Beauty chain Bluemercury is placing its bets on LA's skin-care-obsessed culture
For Bluemercury, clean beauty and men’s grooming and cosmetics are particularly strong areas of growth in the L.A. market. In 2012, Beck created a clean skin-care line called M-61 in part because of the buying power and interest in natural products of L.A. shoppers. In addition to M-61 and the brand’s in-house makeup line, Lune + Aster, there are designated sections in Bluemercury stores dedicated to clean beauty, or chemical-free products. Currently, the PowerGlow Peel pads from M-61 are Bluemercury’s most popular item with one box sold every eight seconds, according to Beck. They are used for blemishes and usually next to La Mer and Jo Malone products in most Bluemercury stores.
Beck says having a curated prestige beauty store on as many corners as there are Starbucks locations might appear aggressive. However, he thinks L.A. residents are forward-thinking customers with an advanced knowledge of clean beauty and men’s grooming. Also, he says, the needs of many Angelenos vary because of the city’s unique culture, which includes beach life, entertainment and technology industries.
