Weather
Beauty at your fingertips on new website
From the Bolton Evening News, first published Wednesday 12th Jul 2000.
TWO entrepreneurial mothers are hoping to make-up ground in the cosmetic market with an on-line rival to the beauty industry's main high street names.
Nadine Gregory and Alison Dutton, from Brandlesholme, Bury, set up Magic Make-Up in November 1999 selling cosmetics to their friends at Tupperware-style parties.
But last month they decided to take the business one-step further and seeing their domain name, www.magicmakeup.co.uk, was still available they began to knock-up a website. Mrs Gregory, aged 36, who has a son, aged five and a daughter, two, said: "We set up because make-up interests us and we were sure that we could supply products to our friends at great prices.
"The response has been great. We set up the firm in December and people were clamouring to buy Christmas presents, so we thought that maybe the bubble would burst after the festive period.
"That wasn't the case."
The pair still sell their products via make-up parties and they also attend school events.
Mrs Dutton, 38, mother of three boys, added: "We have been on-line for a month now and we have noticed an increase in our hits. "Orders have started to come in but we have been told by our site's host that business takes around three months to take effect."
The mothers are using Worldpay's SSL system which allows them to provide a secure area for credit cards.
The site is featured on web portals Shopsmart.com, Topoftheshops.co.uk and shoppingtrolley.net and they have been sending e-mails to search engines at every opportunity.
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
