And just like that another brand bites the dust…
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After months of speculation – and of course the near-empty counters that have not escaped notice – it has been confirmed that Bourjois are pulling out of the UK. The news actually broke a few weeks ago but given all that is currently unfolding, I can’t say it fully resonated until I had a little spare time to finally de-clutter my beauty stash.
I’d like to pretend that the news came as a surprise but with next to no launches in the last 12 months, limited media coverage and no social updates, it was evident that for Bourjois that the UK was no longer a priority for whatever reason.
We can speculate why or how Bourjois have come to the decision to withdraw from the UK; I’d imagine the uncertainty of Brexit fuelled marketplace played some part, but how much of a deciding factor that happened to be is anyone’s guess. In a fast paced environment such as the beauty industry, with new companies all but appearing overnight, as brand you can’t afford to fall by the wayside; out of sight, out of mind and that’s exactly how the eventual end of Bourjois in the UK came to be.
Despite a huge array of truly wonderful and iconic products – the burnt-rose scented, round pots of blush, the sweet chocolate bronzer and easily one of my favourite foundations ever, Bourjois Healthy Mix – it did somewhat feel that Bourjois never truly had their pulse on what the average consumer in 2019 wanted nor needed for that matter. For instance, despite a huge demand for matte liquid lipsticks, the brand released their collection at least two years behind even the smallest of UK players and as such were eclipsed when we all moved onto whatever the next big beauty trend happened to be.
Bourjois were known for many things but a diverse range of shades for skin tones was not one of them and therein lies one of the many problems the brand encountered. As a beauty company you can’t be all the things to all of the people but in 2020, a wide range of complexion tones is the bare bones of customer expectations and rightly so. To go further, we live in a time in which it’s all but expected that personal products are cruelty-free and when push came to shove, Bourjois couldn’t offer neither of these demands and faded further into the background of an already crowded marketplace.
On a personal note, Bourjois was one of the first brands that I not only worked with as a beauty blogger but purchased as a young teen too. Naturally I’m nostalgic and will miss seeing the once iconic, little round pots all neatly displayed in the likes of Boots. More than that, I am disappointed that another great, yet affordable brand will be disappearing from the UK high street and with it taking an array of once staple products. Rather unfortunately, I do anticipate that this may be the fate that bestows a few other once household beauty giants too.
In the coming months and years, as we further become entangled in the web of social media and the fast trends that dominate not only our make-up bags but day-to-day lives, I hope to see real changes; brands selected for what they offer rather than what they look like. I don’t care what large influencer name is currently pushing them with an affiliate code, rather I want to know does it get the job done and is it a brand with good core values.
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