Well work is continuing on Beauty Now and we are getting ever closer to finishing off the main technical gubbins which will just (”just!” Ed.) leave us with the ongoing job of manually editing and categorising all the beauty products, haircare products, cosmetics and fragances from all of the UK’s leading internet retailers.  This has been one of the most time consuming bits of getting Beauty Now ready to launch and we’ve got another couple of months of hard graft remaining.

However, we really feel that having every product manually edited  is what makes Beauty Now unique (it is our “unique selling point” as our marketing bods call it).  You see, the biggest problems we see with current price comparisons are two fold:

1. They try to list every product under the sun and end up not being particularly easy to navigate and drill-down into.

The big thing on large websites these days is what is called “layered navigation” (or “faceted classification” to give it its formal name).

In a nutshell this means that once you click on a category or search for a keyword you are then presented with a set of results plus lots of options for further refining the results (i.e. by price band, brand, or some feature or function).  Anyway, to achieve this feature you have to make sure that your products are “tagged” with attributes as the values of these attributes are what drives the layered navigation.

If you have a site which is too general in its coverage you end up with very unspecific attributes like price and colour and not much more. Which is okay, but doesn’t really help narrow things down when you are already starting with thousands of options.  However, because we only feature beauty, cosmetics and haircare products our attributes are extremely relevant to these types of products – things like “hair type”, “skin type”, “hold”, “skin tone”, etc, etc

Of course setting the values of these attributes for each product is both time consuming and requiring of a degree of understanding about the products themselves, which requires us to draw upon our expertise of the beauty sector.

2. They aren’t really price comparison sites, because most the products they list are just from one retailer, so that when two or more retailers list the same product it just ends up appearing twice leaving you to do all the hard work of comparing prices.

Sure if you are looking for a Nintendo Wii you’ll find plenty of price comparison sites that list the prices from loads of different merchants, but for less popular products most “price comparison” sites just go with the approach of listing the same product once for each merchant that sells it.

Which to us, defeats the purpose of a price comparison site in that it doesn’t really let you compare prices!   By manually editing every product that goes into Beauty Now, we carefully ensure that each product is only listed once and as a result features a price comparison table listing all the merchants who sell that product – enabling you to get the cheapest deals on beauty, haircare and cosmetics products without having to do any work!

Anyway, addressing both these issues takes time (which is one reason why other sites don’t really both with them, especially if they are of the “just stick everything on the site” approach), so as a result we are not putting an exact date on when Beauty Now will launch at this stage. However, in our lighter moments we are pretty hopeful that it will be properly up and running by around late-September, early-October (ish).

In the meantime, we are really grateful to all the people who have stopped by, had a look around and emailed us questions, so we thought we’d anwer a few:

Q. Are you going to list Molton Brown products?

A. Yes, there are several UK websites that sell Molton Brown Products and we will be listing their fabulous range in due course.  Even although it is v.v.premium range, there are still bargains to be had and we know exactly where to look to bring you the cheapest Molton Brown deals around! We are listing close to 600 brands (at the last count) so, even if Molton Brown’s lush smelling handwashes aren’t your thing, we are sure you’ll find something you want to buy at Beauty Now!

Q. What is the point of Beauty Now? There are hundreds of price comparison sites on the internet.

A. Hopefully we answered this one above. We feel that there are actually very few “real” price comparison sites about and even fewer that comprehensively cover the world of beauty, haircare, cosmetics and fragrances.

Q. Can you promote XYZ brand on Beauty Now?

A. The only way that brands get into our product listings are to get themselves sold by our merchant partners.  Do that and you get a free pass onto Beauty Now.  That aside, we will be launching a range of adverting opportunities, including homepage take-overs, various banner options and visibility in our regular newsletters.  Details will follow in due course.

Q. Are you doing a US version?

A. That is part of the plan, although it won’t be called Beauty Now since someone else owns the “.com” and won’t sell it to us (probably because our budget isn’t big enough, but never mind and if you change your mind Mr Beautynow.com owner, please do get in touch!).  Anyway, yes one day we will be launching a very similar website in America but it probably won’t be for a year or so.

Q. How do I get my website listed?

A. Hysterically, this question actually came from someone with a website that only had counterfeit products for sale on it.  So the answer for them is, you don’t scamboy!

We only list UK-based websites selling REAL products!  If you own such a site and want listed then currently the best way is to offer a program via one of the major UK affiliate networks as we presently work on a CPA (Cost per Acquisition) model, although we might be experimenting with a Cost per Click option next year. If you have private label affiliate program (i.e. you run it yourself) then we might be interested provided you are an established UK company and already deal with some other affiliates of note.  Get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.

Thanks for stopping by at Beauty Now – the internet’s newest price comparison website, and the only one that is focused entirely on the wonderful world of hair, beauty, cosmetics, skin care, personal grooming and fragrances.

The reason for launching Beauty Now originated from our frustration with the existing options for bargain hunting beauty products on the internet.  Sure there are loads of “comparison” websites, but most of these try to cover the entire market for everything (what we call the Amazon approach) and the net result we feel is that they don’t do a great job of helping people find the cheapest beauty products (there is a big difference between comparing TVs and comparing moisturiser).   Moreover, although they call themselves “price comparison” sites, a lot of the ones we’ve looked at don’t really make it that easy to compare prices of individual beauty products, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Away from the existing price comparison sites, our other motivation was to help people make sense of the marketplace.  Put simply, there are LOADS and LOADs of hair, beauty, fragrance, and cosmetics websites out there.  Some are fabulous and some are less so (although overall the standard is pretty amazingly high – there are a lot of great companies running hair and beauty websites in the UK).  Anyway, all this choice can ironically make choosing which shop to spend your hard earned money at a lot harder than it seems.  Accordingly some people stick to a few tried and tested sites, and miss out on a whole world of choice and value. This is a real shame as there are some wonderful sites that don’t have the market budgets of some of the market leaders, but offer just as professional a service and sometimes list products and brands that are much harder to find.

So with the goals of making a better price comparison site and covering as much of the market as possible in a coherent way, we set out to develop Beauty Now in June of 2008. Fast forward to May 2009, lots of long hours and plenty of hard work (and even a baby being born) later, we are nearly ready to rock and roll.   We’ve taken the step of releasing the site to the public without any fanfare (and without most of the products that we will eventually be listing) to see how it works in practice and to help us iron  out in bugs.   This is called “beta testing” (or so we are reliably informed by our nerdy, but hot in a sort of Jake Gyllenhaal way, web designers).  So if you are reading this, you are hereby appointed one of our beta testers!

Congratulations, but don’t worry the job is not that demanding.  Just have a click around and see what is what.  If you want you can email us your thoughts, leave a comment on this post, tell some of your friends or just check back in a couple of months to see what has changed.  Easy!

Hard-to-Find Cosmetics from Zuneta

Zuneta is a luxury cosmetics beauty boutique that was established in 2008 by long time friends Zu Rafalat and Rob Levy. Their unique perspective on the cosmetics industry makes them quite suited to their new found passion and brings an innovative niche to the market. Aside from traditional online cosmetics shopping, Zuneta also offers a customised online “clinic” to help you decide which cosmetics and beauty products are right for your particular phenotype. Phenotype is the openly visible features on a person such as hair colour and skin tone. This customised approach allows customers to find cosmetics and beauty products that compliment their unique characteristics and organises the available products in a clear and manageable format for your shopping ease.

Another advantage to visiting Zuneta is their unrivalled ability to procure hard-to-find brands like Butter London and BECCA. They also carry many popular cosmetics from Elizabeth Arden, Yves Saint Laurent and Fusion Beauty. In addition to objective beauty advice and reviews, and free shipping on cosmetics orders over £50, all new customers will receive 10% off the first order. Zuneta is constantly on the lookout for new brands and products to compliment their already stellar selection of cosmetics and beauty products.

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Say Goodbye to Stretch Marks with Mama Mio Skin Care!

Mama Mio was founded by three women who have many years of beauty experience between them. They have worked together in the beauty industry and as each one of them began their pregnancy journey they discovered and created new skin care products for mums-to-be. They have used all of the finest ingredients available since they have access to top notch skincare experts. They make every product worthy of super mama’s around the globe.

Mama Mio products are free from colourants, paraben, petrolatum, phthalates, sodium laurel and laureth sulfate ,synthetic fragrance and xenoestrogen, making them the safe choice for all stages of pregnancy and beyond. Mama Mio has created a skin care world just for mums. Their philosophy is that they want you to feel good in your skin. Mama Mio wants you to embrace who you are and love the body you have been given.

Mama Mio products are enjoyed by a host of celebrities. Among them are Mariska Hargitay, Milla Jovovich, Kirsten Dunst and many more.  Jessica Alba was quoted as saying “I use Mama Mio’s Tummy Rub Butter…..It’s yummy.”

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Where to Buy Dermalogica Products Online

As more and more information comes out about aging, skin cancer, and skin conditions, more and more products are introduced into the beauty and skin care markets. There are products for sensitive skin, for oily skin, for acne, and for sensitive and oily skin with acne. There are products for dry skin, large pores, sun protection, and wrinkles. And this, of course, is only a fraction of the list of skin care products available. The result of this product bombardment is overwhelmed shoppers. How are you to know which acne wash is the best? Or which brand of anti-aging cream will produce results? Luckily, there is a trusted name in skin care that can meet all of your skin care needs without the trial and error games you’ll play with your skin, and that name is Dermalogica.

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Buy Beauty Gifts Sets for Her this Christmas

Every woman likes to feel pretty and pampered, especially around Christmas time. Sure, the glow of warm hearths and family can make a woman feel beautiful but there’s nothing to ruin good looks like rain, snow and blustery winds, which is why Christmas is a perfect time to give the women you care about beauty gift sets.

Beauty gift sets are great for Christmas because they are bundled packages of goodies and they aren’t something a woman would usually buy for herself. And we have searched all over the Internet for a wide range of thoughtful skin care, hair care and cosmetic gifts sets for all different age ranges. So whether you’re looking for a gift for your mother, wife, sister, aunt, daughter or friend there’s something in this list for you.

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…as voted for in the Cosmopolitan Beauty Awards.

Each year, in one of the most hotly anticipated events in the beauty calendar, Cosmopolitan readers, together with the Cosmo beauty team, vote for the UK’s top beauty products. The categories cover everything from skin care to hair care, lip gloss to blusher and a whole lot more.

This year’s event took place at the ultra-glam Kensington Roof Gardens where Cosmo’s Editor Louise Court, and Beauty Director Ingeborg van Lotringen were joined by celebrity judges Strictly Come Dancing winner Alesha Dixon, TV presenter Emma Griffiths, esteemed makeup artist Ruby Hammer and hairdresser Andrew Barton from 10 Year’s Younger.

More votes than ever were cast by readers in the Readers’ Kiss of Approval categories, and the Cosmo beauty team also chose the winners of two new awards: The Cosmo Classic Award won by YSL Touch Éclat and the Beauty Breakthrough Award won by L’Oréal Paris Derma Genesis Cellular-Youth Nurturing Skincare SPF 15 Day Cream.

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Just in time for party season, the kind folks at feelunique.com are offering a credit crunch busting 10% discount on all of the items in their makeup category when you buy any 3 products!

We’re not just talking end of line stuff either, but all the top brands including Bare Escentuals, Clarins, Clinique, Dior and YSL. Considering their prices are already mega cheap and delivery is free, as always, there really isn’t a better excuse to restock your makeup bag. You could even stock up on some Christmas gifts for your girlfriends while you’re at it. 

There’s no discount code required, the 10% will automatically be applied to all products in the makeup category when you purchase 3 or more before 28th October 2008. Click here to grab a bargain.

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Purple ghd Gift Set is top of our Christmas Wish List

Sometimes when you hit the stores looking for that perfect gift for your trendy friend who has it all (and is incredibly difficult to please), you stumble on something so unbelievably perfect that you just have to buy one for yourself, too. This season that item is the limited edition purple ghd Christmas Gift Set.

You’ve seen gift sets before – you’ve even seen them from ghd – but the purple ghd Christmas Gift Set is a step far and beyond anything released to date. No space is wasted on unwanted filler items or tote bags that will be left at the bottom of a drawer. Every piece in the limited edition purple ghd Christmas Gift Set is a much needed tool in your everyday hair-styling routine.

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TIGI Hair Care Products & Stockists

It is worth some thought, worth some money, and worth taking a few minutes to think about hair care. There’s so much you can do with your hair. Keep it, lose it, cut it, trim it, colour it, curl it, straighten it, bend it, wet it, plaster it, smooth it, scrunch it, put it up, put it down, stick it up, grow it here but trim it there, scent it, mask it, cover it, spray it, dry it, perm it, comb it, brush it, finger it, or just leave it! When you consider the importance of hair care, and the plethora of options, you’re going to need some advice and some guidance.

Right now in the UK, there is no shortage of people, companies, salons, and boutiques clamouring for your money and offering hair care services. You can find a hairdresser worthy of a celebrity, or…otherwise. The trend in hair right now is not the slicked-back smooth look. That was yesterday. Now, the look for men is the tousled look, the kind of feel that suggests ruggedness and preparedness, but with a heavy dose of the suave. This is accomplished by selecting only the best hair care products from top-of-the-line manufacturers. Women’s styles vary, as usual, but sleek, smooth, glossy, and healthy hair is always in fashion. Eye-catching colours and funky styles are always popular too.

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