WEST Belfast make-up maestro Ciara Daly, creator of the ultimate 'Hero' foundation brush, has secured a major retail contract with Gordons and Medicare chemists to sell her new newly designed, branded and packaged face-specific collections.
The award-winning 37-year-old who started her own make-up academy and training school in 2009, has designed new five new brush collections which, along with the famed 'Hero' brush, have landed on shelves in 35 Gordons outlets and five of 50 Medicare stores in Northern Ireland so far.
And, if previous experience is anything to go by, they certainly won't be gathering dust.
Last year the founder of Ciara Daly Make-up Academy sold 14,000 'Hero' brushes through 'Hero' house parties, exhibition stands and online, while new listings with McKeever's and Clear Pharmacies two years ago helped total sales reach 38,000 in four years.
"The 'Hero' brush has literally been flying off the shelves and has become a bit of a sensation in the make-up world," Ciara said. "A good make-up brush is an indispensable tool, for not just make-up artists, but increasingly for ordinary women who in today's social media world want to look 'picture-perfect' every day."
Focused, determined, passionate, and always on-trend, the straight-talking mother-of-two cites an impromptu sibling display of raw entrepreneurism as the motivation behind her own first steps into business.
She was impressed - and a little "mortified" - after watching her older sister, Lee-Anne Daly, also a successful businesswoman and creator of the inflatable 'Orby' swimsuit, just "grab the moment and go for it".
"We were sitting having coffee one day, before Lee-Anne's baby swim suit went into production, when she started approaching women with small children or who were pregnant, giving them leaflets about her baby swim classes," Ciara said.
"I was a bit mortified at the time, but later, when I was starting my own business, I realised she was right; you just have to move out of your comfort zone and share your passion when and where you can. I am extremely proud of her and her determination has definitely been pivotal in my own drive to succeed.
"In the early days I too took that spontaneous approach. I remember driving around in my old banger of a car with two babies in the back and stopping off at every salon I passed, asking if anyone wanted to do my make-up courses."
Today, the roles are flipped, with others doing 'the running' and contacting her for places on courses at her Lisburn Road studio where six-week and 12-week courses are booked out six months in advance and 'Hero' masterclasses are sold out three months ahead.
Like most good ideas, the 'Hero' brush - and recent new 'Phoenix', 'Goddess' 'Diva', 'Desire' and 'Angel' collections for eyes, cheeks, brows and bronzing respectively - was born out of a glaring gap in the market.
"I found students in my classes were faced with buying either poor quality brushes on ebay or at cheaper chemist chains or, at the other end of the spectrum, really expensive ones retailing around £25 each," she explained.
"Neither made good business sense, so I set about having my own made; I wanted something that was reasonably priced but with good quality bristles.
"I went to numerous manufacturers and looked at hundreds of different samples of natural bristles - best for powder-based make-up - and synthetic ones which work best with creamy, liquid products. It was a long process but worthwhile as there was definitely a niche in the market.
"Then, after we had created the right brush, the feedback we got from the end-user was, 'We think it's great but we don't know how to use it.
"That started me on the path of offering 'masterclasses' to women who don't want to be in the business professionally, but want to learn correct make-up application techniques.
After leaving school and taking a business course at 'tech', Ciara worked in sales and was promoted to management level before taking a job as a sales rep for GHD hair straighteners.
"That was a real turning point for me," she recalled, "because I witnessed at first hand how an unknown brand could be grown into a successful market leader."
After training in Belfast, London, Glasgow and Dublin, she ventured out on her own - but it has not been just a calling to create perfect make-up solutions which drives Daly; she is also intent on creating successful businesswomen out of her students.
"You may have the technique and creativity, but you also need the grit and the passion," she said. "I always tell the girls it's not just doing the work - it's getting the work. It's the whole package."
And, to give due recognition for those qualities, Ciara - who employs four full-time staff, two part-time teachers and 20 girls for house parties - is again running her 'Shaz Awards' in celebration of the talented students who graduate through her make-up school each year.
Named after her late mother Sharon, the awards take place on June 26 with 'Feeding Dreams' of Camodia, started by her best friend, Arlene Gormley, also from west Belfast, the nominated charity.
