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Last night at the Sephora Times Square store preview, we met a woman who is about to make a very large amount of money. Her name is Lauren Luke and she is one of Britain's most famous faces, literally, as she has made a name for herself by doing makeup tutorials on YouTube.
Her appearance to effectively christen the store comes on the heels of the launch of her own makeup line, branded "By Lauren Luke," and after a flurry of media attention including a documentary, stories by CBS and ABC News, and even a meeting with the Queen of England. Hers is a success story in the traditional sense: girl develops something small-scale that she loves and shares it with others, becoming large-scale as her passion turns into an international business. However, all of this has been accomplished from her bedroom in a small England town in only two year's time.
The crowd of girls 350-deep outside of Sephora yesterday evening are all fans of hers, also invited for the store preview and to get first dibs on Lauren's makeup palettes as they premiere state-side. All are part of her over 250,000 YouTube subscribers and come to meet their inspiration, but not just makeup-wise.
Lauren is a single mother of a 10-year old boy, and with confidence and humor she has positioned herself as a personality, traveling and sharing her passion outside of the internet as well. If we are to judge anything from the excitement and open wallets of the girls at Sephora last night, Lauren is a walking gold mine for herself and the cosmetics industry.
The products themselves are genius in that, for under $35, each palette provides eye primer, three shadows, blush, a liquid liner, and two lip colors. And there are five different palettes; money in the bank, ya'll. In the States, the kits are only available in the Times Square store or online at Sephora.com. They'll be released at all Sephora locations later in the season.
· Makeup By Lauren Luke [Official Site]
· Lauren Luke's Video Tutorials [YouTube]
· The Self-Made Makeup Maven of YouTube [CBS News]
· First Look: Inside Sephora Times Square [Racked]
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