A retail deal with Priceline Pharmacy is the latest win for local makeup business The Quick Flick, which was launched last year by Perth university student turned entrepreneur Iris Smit.
Ms Smit’s product is a stamp used to create eyeliner wings, colloquially referred to as cat eyes, simplifying a process that usually requires precision and time.
“It started as me being an interior architect at university, and as many women can probably relate, I struggled with doing my winged eyeliner,” Ms Smit told Business News.
“It was a simple problem that I had every morning; no matter how much I tried or how hard I practised.”
Ms Smit applied her design skills to create an eyeliner stamp, manufactured in China, that will next month sell in about 450 Priceline stores nationally.
Growth has been phenomenal since the stamp was first sold mid-2017, with the business now employing 13 staff.
“This is the first big retail win,” Ms Smit said.
“If you asked me a year ago if I thought this product was going to be on the shelves at Priceline, I would’ve said you were mad.”
A milestone on the rapid journey for The Quick Flick was an appearance on television show Shark Tank in May.
Ms Smit was offered a $300,000 investment for a 27.5 per cent equity share in her business, valuing it at about $1 million.
She eventually declined that offer, however, and remains the sole owner.
Ms Smit said her revenue had grown about 5,000 per cent since then.
She has big plans for the business, and negotiations are under way with retailers in markets such as the UK and United Arab Emirates.
There’s an ambitious timeline for expansion, and Ms Smit said she hoped deals would be secured before the end of the year.
One consideration will be wanting to get to market before bigger competitors try to replicate the product.
A potential rebrand is also on the cards, with the business to offer a wider variety of beauty items, Ms Smit said.
