SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ipsy.com, a new online beauty site co-founded by YouTube beauty sensation Michelle Phan, launched today. ipsy.com incorporates video tutorials to create an environment that encourages sharing and connecting with everyone – from the established pros and beauty enthusiasts to beginners looking for beauty tips and advice.
“I’ve seen firsthand how women have embraced sharing with others through beauty,” said Phan. “I am really excited about how ipsy.com connects women with other like-minded individuals they trust and gives them an opportunity to express their unique beauty in a safe and positive environment.”
The subscription-based Glam Bag program introduced last December under the myglam.com beta site will continue as a key part of ipsy.com. Every month, subscribers receive a collectible make-up bag with 4-5 deluxe-size samples or full-size beauty products curated to deliver a complete look. Phan and top YouTube stylists, including Bethany Mota (youtube.com/macbarbie07), Promise Phan (youtube.com/dope2111), Jessica Harlow (youtube.com/missjessicaharlow) and Andrea Brooks (youtube.com/andreaschoice), use the Glam Bag products in exclusive videos that demonstrate how to create the look. Together, Phan and the other ipsy stylists reach more than 50 million monthly viewers across their respective YouTube channels.
Michelle Phan initially introduced myglam.com and the subscription-based Glam Bags with a video announcement that debuted on her YouTube channel. myglam quickly amassed over half a million users and each month the highly sought after Glam Bag program sells out. As thousands of users shared videos, pictures and comments about the products they received in their Glam Bags, a beauty community was born. The desire of users to share their own perspective on beauty, as well as to connect with other women who share similar interests and styles, was what inspired Phan and her co-founders, Marcelo Camberos, Jennifer Goldfarb, and Richard Frias to expand the user experience and name the site ipsy.com, which comes from the Latin root “ipse,” which means “self.”
“We immediately saw the desire for a positive beauty community that was inclusive of everyone’s ideas, and encouraged learning about beauty from other members of the community whom you trust and feel inspired by,” said Goldfarb, President of ipsy.com, and former VP of Corporate Strategy of Bare Escentuals. Camberos, CEO of ipsy.com, and a business development executive who helped launch Funny Or Die, adds: “There is no one more trusted in the online beauty space than Michelle Phan. She knows her audience and how to interact with them and is the perfect person to engage and grow the ipsy.com community.”
To personalize the experience, first-time visitors to ipsy.com take a brief quiz about everything including skin tone, eye and hair color, favorite styles and favorite brands. Once users are registered and complete the quiz, their ipsy.com home page is customized with looks just for them. For users wishing to subscribe to the Glam Bag program, the cost is $10.00 per month or $110.00 per year with free shipping for both options. ipsy.com recently increased their Glam Bag subscription to meet the demand from their growing community. Similar to other online communities, ipsy.com will begin as “invite only” and in the coming months will send invitations to registered users looking to take advantage of all the sharing and connecting features. For more information go to www.ipsy.com.
About Michelle Phan
Michelle Phan made her YouTube debut in 2007, and has since been dubbed the #1 YouTube "Makeup Guru" and created over 215 videos that have been viewed over 631,065,973 times, making her the #20 rated channel on YouTube. In 2012, Phan surpassed 2 million subscribers. In 2010, Phan became a spokesperson for Lancôme. Her beauty tutorials are known for Phan's sanguine disposition and ethereal video style that incorporates both on-camera and voice over instruction with music and inspirational text subtitles. She is committed to producing premium beauty and fashion tutorials. Phan's philosophy is to not only teach everyday women how to apply makeup, but to show how makeup can help empower them. She has graced the pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Nylon, Forbes, and Seventeen Magazine. Ever the entrepreneur, Phan has also launched FAWN, a YouTube original channel and debuted her first jewelry line, Ever Eden by Michelle Phan.