LIT Cosmetics owner Jodie Perks talks business, social media and glitter
No glitter, no glory” is the Calgary business’s trademark logo and when it comes to dazzlingly sparkly “cosmetic enhancers,” LIT Cosmetics creator and president Jodie Perks means business.
“I want to glitter the world,” says the sharp-looking blonde who wears a thin line of yellow iridescent glitter on her upper lash-lines – defying the myth that glitter and a day-job are two things that should never go together. LIT Cosmetics has been running for 10 years as a luxury cosmetic line, specializing in glitter. Some hard-core cosmetic fans in Calgary might remember the LIT setup in the basement of a clothing store in Kensington.
In 2009, however, LIT underwent what Perks calls an extensive “revamp of the company.”
“We changed our packaging, our website (and) our liquid base formulation,” she says.
Since the “rebirth of LIT” in 2011, Perks has incorporated a strong social media component into her overall business strategy.
“What we needed to do was get out there and get the makeup artists wearing our product,” she says.
LIT sent out product to bloggers, YouTubers and Facebookers who had a substantial subscribership to review the high-end glitter and first-ever alcohol-free adhesive.
“Now we have all the big names (of YouTube beauty gurus) wearing our product,” Perks says, along with a list of names that includes: xSparkage, Mischievous, and Queen of Blending – uber-popular personalities in the world of makeup addicts.
In addition to non-stop social media – the company also has their own highly active Facebook page and online tutorials. Perks and her team also rent out space at the International Makeup Artists Tradeshow (IMATS) in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto as a way of getting their glitter deep into the “makeup world.”
“We needed to get out of that basement and get out globally,” Perks says of her new business strategy.
The company no longer has a storefront and mostly sells their 200-plus shades (along with four different sizes) of glitter online.
Perks says that starting a small business definitely requires a little bit of money at first, but not necessarily a ton of post-secondary education.
“I have a grade 12 education and I always say if there is a will, there is a way.”
Perks adds, “You just have to believe in what you are doing.”
From a basement corner in Kensington, Perks and LIT have now sold to the likes of Cirque de Soleil.
mmolloy@cjournal.ca