Karen Grant, a beauty industry analyst at market research firm The NPD Group, says Sephora is a “great incubator” for small businesses. Bite’s launch was master class in getting it right, she says, praising the sleek and edgy product design.
Bite’s success did not come without hurdles, however, says Ms Langmuir. The Canadian beauty entrepreneur, born and raised near Toronto, hit two early roadblocks.
Major cosmetics production facilities said they could not produce formulas without at least some synthetic ingredients – a deal-breaker for Ms Langmuir. So she built a lipstick factory in Toronto, where the products are still handmade.
The first chemist that Ms Langmuir hired almost torpedoed the project by quitting without notice shortly before the company had to show early formulas to Sephora.
Ms Langmuir, who sold Avon as a teenager and later worked as a cosmetics consultant for several companies, including Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, had some experience creating formulas.
So she “made a bunch of things in the lab” and headed off to the Sephora meeting, telling them: “You don’t want to get too attached to the formula, but this is where we are heading.” She eventually recruited a former Estee Lauder chemist.