New Beauty Store Goes Beyond Lipstick

Blush, bronzer, makeup brushes and more fill a new beauty product store three women hope will catch on as the source for all things cosmetic on The Hill.

Apothecary opened in October at the . The store's founders, Francine Collora and sisters Heidi and Linsey Brandt, hope the beauty store will fill a retail void in the community.

“People who live up here couldn’t even find a location to go buy a lipstick," said Heidi, 25. "There’s nothing up here that offers what we sell.”

The three women saw a business opportunity in retail beauty and decided to utilize their connections from previous jobs.

Collora, 32, has worked with apothecaries and beauty boutiques for most of her 11-year career. On her resume are companies like MD Skincare, Bare Escentuals, and Dermalogica.

It was at Dermalogica, a skincare company, that Collora and Heidi met and both expressed interest in starting their own businesses.

"We decided we wanted to start a high-end skincare and cosmetic boutique, so we just threw out a lot of ideas,” Heidi said.

By combining their industry connections and knowledge of skincare and beauty products, in addition to a partnership with RANDT salon, the Brandt sisters’ business in Manhattan Beach, the idea for Apothecary was born.

Starting the new business was smooth, but not without its few bumps, Collora said.

“Things went smoothly about 80 percent of the time, but then when it was time to get the lease and deal with some of the business aspects, it was kind of like having to get a quick MBA,” she laughed. “You have to learn it, you have to figure it out and you don’t really know the right or wrong answers.”

Now the three owners hope to bring a new level of knowledge regarding cosmetic products to the Peninsula.

“We’re able to talk to our customers in depth because we have really worked with these companies and big names before,” Collora said.

Follow Apothecary on Facebook.