The first time I met Sarah Creal was at London's Claridge's Hotel in the spring of 2016. At the time, she was working for Estée Lauder and the event was the hush-hush press launch unveiling of the brand's collaboration with Victoria Beckham . As Creal, a witty, super-smart, fast-talking New Yorker, took us through the textures, formulations, and products with Beckham, she spoke with a dazzling passion, incredible insight and delivered a playful irreverence rarely experienced at luxury beauty media launches.
While Creal may not have been a household name, at some point, every beauty consumer would have come into contact with her magic. That's because Sarah Creal—as one of the industry's most revered product formulators and brand builders—is the force behind some of the world's most iconic beauty companies; Prada Beauty (remember the iconic lip balms from the late '90s? That was Creal), Estée Lauder, Tom Ford, L'Oréal, Bobbi Brown, Aerin Lauder and more recently Victoria Beckham Beauty where she was CEO until her departure in 2022.
While Creal enthuses over the number of people who have been “so generous and supportive and loving in order to make it all come together”, she is also quick to admit that the route to launching her brand has not been without its challenges, particularly when it came to raising funds—a world that is notoriously helmed by men. “You know that is generally the dirty secret about beauty,” she says with a raised brow. “It is run by men. And I was reminded of this when I had to go out to investors and raise money. I'd never done it before; it was daunting and a lot of the experience was highly discouraging. One man actually said to me, ‘I just don't think older women want to look at older women,'” she recalls with incredulity. “And I had to say to him, I have the data that proves you wrong. I asked 2,000 women this question and you know what their answers were? Ninety-nine percent agreed that providing education, age representation, and age-specific formulations were essential for women over 40 plus. And 89% said a beauty brand addressing the unique needs of women 40 plus is necessary. I was respectful but I was furious, absolutely furious,” she adds with a chuckle.
