Member Article

Female entrepreneur in Leeds pioneers ‘Trip Advisor for the beauty industry’

My Beauty Spot, a new online platform allowing members to rate and review beauty products, has launched this week with big plans to become the Trip Advisor for the beauty industry.

The brainchild of Leeds businesswoman Lisa Lee, the site has grown out of a popular Facebook group which allowed user to publicly share views and recommendations on beauty products and services.

As part of the new, fully-formed website businesses in the health and beauty industry, such as salons, spas and beauty therapists, can upload information to their free profile which users can then review and rate their experiences.

Modelling itself on the likes of Trip Advisor and Mumsnet, Lisa hopes the website can become the go to place for health and beauty-related queries where customers and businesses can swap beauty advice and tips.

Commenting on the inspiration behind the business, Lisa says she was inspired by the lack of reliable, unbiased reviews and information for beauty products currently available online.

She added: “The beauty industry is worth over £17 billion and this figure is expected to grow. It’s an industry that is dominated by big brands paying big money for celebrity endorsement and more recently beauty bloggers and vloggers.

“When I set up the Facebook group it was because I myself needed recommendations for a skincare product. I was tired of reading reviews from paid endorsers and I wanted a real person to share their real life experiences which is exactly what I got when I created the Facebook group.

One of the first salons to be listed on the new site is Saks Beauty Salon at David Lloyd Leeds, and franchisee Karen Williams hopes that by they will be welcoming even more customers through the door thanks to the site.

Karen said: “Word of mouth recommendations make up a big percentage of new customers at Saks, so we’re really excited to be one of the first salons to be listed on My Beauty Spot. It’s an innovative and interesting concept and we look forward to reading people’s reviews on the services we provide and welcoming new customers through the door.”