Honest reviews about beauty

The two best friends Julie and Esther launched the app We Are Eves: the first beauty platform with honest product reviews. The app has been on my phone for a while and it's so handy. You create your own ‘shelfie’ with your favorite products, give your honest opinion on each product, which is then read by a member interested in that product and vice versa. Quite a win-win situation, right? I was very curious about the women behind this handy platform and got to ask them a few questions.

That your app is the solution for many women is more than clear with 30,000 members. When did the moment come when you thought: let's give it a try?
I had the idea to develop an app with honest information about beauty products. That was something I personally missed and that didn't exist yet. So it started as a kind of hobby project alongside my work. I started reading more, creating a business case, and designing the first layout. Until I realized that I could never set this up on my own and a few weeks later went out for dinner with my friend Julie. We hadn't spoken in a long time and had a lot to catch up on. At a certain point, I realized that she could be my ideal business partner. She had exactly the experience and knowledge of E-commerce and operations that I didn't have. We are very different in character and that's exactly what you need in a business partner. Besides, I've known her for over 25 years now and trust her blindly. I asked her during that dinner if she wanted to set up the idea of We Are Eves together with me. And she said yes. Cool, right?.

Your app is of course online 24/7, are you always working because of this?
Haha, no, we are careful about that. We ourselves and our team work hard, but we also make sure to have enough relaxation. As fun as it is, there is more important than just work. Everyone in our team is very flexible: we don't have a 9 to 5 work schedule.

What is your division of roles? Who does what?
Julie mainly takes care of operations, the product, and technology, while I focus on sales and marketing and ensure that everything we do works towards the goal: to become the most trusted beauty platform in the world where all women come when they are looking for a cosmetic product. We always make the most important decisions together.

Do you notice that due to corona and more home quarantine, longer reviews are being written or do you not notice any difference?
Since April, we have noticed that our members suddenly became much more active and really sought each other out for support. It was nice to see. We also organized various ‘challenges’ on the platform to help our members through the first difficult period. Everyone was suddenly at home and could use some light distraction.

Those 30,000 members, how many of them are men?
Haha, not that many. I think maybe around fifty? We do know that there is also a drag queen on the platform and a drag king. So fun.

If a member shares a lot and therefore has many followers, do you pay special attention to that?
It doesn't work with us like on Instagram: the more followers, the more important. With us, every member and every review counts. We look much more at the beauty profile and match that with members who fit you. We do have a special program for members who want to test products from brands we work with and then review them honestly. Anyone can sign up for that.

The first edition of the “We Are Eves Honest Choices, the cosmetics awards from you for you” is coming up. In this way, you let the consumer speak even more. There are 17 different categories such as ‘Favourite Seasonal Product’ and ‘Best Budget Buy’. How did you come up with those categories?
Our content team did that: Priscilla and Floor, they are fantastic. We have many members with different needs. If you've just become a mother or are a single lady: everyone is looking for different reviews again. The same goes for a budget, which is why we have the ‘Best Budget Buy’ versus the ‘It's worth your hard-earned money’ category, in which we tell which luxury products are really well-reviewed by our members. On November 22, various influencers will announce the winners.

You must already have some fun ideas and updates for the new year. Can you share anything about that?
There are some beautiful collaborations coming up with amazing brands and we are also going to launch abroad. In addition, we will launch a number of new features for our members so that everyone can find the product that really fits their unique beauty profile even better. Bye Bye bad purchases!