London Socialite, Entrepreneur Amanda Cronin Launches Skin Care
First, it was Trinny, then came Victoria, followed by Rosie. Now, Amanda Caroline Cronin is on the scene. London is quickly becoming a hub for female-founded beauty brands based on personality — and entrepreneurial grit.
Trinny Woodall and Victoria Beckham both had long, and very different, careers in media, entertainment and fashion before they launched their respective brands. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley had spent a career as a model, influencer and brand collaborator before coming out with her Rose Inc. makeup line last year.
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None of them had any specific industry knowledge, or expertise. Instead, they each had decades of experience as consumers; a formidable social following, and pure charisma, which they’ve spun into fast-growing, international brands, with a strong direct-to-consumer angle.
The London-based Cronin is hoping to follow in their tracks. While she may not be as well-known as Woodall, Beckham or Huntington-Whiteley, she does have an Instagram following of nearly 60,000 and an upcoming Warner Bros. TV show called “Amanda and Friends,” which charts the post-divorce chapter of her life.
This model and socialite-turned-entrepreneur is certainly no slacker: She’s also in the property business, tearing down houses and rebuilding them, and an ambassador for brands including Stephen Webster.
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Cronin, who is in her early 50s, and who has an adult daughter named Sofia Yeganeh, decided to launch skin care following her divorce from the energy magnate Mark Daeche. She did it for a variety of reasons, including the comfort that beauty offered her during a difficult time.
“The wheels fell off my marriage around 2017, and when it became very, very painful I turned to beauty as a comfort, and became close friends with Pietro Simone,” the Italian skin care expert who operates clinics in London and New York.
“When I wasn’t reading divorce papers, I was being pampered by Pietro, two to three times a week. I got deeply into beauty during that time, and my skin improved,” said Cronin during an interview at her art-filled Belgravia home.
Such was her belief in the power of beauty treatments that she decided to strike out on her own and create a hero product that could address her skin care needs, and those of her 40-plus peers. Specifically, she wanted to develop a rich cream that was light and absorbent enough to wear during the day, could feed the skin, and help it look dewy and healthy.
The result of Cronin’s efforts are two lightweight formulations that work in tandem and aim to deliver immediate results: the Amanda Caroline Haute Lift Serum and Haute Lift Cream.
Cronin developed them along with industry experts who’d worked at brands ranging from Chanel and L’Oréal to Trinny London and Charlotte Tilbury.
The products are vegan, designed for sensitive skin and made in England, including the glass bottles and packaging. They include bioactive ingredients, rose hip seed and passionflower oils and smell of damask roses. The collection launches on amandacarolinebeauty.com this month with the 30-ml. serum priced at 125 pounds, and the 30-ml. cream at 120 pounds.
Cronin said she has overseen every aspect of the research and development and her vision is for Amanda Caroline to become a world-class, luxury lifestyle brand. Over the next two years the plan is to build the digital business and launch body, color cosmetics, hair care and related lifestyle products.
A broader online retail rollout is set for the second half of 2022, and the plan is to expand into physical retail stores, including luxury pharmacies, in early 2023.
“After my divorce I could have been a lady who lunches, but I love production, and I’m creative. I’m also a perfectionist, and I know exactly what I want. The sky is the limit,” she said.
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