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Celebrating BeautyMark: 10 Questions for 10 Years

Long before beauty boutiques occupied every trendy neighbourhood in Vancouver and drug store cosmetic counters had undergone high-end makeovers, the idea of a shop that carried only specialty beauty products was unheard of.

Long before beauty boutiques occupied every trendy neighbourhood in Vancouver and drug store cosmetic counters had undergone high-end makeovers, the idea of a shop that carried only specialty beauty products was unheard of. That was until 10 years ago, when Marc Brunet made his mark (excuse the pun) and changed beauty retail in the city forever.

Starting his Vancouver retail career by helping open the West Coast outpost of ICE - which some of you may remember as the fashionable, trendy gift store located on Hornby Street - Marc recognized the demand for a niche cosmetics and beauty outlet. After deciding to stay in Vancouver when the owners of ICE shut down to open the celebrity-loved Kitson boutique in LA, Marc seized the opportunity and BeautyMark was born.

To celebrate a decade of being THE go-to spot for Vancouver's beauty junkies, we posed 10 questions to the the BeautyMark founder.

10 QUESTIONS WITH MARC BRUNET (BEAUTYMARK)

1. Originally from Montreal, you moved to Vancouver in 1996. What changes have you observed in the fashion/ beauty scene here?

I think that the fashion scene in Vancouver has changed with our overall feeling of who WE are as Vancouverites.  I think for quite a while (and maybe still a bit), we keep comparing ourselves to other cities like New York, & LA instead of embracing who WE are...(cuz news flash this ain't NY or LA!)  So I think I see more personality and variety in our sense of style and our appetite for fashion, which translates into everything from design, food, art... The only thing that has me concerned is the recent appetite Vancouver has for mass US style retail.  Now, more than ever, it is important to support and discover your independent Vancouver based retailers!

2. As Vancouver's original beauty retailer for the last 10 years, how has it evolved and what would you say are the keys to its success? (I know these are 2 questions, but I thought they went nicely together!)

I think that the key to our past success is the key to our future success. We are SPECIALTY. When we first opened our doors, people had never seen a boutique Beauty Store before!  And the brands we carried were so different!  Flash forward 10 yrs. and now we have mass mall retail and down market drugstores trying to catch a bit of the "gourmet" beauty action.  At BeautyMark we are not trying to be bigger...just better! We always offer cutting edge products, new & emerging brands and great customer service.  It's who we are & it's a lot of fun!

3. What are your favourite brands that you've carried since the beginning?

Philosophy, Fresh, Bumble and bumble, Ole Henriksen, Anthony Logistics, Paula Dorf, Cargo...these were tiny little brands, in some cases they were introduced to Canada by BeautyMark!

4. Eco-friendly and organic products have become huge in the beauty market. Has this changed or shaped the way you choose products that you offer in the store?

Honestly?  No. We have always chosen our products through a strict set of criteria.  We believe a well formulated product, is a well formulated product! We believe words like Eco / Organic / Natural, have been hijacked by marketing departments and can mean different things to different people.

5. If you could only have 3 beauty products in your kit, what would you recommend as a must-have for men? And for women?

Besides the most important beauty item you can use: Sunscreen (Dermologica)!

For myself I couldn't live without...The Cool Fix After Shave Lotion, Linacare Face Cream & Oribe Hair Pomade.

For ladies, I will choose the top three selling products: Rosebud Salve, Kiss Me Mascara & the miracle zit zapper; Mario Badescu Drying Lotion.

6. What Vancouver or BC based beauty products (if any) do you carry in BeautyMark?

I am very proud to have introduced many new brands to the Vancouver market, but MOST proud of the success we've had with BC based beauty products: Linacare, Principessa, Geisha Ink, Deserving Thyme, WoWWee, I Love My Muff, Common Beauty, and most recently MyFaceWorks & Xylem.  We are presently working with a couple of other emerging BC based brands to get them on shelf soon!

7. BeautyMark is based in Yaletown. Any friendly neighbours you'd like to give a shout out to?

I'll give a shout out to "the beauty crew" who have added more value to Yaletown as THE Beauty Destination! Pure Nail,  Noir Lash Lounge, Stripped Wax Bar, Bombay Brow Bar, Blo, & Skoah.

8. Any favourite celebrities or well-known Vancouverites who are BeautyMark fans? We love a good celebrity story :)

Oh you want us to kiss and tell?  Yes, we have a great celeb following!  Bridget Fonda was our vey first celebrity shopper, but our biggest was Halle Berry & Family!  Recently, Vanessa Hudgens was a regular at the store and even came to ask us where to buy the best chocolate cake Zach Efron’s birthday!  Most recently we had the lovely Kristin Kreuk, Nikki Reed & Mena Suvari.

We love our local personalities Tamara Taggart, Fiona Forbes, Bif Naked, Jessie Farrell,  Emille Ullerup, Coleen Christie, Lynn Collier, Anna Wallner, Susie Wall, Nira Aurora, Amy Beeman, Nancy Robertson.

9.  What can we expect to see from the Beauty Mark in the next 10 years?

Big changes are in the works for Spring 2011!  Stay tuned!

10. What makes Vancouver so awesome?

For me...it's HOME!

BeautyMark

1120 Hamilton Street #103

604 642 2294

www.beautymark.ca

Twitter: @beautymark_

Facebook: www.facebook.com/beautymark.ca

Happy 10 Years making Vancouver beautiful, BeautyMark!