An exclusive first look at Sarah Creal Beauty, designed specially for women aged 40-plus …
You might not know the name Sarah Creal yet – but you’ve definitely seen her expertise in action. Creal was the creative and commercial force behind Prada Beauty, Tom Ford Beauty, Aerin and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. She then co-founded Victoria Beckham Beauty in 2018, running it as CEO until 2022. If you remember the original Tom Ford cosmetics, for example, launched in 2011, you’ll know they were spectacular, with heavy black and gold compacts and dazzling formulas that still influence beauty today.
Sarah Creal stepped out from behind the scenes in 2024, launching her own-name line. It’s been going great guns in the States – it launched into Sephora within three months – and has now landed exclusively at Space NK in Ireland and the UK.
So, what’s the USP? First and foremost, it’s designed for women aged 40-plus. Not as some kind of grimly practical menopause salvation, or sympathy vote for no longer being 25. This is glamorous, celebratory skincare and make-up. Creal’s first step was research; “I did a study of 2,000 luxury beauty shoppers over the age of 40 before I started developing anything,” she explains. “I really wanted to understand what her pain points were and what products she needed first.” And she found that 99 per cent agreed: luxury beauty had stopped speaking to them the moment they turned 40. That includes the formulas, the campaigns and the education on how the skin changes as it ages.
We spoke exclusively to Sarah in advance of her visit to Dublin to launch the collection …
Can you sum up what Sarah Creal Beauty offers that’s different? “I created Sarah Creal Beauty for babes 40+ with high-performance essentials in skincare and make-up that focus on wear, repair and moisturisation. We formulate for, educate and reflect 40+ women back to themselves in all of our photography, and we clinically test all our products on women 40+. This level of intention ensures that she looks just as great at the end of her day as she did at the beginning!”
What’s your beauty ethos? “That beauty should be fun, but it also should be multitasking and a pleasure to use. Products should always make you feel better and keep up with you throughout your day. I also don’t think that there are any rules. There’s no time at which you should stop using a certain product or can no longer wear a bold lip. All of the rules, in my opinion, should be thrown out the window.”
We love the fact that your brand imagery features women over 40 – this is so often not the case. Why was this key for you? “How is she supposed to understand what something will look like if she can only see it on 20-somethings? It was imperative that we have models all be over 40, so that she had a realistic view of what the product looks like on her. Every campaign image we do features a woman over 40.”
And what were the key things you learned from your involvement with luxury brands such as Tom Ford and Victoria Beckham? “I appreciate any designer’s aesthetic and their desire, often, for a very uniform look, but for my own brand I wanted to tap into a feeling of fun and anticipation. I also wanted the products to visually telegraph, where possible, the function that they were delivering. For example: Moisture Source, which is a liquid moisturiser, looks like a cool drink of water. Brilliant Repair Shield SPF 50 looks like a little sun. This actually comes from being a salesperson and needing help remembering what products were used for what. I think it also helps people remember what the products do when they get home.”
What does luxury mean for you in beauty now, and has that changed since you started out in luxury beauty? “Luxury used to mean heavy packaging, high fragrance, thick formulations. Today, for me, luxury means formulations that do multiple things, are easy to use, and are a pleasure to incorporate into your daily routine. They look great all day, and they boost your confidence, they feel good in your hand and look amazing on top of your vanity. All our formulas are third-party tested, fragrance-free, vegan and cruelty-free.”
Have you tried any Irish beauty brands and do you have a favourite? “I’ve loved getting to know the Irish beauty landscape, and what strikes me is how many of the brands I admire were built by women who spotted a gap and made the thing they needed – which is exactly how Sarah Creal Beauty began. Aimee Connolly has done something really smart with Sculpted by Aimee: multitasking make-up that genuinely makes a woman’s routine easier. Pippa O’Connor Ormond’s Poco Beauty shares that same pared-back, easy-to-use philosophy I love. And I’m a big fan of what Aoife, Jennifer and Louise are doing at Sisterly – putting women’s health first with a supplement actually designed for us. Female founders backing other women, that’s the whole point.”
What are you working on now, and what future plans do you have for the brand? “That’s the funny thing about the founder of a brand being a product developer. I’m working on so many things, and it’s a little early to talk about most of them, but I’m very excited.”
What do you most want Irish women to know about Sarah Creal Beauty? “That there is a lot more fun to be had in the world of beauty coming to Ireland in the form of Sarah Creal Beauty!”
Sarah Creal Beauty is exclusively at Space NK from September 1.
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