{"id":18592,"date":"2023-02-17T16:52:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T08:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/?p=18592"},"modified":"2025-07-24T10:41:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:41:04","slug":"architecture-graduate-builds-successful-beauty-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/architecture-graduate-builds-successful-beauty-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Architecture graduate builds successful beauty empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Quick Flick Founder Iris Smit has been recognised on the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author | Carmelle Wilkinson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An architecture graduate by trade, Perth entrepreneur Iris Smit is building her cosmetics empire one must-have beauty product at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Curtin graduate and inventor of The Quick Flick<\/a> said banking on herself was the best decision she could have ever made, ahead of her business launch in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iris\u2019 values of empowerment and self-expression set her apart from fellow young entrepreneurs, and her revolutionary vision to reinvent beauty tools had led to a thriving multimillion dollar company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A budding entrepreneur from young, Iris recalls selling homemade bracelets to her teachers in primary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, the savvy businesswoman is the face behind a successful beauty brand with her products now gracing the shelves of Priceline and Coles stores around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iris sat down with Curtin Commons recently to talk about her cult beauty favourites, the road to success and her plans for world beauty domination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your highly popular winged eyeliner was an overnight success story, did you anticipate it would take the beauty world by storm?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I had the idea for the winged eyeliner during my final year at Curtin, smack bang during the middle of my thesis. I had always had a huge interest in beauty, and I would struggle to create a wing using an eyeliner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winged eye was kind of my signature look and I wore it every day, but I would still stuff it up. It would literally take me 15 minutes to get right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day the idea came about to create a tool to assist with perfecting the winged-eye and I thought let me try and find something to solve this problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What initially started out as a little project for myself, then turned into something so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following my appearance on Shark Tank in 2018 everything changed, and I thought to myself, wow, maybe I really have something here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, turning down the $300,000 Shark Tank offer allowed me to go it alone and put 100% of profits back into growing the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Iris is building her cosmetics empire one must-have beauty product at a time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your vision now includes an impressive line-up of beauty innovations including the popular beauty fridge and now a sunscreen with blue light defence. Did you have a pinch yourself moment seeing your products instore?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It’s so hard to describe. It\u2019s not so much a pinch yourself moment, as it is rewarding. Just seeing my hard work come to life and on the shelves is an incredibly proud feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The business has boomed quite a lot since the winged-eye stamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea to include a sunscreen was definitely a shift from our other products and came about during the pandemic, when most people were staying home and wearing less makeup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many others I became more skincare and health focused, and I started looking at ways to look after my skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before our brand I didn\u2019t even wear sunscreen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I can\u2019t go a day without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From beauty products to now skincare, what inspired your detour from architecture following graduation?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always been really interested in beauty and make-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went to a private school that was very strict, and that meant no make-up or jewellery, and every year in my student summary card it would say something like \u201cIris is pushing the boundaries with wearing make-up\u201d. But clearly it was who I was, and I was just trying to be me. Haha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as I loved studying interior architecture at Curtin and have a real passion for design and interior spaces, I was always very passionate about beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the downsides to owning your own business and how do you navigate these hurdles?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There are certainly pitfalls to owning your own business. But there are also some big rewards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess the downside to starting any business is self-doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people let doubt and fear get in their head and that\u2019s not the right mindset to be in when starting a business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always believed in my ability and knew I could achieve whatever I set my mind on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Iris<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do you have advice for life lessons for budding entrepreneurs?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is make peace and deal with unresolved traumas and issues before launching your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all sounds very spiritual, but the truth is if you don\u2019t deal with this before starting out it will follow you like a shadow, and it will start to impact your business and your mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I struggled with poor mental health all my life, and in 2019 I sought professional help to work through past traumas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until I hit rock bottom that I realised I needed help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I got help, I was able to heal and this has now allowed me to feel empowered and inspire others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My other advice to anyone wanting to launch their own business is to always believe in yourself and believe that you deserve success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see a lot of people starting businesses for the wrong reasons, whether it\u2019s validation or to get rich quick or to feed their ego \u2013 but these almost never succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Build a business you can be proud of and do it for the right reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no room to be stagnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It pays to level up constantly and always look at ways you can improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author | Carmelle Wilkinson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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