Lara Bingle is all grown up. I last interviewed the model and TV personality over five years ago, and it's clear that Bingle is a changed woman. While she's still the blonde, bubbly beauty that made her the darling of the Australian public in 2006, there's now a solid sense of sophistication that shines through when she speaks. And the proof is in the pudding - Bingle has stepped into the business arena with the launch of The Base by Lara Bingle beauty range and online venture. Here, BD talks to Bingle about creating a business from scratch, moving away from modelling, competing with other celebrity beauty ranges, and the industry’s support.
Why did you decide to create The Base?
I started it because I wanted to create something bigger than myself and was also interested in the business side of things. I love beauty and I love being creative and having the outlet to do so, but I wanted to know how to create a business from scratch - how much it would cost, how long it would take and all those details. I’ve learnt so much about beauty in shoots and by being involved with inspiring women across my life already - I just picked all those good things I have learnt and used a lot of that as an inspiration to start the range.
What made you choose the beauty business over other ventures?
Beauty really resonates with me. Originally it was going to be sunscreen but there’s not many options with sunscreens - you can’t do nine products in sunscreen! So I started there and I still wanted it to be in keeping with the sun safe element so it then merged to tanning and bronzers.
You’re good friends with make-up artist Max May. Did he help you along the way with ideas?
In my life, I do ask for opinions, but it takes a lot of strength to be able to filter those. I think with this, I didn’t want to keep asking everyone what to do because everyone has a different opinion. For example, with the LB cream, I asked so many of my friends to try it but everyone had different feedback. I think you just have to trust your instinct and generally, you know what you want at the end of the day. Having been on so many shoots and known so many make-up artists and having that influx of tips, it’s very hard to filter it all in to just do the simple key things. I think it just comes back to simplicity, not creating too many products and not making it too hard for yourself.
Do you think you’ll expand the range or are you going to keep it quite small?
Yeah, I will. I don’t know which way yet but I might do another product over the next few months depending how the first range goes. I think starting small is important - slow and steady wins the race.
Are you hoping this helps the Lara Bingle brand move towards having a business focus and away from being about you and modelling?
The vision and trajectory of creating a name in front of my name was the plan, to have it stand alone eventually. I want to have a product that’s credible and people actually love it, not because of certain other reasons.
This year has also seen Natalie Imbruglia and Jess Hart release their own beauty ranges. Does this impact your brand?
I think women should empower women; I always support women. Natalie is one of my friends and I know Jess from New York, so I think good on everybody. People are now more receptive to people breaking out into doing their own thing other than just being the gun for hire and being a model. You have an opinion, you want to have a voice, and I think any girl that wants to put that out there - I’m all for it.
What was the hardest part about creating a brand?
The business side. The creative side came a lot more naturally, but the business side didn’t. I knew that going into it, but I wanted to know about every dollar that went in, every dollar that went out. That was my main focus - learning things I didn’t know, speaking to people and listening to people, and asking things I didn’t know. I wanted to learn something that I didn’t know how to do and see if I could do it.
Did you have to sit with the product formulators and everything like that?
Yes, everything.
How involved were you with the development of The Base website?
I developed all the online. I do all the back end. I have another person that will pick and pack in Australia because I don’t live here, but I do all the website with her. She created Bloom Cosmetics and a few other things, so she knows what’s going on. I’ve learnt a lot and I’m lucky to be able to be in company with these women.
Has there been other influencers for The Base?
When I thought of the idea for The Base, I flew to Perth to meet the woman that created Invisible Zinc, Andrea Bux. She gave me great tips - starting small was one of them. You can do anything if you want to and this is what I wanted to do - create a brand and eventually grow it.
Have you had a lot of support from the beauty industry?
To me, everyone’s positive! People have their own opinions and there’s always a negative opinion somewhere, but I think if I’m happy with it - which I am - and I go to sleep and wake up happy, it doesn’t matter.
Has the general media been supportive?
I haven’t really spoken to them about it. I wanted to speak to women that actually knew about beauty and products and the beauty editors that write about it everyday, not gossip columnists or some man that has no idea what’s going on with tanning or what an illuminator is. That wasn’t my plan and isn’t my plan and I’m not really phased by them.
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