Creator of Huge Lips Skinny Hips Lip Gloss (at Scoop, Ron Robinson and b-glowing), Karen Robinovitz takes us through the trials and tribulations of creating a beauty brand from scratch.

Before I go on, note: Everything I'm blogging right now happened a while ago (at this time, the product is actually in stores, but I want to give you all the background to catch you up on how I got to today).

I will get into how in the hole we were in a minute, but first things first, I have some very exciting current news.

We just launched a really cool contest called KISS & TELL YOUR HUGE LIPS SKINNY HIPS I.D.!

Just pick the color -- from all our cheeky gloss names -- that best represents you. Then upload a pic and say why you identify with the shade.

Grand Prize: A sexy weekend for two in NYC, where I will take you on a tour of my inspirations for each shade. You'll stay at le chic Smyth Hotel in Tribeca, attend a private pole class, take burlesque lessons from the fabulous Veronica Varlow, learn to work the runway in your haute "Red Sole" shoes, have a Kate Moss moment at Topshop and then some. Trust me!

Now back to the where I left off.

At this stage of the story, it would have been really helpful if my last name were Trump!

I was about 60K in the hole. Maybe more -- numbers are not my strong suit! Could I have spent less on press materials? Yes. Could we have tried to negotiate better terms with our vendors, i.e., not pay half up front but a quarter? Maybe. But I didn't.

In hindsight, everything is 20/20. The problem was, there was only so much money left. I needed more. A lot more.

For the rest of the inventory, I still had 20K. I had the monthly retainer with Whisper PR. Then there was marketing, business cards, letterhead, events, delivery costs (for sending products to editors, celebs, etc.).

Oh, did I mention that I had committed to visiting every store to train the staff and do P.A.s (public appearances)? That meant 62 in the UK and 14 in the U.S.!

And I needed P.O.S. (point of sale) displays. Apparently, it was our job to provide them. So I went to an acrylic artist to design something curvy, sexy and purple (see below).

The prototype cost $1,000 and each one would be $100. Didn't seem too bad -- until I thought about the 62 stores in the UK, 11 Scoop locations and additional 13 retailers that needed them!

I had an actual business, with potential, and two really respected retail chains supporting the brand, so I didn't feel awkward when it came to asking people for money. I just didn't know how or how much. And if I got money, what percent of the company's equity did I have to give up?

I needed a business plan. And fast. I really thought I could sit in front of some super wealthy business person, share my dream and walk away with a check. Why not?

I even got Marc Cuban's email address from someone who used to work for him and I actually sent him a message about investing. Guess who never replied?

Next saga: A business plan and finding dough.

Mwah!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix