Budding entrepreneur wants to 'doll up' more Filipinas

MANILA, Philippines - Women love makeup. After all, who doesn’t want to look good and feel good? With many brands in the market, a new name is set to compete with them. Enter DollFace Cosmetics, founded by Pearl Sarcauga.

Pearl, a Psychology graduate from the University of San Carlos and make-up artist was already into selling apparel online before starting the brand.

“I first entered into the online business of apparel during my college days but I didn’t take it seriously back then. I was just finding something to keep myself busy with while making a little money on the side,” says the 22 year-old entrepreneur.

“But when I got into selling makeup things picked up pretty fast and I found myself enjoying it very much. Only until then did I seriously consider taking it on as a livelihood,” she adds.

To learn more about makeup, Pearl enrolled herself in make-up classes and even learned through online tutorials despite the fact it wasn’t in her plan.

“I wasn’t really intent on becoming a makeup artist but having them (makeup artists) as my niche market made me realize that I needed to see my products through the eyes of one, hence I went to makeup school. I also wanted to be credible enough to give tips to my customers on how to use the products,” she said.

DollFace Cosmetics which consists of eye color palettes to make-up brushes, according to Pearl came up when she was having a hard time looking for affordable yet good quality make-up.

“When I started out with makeup, I had the dilemma of finding quality products at affordable prices. In the market, it was either good makeup at expensive prices or bad makeup at cheap prices. So I started canvassing for something that I could get the best of both worlds with; good makeup that is budget-friendly,” says Pearl.

Naming her brand was also important to be catchy to the customers. “DollFace was a term of endearment for a pretty lady back in the 1940-50’s. The fashion of this era was pre-dominated by pin-up girls. They were beautiful, confident women who were known to wear sexy clothing and of course, gorgeous makeup. So I took a cue from them and named the makeup brand DollFace because I wanted every woman who used our products to feel just as confident and beautiful as those pin-up girls were so famous for,” she explained.

What makes the brand different she adds is “the value of our products without compromising quality. One pot of eyeshadow from other brands costs just as much as one palette with a wide assortment of eyeshadow colors from DollFace. However, I also believe that products are not the only thing that makes one stand out from the market. You also have to know how to take good care of your customers and this is definitely something that I am very conscious about because without the customers, there wouldn’t be any business for DollFace.”

But like any rising entrepreneur, Pearl also had to face many challenges. “As most entrepreneurs find, capital was one of the initial challenges. When I started selling makeup, I was still a student with no generating income save for the meager money I get from selling apparel. On my 20th birthday my parents gave me some money to help me jumpstart life after college. I decided to put this money into the business. To diminish risks as well as to test the demand for the makeup, I started selling on a pre-order basis. Fortunately I was able to establish that there was a need for the products in the market and after a couple of months, I was confident enough that I didn’t need to operate on pre-order sales anymore so I started selling the products on-hand and ready to ship. “

Since launching the brand, Pearl is happy about the feedback she’s been getting. “Thankfully, sales have been good over the past year and a half of our operations and I’m hoping it will stay that way,” she said. She has also joined bazaars where the line has gained lots of attention, set-up a make-up workshop and was even featured in a TV show.

Although DollFace is currently sold online and bazaar, Pearl has plans to expand the brand with a store as well as new products. “I dream of putting up an actual store for DollFace. Hopefully it’s going to happen in the near future. We always try our best to keep up with the ever changing demands of our customers.”

And as for budding entrepreneurs, here’s what Pearl has to share; “Find a product or service that you truly believe in and you will not have a hard time selling them. Also, market research should be a vital part in starting a business to be able to gauge if the market truly needs your product/service or not. Lastly as with any other career, find passion in what you do and you will never feel like you worked a day in your life.”

(For more information about Dollface, you may log on to http://dollfacecosmetics.com.ph/)