Meet Stowaway Cosmetics: The Sized-Just-Right Line
Just a year ago over breakfast, e-commerce entrepreneur Julie Fredrickson went to her good friend and make-up artist, Chelsa Crowley, with a beauty conundrum. Fredrickson was unable to find a perfect on-the-go-sized eyeliner that she could actually carry around and finish in its entirety.
She asked Crowley where she could possibly get a more functional product—because as someone entrenched in the cosmetic industry, Crowley always seemed to have the fix for whatever beauty problem plagued her.
“Samples,” Crowley says. “That was really the only way to get smaller sizes. So for the first time, I didn’t really have an answer for her.”
That breakfast sparked the concept for their new, carry-anywhere, sized-just-right cosmetic line, Stowaway. As soon as the idea was born in February 2014, Crowley and Fredrickson went straight to work on finding the right manufacturer and developing each staple in the brand’s collection.
The Stowaway collection includes blush, eyeliner, mascara, BB cream, concealer, and lipstick.
“We didn’t even want to do this unless we had products we were proud of,” says Crowley. “So we had to figure out, ‘Can we really make this happen?’”
In short: yes. In a day and age where women are either forced to haul heavy products around in purses and gym bags or scour beauty counters for sample-sized items, you can order up the entire Stowaway line in an instant. The products pack virtually unnoticeable weight, and all will fit within a tiny zip pouch that can hide easily inside any bag.
“But this is not just about products. It’s about industry change,” says Fredrickson. “The cosmetic industry hasn’t really changed since the 50s, even though women’s lives have changed. Modern women? We lead really busy lives. Our consumer is the woman who is always on the go.”
The Stowaway woman doesn’t have the room in her life for products that weigh her down. And with that in mind, the ladies have provided quite the arsenal of essentials.
The mini sized lipsticks that you’ll actually finish from Stowaway.
Among other go-to products, you’ll find three creamy lipsticks in ultra-wearable nude, pink and red; a concealer and BB cream for gym-to-brunch coverage, a tiny mascara with a voluminous formula, and that coveted eyeliner Fredrickson was searching for just one year ago.
“I just couldn’t find it anywhere!” says Fredrickson. “And a great eyeliner is the easiest way to go from desk to dinner, right?”
While the girls dropped their first incarnation of Stowaway as an answer to the every girl’s on-the-go beauty problems, they want to tailor later products to more specific audiences. “We initially had the concept of the LBD of beauty—and what does that look like?” says Crowley. “But as we move forward, everyone’s LBD is a little different, and we plan on expanding on that.”
Crowley and Fredrickson will work on seasonal product launches to add even more depth to the current line, but already see their year of hard work paying off.
“We want women to understand that this is right-sized make-up. It’s the size we should have been carrying around and buying all along. I mean, when is the last time you actually finished a tube of lipstick?” says Fredrickson with a laugh. “We really think Stowaway will be the new standard.”
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