We had the good fortune of connecting with Robin Doyle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Robin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Beautyologie.com evolved over time. I have run a beauty PR agency for 15 years and for the last year or two, I felt like was needing to challenge myself. I knew I wanted to create something new in the beauty industry, but I also wanted to contribute to the greater good and make a difference for people around the world.

Last year, I took a trip to India and witnessed first hand how the western world’s thirst for fast, cheap consumer goods directly affects disenfranchised community members. It was an extraordinary wake up call and suddenly put all the ideas that had been floating around in my head for months into alignment. The beauty industry has taken this incredible path toward clean, sustainable, eco-friendly and ethically sourced products, but one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle has been left out; the people doing all the sourcing. Kudos to the beauty industry for truly enlightening beauty consumers, for the most part, about reading labels and understanding what skincare ingredients can do for your skin. But ask the average person about where that ingredient comes from, or who sourced the ingredient or if they know if that person was treated and paid fairly. More often than not, they have no idea.

Those answers and more can be found on Beautyologie.com, the first online fair trade beauty marketplace! My goal with Beautyologie is to curate a special collection of fair trade beauty products that truly make a difference, not just on the surface of your skin, but in the world we live in. When you purchase a product that is Fair Trade certified or formulated with fair trade ingredients, you are helping empower and uplift the women in developing countries who sourced your ingredients to provide for themselves and their families.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Beautyologie.com is truly the first fair trade beauty marketplace online. That alone makes me incredibly proud! I’ve always been obsessed with shopping for ethnic, handmade goods and love scrolling through Instagram, Etsy and Pinterest. So, I’m quite familiar with all the fair trade handicraft sites which is how I spotted this open space in the beauty market. These sites would all have one, two or at the most, a small handful of bath and body product lines that were fair trade, but the offerings were always pretty skimpy. When I realized a fair trade beauty marketplace didn’t exist, I couldn’t wait to create it.

I’ve worked in the beauty industry in some capacity for the last 25 years. I began in editorial as a beauty writer and editor. I created a pretty successful hair accessories company in 2000 called Wrap Star that sold in hundreds of boutiques around the country and I have been helping indie beauty brands receive media attention since 2006 with Charmed PR.

I’ve learned so many lessons along the way, but the biggest one is to trust my instinct. For the most part, I’ve been really fortunate to work with an incredible group of clients on some really rewarding projects. Like most PR owners, I’ve had a couple “interesting” folks cross my path that I knew better than to align with. Alas, you live and learn!

I want people to know that Beautyologie is a culmination of my professional experience, my passion for traveling and learning about other cultures and my pure love for beauty products.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If they were coming in the summer, I would make sure to book tickets for the Hollywood Bowl It really doesn’t even matter the show. Hollywood Bowl and summer are synonymous for me…I’ve been going almost every summer since I was little. I’d grab a picnic of olives, cheese, pita chips, dates, Prosecco and something chocolate from Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

I would also take them to an YogaAqua class at the Marina and hike up Point Dume in Malibu.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Rahama Wright, Founder and CEO of Shea Yeleen. She was one of my first beauty clients and is one of the most inspiring people I know. She created a female cooperative in Ghana, Africa for women to make a living producing shea butter. She currently employs more than 800 women and pays them 5x the country’s living wage. This type of empowerment is life changing.

Website: www.beautyologie.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautyologie/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robintolkandoyle/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautyologiewebsite

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.