Not just another pretty face

By Courtney Rodriguez

rodr0086@algonquincollege.com

The search for the perfect makeup brush became serious business for Algonquin teacher Heather Farmer.
The small and medium enterprise management teacher singlehandedly launched Elegant Faces, a makeup and accessories line in 2003, and has been enjoying success since.
Back in 2002, Farmer worked as a territory manager for Danone in Toronto as well as a makeup artist part-time. It was while she browsed for makeup brushes and accessories that she noticed the gap between the high-end and more affordable products.
“I was looking at the low end stuff, the high end stuff, and I just found there was a huge  [financial] gap between them,” said Farmer.
While searching online, Farmer found websites for different manufacturers and became inspired.
“The idea sort of got planted in my head that perhaps I could actually make my own line,” she said. “The beauty industry was a little bit more my thing.”
Farmer drew on her experience as a manager for Danone to start Elegant Faces. Interested in going wholesale, she quickly figured out that the key to Elegant Faces’ success would require a chain to take on the line. She signed on with Trade Secrets, which owned 45 stores at the time across Ontario and Quebec, and has remained with them.
The decision to stick with a chain came easily to Farmer.
“On a store-by-store basis, you may sell less, but you’re able to bring in a lot more money as a group,” she said. “If one store does poorly, there might be another to compensate for that.”
Farmer also travels to different trade shows across the country and in the United States to support Elegant Faces. With years of traveling under her belt, she’s become well-known across the trade show circuit, which she loves. “It’s really nice to have the camaraderie there,” said Farmer.

Since launching in 2003, her line expanded from makeup brushes to other tools, including eyelashes, eyeliner sealers, brush cleaners and sanitizers, and traveling cases. She now has three employees working for Elegant Faces after hiring her first employee in 2004, with some interns coming in to help around busier seasons.
She has products made by different manufacturers in different countries, from brushes in India to eyelashes in Indonesia and brush cleaners in Canada.
“It [comes down to] whoever is able to provide what I want at the quality I want at a price I can afford,” said Farmer.
Farmer travels to different high schools, cosmetic schools and trade shows as a guest speaker, and began teaching part-time at Algonquin in 2007.
“I love sharing my experiences with people,” she said. “The reason I am teaching is because I’ve had a lot of great people teach me. Being able to draw on their experiences helped me, essentially, get to where I am, and it’s my turn to share.”
Her part-time schedule at the college allows room for her creativity in coming up with new products for Elegant Faces and new ways to advance her line, which can prove to be a challenge when you are a small business owner.