Hannah & Sophie are the success-story sisters behind the iconic brush brand Spectrum Collections who have revolutionised the face of make up with their fashion-forward must have brush ranges which cause an Instagram stir with every launch.  I’m a huge fan of these go-getting ladies and of their beautiful brushes, having spoken about them SO many times before, here on the blog and now I’ve caught up with Sophie about the things you guys wanted to know…

For anyone who doesn’t already know, can you give us a brief outline of how the Spectrum brand came to be?

After myself and sister Hannah freelanced everywhere, we felt really inspired to set up our own creative business together and keep the headquarters in Wales. We then saw a gap in the market to create beautiful make-up brushes and tools inspired by the current fashion trends, so that was when Spectrum was born.

You have turned this into a cult product with barely any marketing budget – how on earth did you manage this?

Thank you, I think because we created something quite unique in the market the press genuinely wanted to cover and feature it as well as influencers and our customers taking to Instagram to show off the product, we grew so organically through Instagram with the help of our customers.

What is the one piece of advice you’d give to anyone thinking of starting their own business?

Do it! Try not stick to rules too much as there isn’t really a right and wrong when it comes to starting a business and go with your gut. We didn’t have any business training or experiencing which we love to share because people can be afraid to start out if they don’t feel good enough but we would encourage anyone who wants it enough to go out and get it.

Which are your own favourite collections from the range?

My personal favourite is the Mean Girls collection, working with a huge Hollywood film company was incredible and I felt that we gained so much exposure from the launch.

Where do you get your inspiration for new designs?

We look to the catwalks to inspire our collections. We knew that astrology and mystical elements were a big trend for Christmas which is why we created our Zodiac collection. If it does really well (which we think it will) we’ll hopefully expand on this range for 2018.

Have you ever had a major disagreement between you about the brand?

No never, we both have the same ideas for the future and agree when it comes to growing the brand, we just offer different perspectives which really compliment each other.

What has the brand brought to your lives that you never expected?

The opportunity to become inspirational to so many other people, we knew we always wanted to have our own business, but it’s amazing that so many other budding business entrepreneurs look to us for inspo.

Describe a typical day in the lives of you both?

Wake up, check Instagram, cwtch the dog, get ready for work, get a coffee, get into the office and plough through e-mails. Ideas pop into our heads all the time so this happens organically throughout the day when it comes to brainstorming new ideas, we sit next to each other and it’s easy to share ideas and get into sampling stages really quickly because no one else has to contribute to the decisions over what goes into production, it’s just us, so typically in a day in the office we’re looking at new ideas and sampling new products.

Handbag essentials?

Water, powder and the A01 brush, lippy, car keys, business cards, (more coffee)…we’re really low maintenance surprisingly we don’t carry much makeup or much at all really as we tend to lose things when we’re carrying too much.

Would you ever relocate the brand to London or similar?

We feel strongly that you don’t have to be based in London to set up a company and for it to be successful, we travel there a lot but we will always have our main headquarters in Wales as there is a lot of talent here.

Where do you see the brand in five years’ time?

Still in Wales, with a bigger team of Wales’ finest talent.  The dogs will be in the office and we’ll have a vegan chef to cater for everyone’s lunches, and with so many new products under our belt and new collaborations. We’ll be the UK and Europe’s biggest makeup brush and accessory company.

What’s your favourite make up brand to use Spectrum brushes with?

We love Charlotte Tilbury, Hourglass, Illamasqua, these brands are amazing and we think it is important to share the love between brands as well and support each other plus they are cruelty-free.

What would be your dream collab for Spectrum Collections?

We’re working on it, watch this space!!!

How do you feel about Spectrum ‘inspired’ brands on the market?

Its a compliment really to see people looking to us for creative direction, but we always look to new trends to inspire us to make sure we stand out. The amount of brands we inspire seems to grow every day, so if we’re market leaders we’re happy with that.

Blogs or Vlogs? And which bloggers and/or vloggers do you love?

We love all forms of media, bloggers, vloggers, and also print is so important in the beauty industry, we can’t possibly pick our faves but feel so lucky to work with great people who make amazing content.

Have you ever been recognised in the street? Was it weird? 

Yes, last week in H&M in Manchester, a lady came up and said are you the Spectrum girls and we said yes, not sure what the next line would be, and she said her daughter had asked her to go and say that she loves our brushes, so then we had a little chat with her, that was really nice. We’re generally very friendly (most Welsh people are) so we felt really chuffed to chat to a fan. Hopefully it made her day.

Spectrum’s numerous collections have something for everyone and you can buy them here.