Trinny Woodall, the inspiring founder and CEO of Trinny London, spills the tea to Ricky Allen on creating a beauty empire.
Trinny Woodall burst into our lives in 2001 with the highly successful UK television series What Not to Wear and instantly became a fan favourite with her authentic and straight-talking style advice. Even Oprah became a Trinny admirer, inviting her as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show on multiple occasions.
While What Not to Wear, co-hosted with Susannah Constantine, went from strength to strength, Trinny even managed to co-write 12 books, which fast became the go-to bibles for style.
Following the end of the television series, Trinny pivoted her brand (and first-hand knowledge) from fashion into beauty and, after years of research, launched makeup line Trinny London in 2017 and Trinny London Skincare in 2022.
Known for her (sometimes brutal) honest advice, Trinny founded her makeup brand with the sole purpose of giving everyone the tools they need to feel their best. Banishing overflowing makeup bags for good, she introduced a streamlined solution called the stack: cream-based, multi-tasking pots that click seamlessly together. After that, it seemed only logical Trinny London would take on the world of skincare with a game-changing skincare collection.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Trinny when she visited Australia recently. Of course, I was nervous that she was going to critique my wardrobe, but she was much more interested in getting to know me and went to great lengths to make me feel like we were just friends having morning tea together. In fact, she was one of the nicest, most knowledgeable and most switched-on people I have ever interviewed. Her depth of knowledge about skin and the aesthetic needs and wants of women was impressive.
During the interview, Trinny offered to apply my makeup for me using her Trinny London makeup products. As mentioned above, these come in very practical stackable containers which have fast become a traveller’s dream. The colours are beautiful, a blend of on-trend hues as well as the good old staples which many other brands discard seasonally. The range is not huge; rather, it includes only the products that we really need.
I declined her kind offer as I was much more interested in just chatting to her. She did go through her personal makeup selection, though. I am outlining them here so if you want to look like Trinny try: Eye2Eye in Fortune, Sheer Shimmer in Dido, Lip to Cheek in Milly, Eye to Eye in Lovers, Eye to Eye in Choice, Lip Love in Sacha, Lip Luxe in Eugenie and Lip Luxe in Swainy.
I asked Trinny why she launched a makeup collection before her skincare range. She was quick to answer that bringing out makeup first gave her the opportunity to continue researching skincare ingredients and assessing what women really want from their skincare.
I feel that everything Trinny does in business is very researched and meticulously planned. Her newly launched skincare range was a real journey of love for her, borne out of her suffering from acne both as a teenager and adult. Trinny wants to make sure she does her bit to ensure the users of her Trinny London skincare never have to worry about bad skin.
In true Trinny style all the skincare products in the range have empowering names, such as Energise Me, a niacinamide moisturizer, Be Your Best, an enzyme balm cleanser, and Boost Up, a 30% Vitamin C serum.
Trinny said she often changes her skincare regime based on her skin’s actual needs, which vary greatly, especially as she travels extensively. She asked me to fill out a questionnaire so she could prescribe the skincare for my regime. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my glasses so Trinny painstakingly read through the questionnaire with me to ensure I was only given the right products for my skin’s needs. That showed to me exactly why women all around the world can relate to and love Trinny Woodall. My Trinny London Skincare now has pride of place in my bathroom, personally picked by Trinny herself and is working wonders on my skin.
Trinny believes in giving back, and her passion for business and entrepreneurship can be seen through her support of other start-up founders through mentoring and the Elevator Pitch series on her Instagram, where female entrepreneurs are invited to pitch their business ideas to a wide audience.
In just five years, Trinny London has become one of the world’s fastest-growing beauty brands. And I have a feeling she’s just getting started. CBM
