweight but it means it can be easily popped into your makeup bag for a touch up and so are the powder compacts and blush compacts.  The packaging actually reminds me a lot of Bobbi Brown packaging and it honestly feels like the same quality for some of the products. For the packaging of the parcel, I was not overly impressed because I was expecting a little more for the price paid but it was just a regular box. However, I was definitely impressed with the pink tissue wrapping and the way the receipt was presented. Overall, I definitely think Beauty Pie did a great job with the actual packaging of the product. Maybe they can update the shipping packaging or maybe reduce the price? A black shipping box will be great because black makes everything look 1000 times more luxurious and classy.


Products I Purchased
I struggled with the £100 monthly purchase allowance limit because I just wanted to try every single product on their website. I purchased the following products- The Great Skin Foundation, Smart Powder Blush, Future Lipstick- Satin and the Velvetizer Setting Powder. I was pretty lucky to find my shade in the face makeup section especially with the foundation and powder. My shade was always the next to the darkest shade available and in the spectrum of dark skinned ladies, I'd say my complexion is definitely not very dark.  While I appreciate that Beauty Pie is just starting off, I would have loved to see a wider range of shades. Their founder Marcia Kilgore did leave a comment on one of my Instagram photos saying that the shade range will be expanded so I have high hopes for this expansion. I also know that other darker skinned beauties and even paler beauties would love to try out Beauty Pie if only they can find their matching shade.


Great Skin Foundation// Link // Member Price- £4.92 // Non-Member Price- £30
This was the first product I wanted to try because you all know I am a foundation freak. I am planning a very detailed review of my current favourite foundations soon but for now, I need to carve out enough time for it. Anyway, back to the Great Skin Foundation. Beauty Pie describes it as subtle sculpting, featherweight and photo-perfect. There are 8 shades in total and my shade is Deep 700 Caramel which is the second to the last darkest shade available. I am really hoping they look to expand their foundation shades soon as I know there'd be a good market for these foundations for my dark/brown skinned ladies. For my complexion, it is a pretty good match and I was absolutely delighted because I rarely ever buy foundations online especially without trying out a sample or watching a review of the foundation in my shade. It was a total gamble but I am so happy it worked out well. It has a warm/golden yellow undertone which is slightly similar to MAC NC45. It comes in a slightly frosted glass bottle complete with a pump (plus a twist lock for added security) but it has no lid. However, I have travelled with it quite a few times and there were no accidents. I have also taken it with me in my handbag to work (sometimes I have to take off my makeup if I am working in specific sections in the hospital) and there were no spillages in my makeup bag. I would say it offers a pretty good medium coverage that can be built nicely to full coverage without looking too cakey. I use my Real Techniques Buffing Brush to buff it in and then my Beauty Blender for a flawless finish. I would not say it is completely lightweight while applying it but once it is blended in, it does not feel like you have anything on.




It is quite an easy foundation to work with and the right tools will make its application and finish absolutely amazing. It also has a demi-matte finish which is my favourite finish and it is perfect for my combination-oily skin. I always wear a primer with it so I get a really good wear from this foundation. Towards the end of the day (when it is really warm/humid), I need to touch up because my T-zones start acting up. I just use a light dab of powder and that's all I need. I have noticed very slight oxidation which comes off a little pinkish/warm reddish but I always balance it out before hand with a neutral powder. It's not very noticeable if you are not a foundation freak like me but I write reviews for this blog so I am quite observant to any slight changes. If you have combination oily skin, you will really love this foundation as much as I do. For two weeks straight, I used it every single day because I was quite obsessed with it. I am already planning an order for a back up because it is one of my favourite everyday foundations. I did not expect to love this as much as I do but I really love it!! I think I would be willing to purchase this foundation for anything between £20-£25 as its full price/non-member price.




The Velvetizer Setting Powder // Link //Member Price- £3.73 // Non-Member Price - £25
In addition to loving foundations, I am also a big lover of powders particularly ones that still maintain the natural glow of the skin minus the unflattering shine. Beauty Pie describes the Velvetizer Setting Powder as skin smoothing, shine blotting and super soft-focus and I completely agree with this description. There are 4 shades in total unlike the foundation which made me a little apprehensive as I was not sure there'd be a good match for my complexion. Thankfully, there was!! My shade is Deep 400 and it is also a decent match for my complexion. It is the perfect partner for the Great Skin Foundation and I always use them together. It comes in a sleek black packaging with a decent sized mirror for quick touch ups. I love how compact it is and I always use it every morning and then pop it in my bag for touch ups. The texture is well milled and it is easily distributed using my Real Techniques Powder Brush. It does not cling to any dry patches and it easily transforms my foundation to a smooth finish. I have combination oily skin so having a great powder is very essential.



I have quite a few favourites but this is my new one. I have tried it with other foundations and it always delivers amazing results. When I get shiny, I swirl my brush lightly around its surface and it blots out any oiliness without shifting my foundation or concealer. It adds a very subtle colour to my overall makeup which I feel helps tame the oxidisation of the Great Skin Foundation. It also makes my makeup look very photo ready and blurs out any annoying large pores. If you are on the hunt for a new setting powder, I will highly recommend giving this a try especially if you have combination oily skin. Again, I can't wait for them to expand their shade range so other complexions can try it.  When they eventually do launch other darker shades, I think I'd purchase a darker shade to use as a contour powder. I think I'd happily pay around £15-£18 for it outside the Beauty Pie subscription.





Smart Powder Blush // Link //Member Price- £2.51 // Non-Member Price- £18
I can't say I am very crazy about blushes as I just consistently use 3-4 blushes that work well for my complexion. I tend to use earth brown, rosy/warm pinks or sunset orange shades which all look flattering on my complexion. From the pictures on the website, I was so hesitant to pick any shade but I took a risk and it was well worth it. Beauty Pie describes the Smart Powder Blush as fresh faced natural blush with a rosy glow. Again, I can't help but agree because every single description really captures how I feel about this blush I believe there are currently three shades available and I think I may have to try the other two.





The shade I chose is Go Rouge which is a lovely warm rosy shade. I did not think this will be as pigmented especially for my complexion but I was completely wrong. I tend to go in with a very light sweep of my Sephora Pro Air Brush which is perfect for applying this blush. It looks very flattering on my complexion and I kid you not, it has also been my everyday blush. It is definitely in my Top 5 Blushes list and I am so pleased with it. It has a pretty good wear time along with the rest of my makeup. It has a very smooth texture with no fall outs to be seen. It does not feel chalky or cheap at all and it's always a delight for me to use. If I ever make a mistake by applying too much, it is always easy to balance out by using a slight dusting of powder on my powder blush. It just works so well and I really wish Beauty Pie makes other shades like an orange shade (similar to NARS Taj Mahal) or a deep berry/purple shade which will look incredible on deeper complexions. I will definitely be happy to purchase this blush for between £12-£15.




Future Lipstick Satin //Link //Member Price- £3.18 //Non-Member Price - £20
I tend to stick to very safe lipsticks during the weekdays so I choose rosy browns, nude shades (for my complexion) and any "my lips but better shade" I can find. I was getting a little bit bored with alll the shades I had so I was delighted to add a warm berry shade to my stash. I am so glad I chose this shade because it was the missing shade in my safe everyday lipstick wardrobe. Beauty Pie have a good selection of lip products including lipsticks, lip glosses and thin lipsticks. The lipsticks have two finishes; Matte and Satin but I prefer satin/cream finishes as they are more forgiving on the lips. There are about 12 shades with satin finishes and they all look so gorgeous. Beauty Pie describes their Future Lipstick (Satin) as pigment rich, uber light with a satin finish. I chose the shade Love Berry which is a true berry shade but it is not too cool toned. I love this shade of lipstick so much and if I could wear it everyday, you bet I definitely would.





The packaging is actually very lightweight and now I understand all the chat about unnecessary lipstick weighting. To be honest, I do prefer lipstick packaging to be a little bit more weighted as it helps protect the lipstick from damaging, etc. It also feels more luxurious especially when you want to do a quick lip touch up. However, I do respect what Beauty Pie's bid to help the environment and I think it is commendable. It has such beautiful pigmentation and it is a joy to apply. Even if you have dry or chapped lips, the formula of the Future Lipstick (Satin) is very forgiving on the lips. It glides on so well and I rarely ever need a lip liner to apply it. Contrary to what people think of the lasting power of satin lipsticks compared to matte ones, the  Satin Love Berry lasts for such a good while on my lips. I do tend to touch up just after eating or drinking at lunch time but for the most part, I am impressed with the lasting power. I would not say it is completely lightweight on the lips but it is very comfortable to wear.  Now that I have tried this lipstick and fallen in love with it, I think I will get a back up and try the other amazing shades they have available. I think I would happily purchase this lipstick for between £10-£15


Where to Buy?
I am sure this is a no-brainer but the only place you can purchase Beauty Pie is on the Beauty Pie website. I already mentioned that you can purchase beauty products from their website without being a member however it will be at the full price. For members, you get the superb option of purchasing at the member price which is significantly less than the non-member price. I also have to add that I love the feel and look of their website. The ordering process from their website was very easy and navigation was great. My feedback will be to add the swatches of these products (on real people and on varying complexions) to help people with their purchase.


Would I recommend Beauty Pie?
The first thing that came to my mind when I found out about Beauty Pie was around how they could keep up with new launches to keep customers renewing their subscription. However, I can see that they are on top of their game with this as they have expanded their makeup line and added in their skincare range. With frequent beauty product launches (without compromising quality), I know people will keep their subscription. I have to say I would recommend all the Beauty Pie products I tried. They have absolutely impressed me and I use at least two Beauty Pie products every single day. That says a lot because I am very lucky to have a good collection of makeup products so if I stick to any specific one, I definitely love it. Would I want them to change anything? Yes, quite a few if possible and they are listed below:
1. I will be delighted to see them extend their foundation and concealer shade ranges to be inclusive of both very pale to very dark complexions.
2. If they insist on keeping the shipping cost at £6.48, I would suggest a better shipping package (anything black will be great and not just the regular brown carton/packaging).
3. I wish there was an option for people to try it out (say maybe £10 subscription) before fully committing. I think the initial £30 (for 3 months) seems slightly steep especially for new customers who just want to see if the brand/subscription is for them or not.
Overall the non-member price for all the products I purchased was just over £14 (with shipping & handling it came to £21.19) when they would have cost around £100. From my own calculations on how much I'd be happy to pay for these products, it comes to just over £70. Either ways, I still made significant savings even when you add the monthly subscription of £10 and the shipping/handling at £6.48.


Overall Thoughts
I don't think I can describe enough how impressed I am with the quality of all the products I tried. I love them all. They have beautiful packaging and they perform really well on my complexion. I cannot fault any of the products I tried. I am definitely going to continue my patronage and I am looking to try some more products on my radar. I want to try the concealers, other lipstick shades, buy backups of the foundation and concealer and just try everything on the website. Don't even get me started on their newly launched skincare line; I am exercising a lot of self control. I know by the end of the month, I will be treating myself again. I hope you enjoyed this post and I'd see you in my next post. Have you tried any products from Beauty Pie?
*I was provided access to purchase products at the Member Price but I paid for all the products and other associated costs including shipping.