Beauty Pie is an interesting and unique new beauty brand because it’s a makeup and skincare company with a membership-service twist. If this is your first time hearing about them it can seem a bit confusing at first, so let me explain.

Beauty Pie’s aim is to produce luxury, high end quality products available at a factory cost. In order to offer such a steep price reduction on their products, compared to their much more costly RRP price, you have to buy a membership plan to access the factory cost price tags. (They’re available in the UK and the US, but as I’m UK based I’ll be quoting the UK price points for this post.)

The membership plans are available at a few different price levels at the starting price of £10 per month. All membership plans have a 3 month minimum commitment, but you can buy the £10 price plan for a full year outright at the reduced cost of £99. The price you pay for the membership gives you access to the products at their factory prices, almost like paying to be part of a buyer’s club for luxury beauty products. The factory prices are transparently costed on each product’s page, so you’re able at all times to see how the price is calculated per product (showing you costs for product and packaging, warehousing, and safety + testing.)

A Beauty Pie Face using Matte Retouch Pore-Minimizing Primer, Everyday Great Skin Foundation, The Unbeatable Concealer, Velvetizer Translucent Mattifying Powder, ‘Racy’ Moisture Lock Wondergel Lip Liner, ‘Red Light’ FutureMatte lipstick

Anyone can purchase from Beauty Pie at their full retail prices at any time, but when you’re a member of the Pie you only pay the factory price on every single product, meaning you can buy a Velvetizer Mattifying Powder £4.09 rather than £25. The price level of the membership you choose tallies up to the purchase allowance you’re allowed to make each month. Those on the £10 monthly plans are allowed to buy products up to the retail value of £100 for that month (although they give you an extra £100 of allowance your first month to get you started) while the £15 monthly members get a £150 allowance, etc.

Your cart will show you the actual factory cost of the items you will have to pay in order to purchase them, while also tallying the full retail cost of the items to show you how much of your allowance you have left to ‘spend.’ If you want, you can let your allowance roll over month to month so you can make a bigger purchase later and save on shipping costs, although you’ll lose any remaining allowance if you cancel your membership before using your allowance, so make sure you’ve used it up if you plan to cancel.

An example of items in my basket, showing the order cost and my remaining allowance

I know that all sounds a bit overwhelming at first, but to give you an idea of how much you end up saving even with the membership payment, here’s how my first ever Beauty Pie order broke down. I ordered the Velvetizer Translucent Mattifying Powder, Fruitizyme Five Minute Facial, and Incrediblur Instant Retouching Foundation (£13.24 altogether), adding the £10 membership fee and £6.06 in shipping/processing, for a total of £29.30. That sounds steep for 3 products if you’re used to shopping in the drugstore. The full retail cost of the items I chose, though, are £25, £50 and £24 respectively, so removing the membership charge and keeping the shipping costs means that order would have cost me £105.06 if I hadn’t been a member of the Pie. Comparing those two amounts, it’s obvious the membership is definitely worth the cost if you want to access high end products without the full price tag of shopping luxury goods. As all product, storage and shipping costs are transparent, the membership charge is basically the only profit Beauty Pie actually make off your entire order.

The products are made at different labs around the world renowned for high end skincare lines, and they’re all paraben free, produced with no animal testing, and produced with minimised packaging and earthinks printing. As for the products themselves, I’ve tried a range of makeup and skin care products so far in the months I’ve been a member and have generally been very happy with my purchases. I’m reviewing all my makeup buys today with a skincare product review coming in future.

Face

Swatches L natural light, R flash. Top to bottom: One Wonder Powder, Fair 001 Velvetizer Mattifying Powder, Unbeatable Concealer 75, Incrediblur Instant Retouching Foundation Ivory 100, Everyday Great Skin Foundation Ivory 100, Luminizing Concealer Fair 001

Velvetizer Translucent Mattifying Powder – £4.09 members cost, £25 full price
(Shade: Fair 001)
I generally don’t use translucent powder to finish off my face as I tend to feel that any concealed blemishes that looked well hidden before powder suddenly become more visible again after I gently apply a layer. I assumed this powder would behave similarly to all others I’ve tried, but I love it. I happily add it to the end of my face routine whether I’m having a natural light-makeup day or a full coverage face day. I don’t think it does anything extra special in oil control compared to other powders, but paired with the a good primer and oil control foundation it helps make a big difference to the way my face lasts throughout the day. Unlike most other powders I’ve tried, the Fair 001 shade is perfect on my skin, neither too dark nor too light.
Would I repurchase? Yes, I already have.

One Powder Wonder – £4.14 members cost, £26 full price
(Shade: Uberlucent Universal )
Promising to mattify with a radiant finish and lauded as a blurring wonder for setting the under eye, I had high hopes for using this product for the latter purpose. So far, I’m…undecided? It claims it’s suitable for all skin tones but I’m not sure how it can be considering some days I swear it leaves my under eye looking a bit white. I’m also not sure if I agree it does any magic blurring when setting the under eye, but considering I have fine lines there and chance my concealer favourite regularly I don’t know if I’ve tested it thoroughly enough to know whether my lack of WOW results is down to the powder or to me.
Would I repurchase? Not sure. Need more testing.

Matte Retouch Pore-Minimizing Primer – £3.79 members cost, £24 full price
(Shade: Translucent)
Prior to this, I’ve been using NYX’s Angel Veil, lauded as a dupe of the much lovedHourglass primer. I liked it okay but wasn’t sure if I felt it was as exceptional as people said. I ordered this Beauty Pie primer expecting it to be the same as every other primer I’ve tried on my oily skin, but I actually love it! Worn under oil free foundation and with my Beauty Pie Velvetizer Mattifying Powder I get the best oil control in my tea zone with this primer that I’ve achieved with any other products. Plus it doesn’t feel heavy on the face so I feel my skin can breathe through it.
Would I repurchase?  Yes! I’m nowhere near a 1/4 through my first tube and I’ve bought a back up already.

Super Luminous Concealer – £3.02 members cost, £22 full price
(Shade: Fair 100)
This concealer is touted as being medium to high coverage and the blurb is full of fancy jargon about what the luminous facets are supposed to do, so I had hopes it would work well to brighten my under eye. Alas, no. The concealer performs as most standard concealers do, I feel, though I’m glad there’s no overblown glitter pieces involved in the ‘luminous’ formula as I’ve encountered with some other luminizing under eye concealers. I hated the cushion top applicator, I felt the squeeze function made it too hard to control a tiny amount paired with said applicator, and I prefer using my fingers or a Beautyblender to blend it out. The coverage is medium, certainly not high. The Fair 100 shade isn’t as light as I would expect the lightest shade to be in a concealer range, it’s not even as light as Beauty Pie’s lightest foundations, so it was the wrong colour to brighten my under eye. I could probably use it on the rest of my face for mild discolourations or small blemishes on light makeup days but since I own several superior formula concealers with better coverage I’d be surprised if it gets used up.
Would I repurchase? No chance.

The Unbeatable Concealer – £4.10 members cost, £20 full price
(Shade: 75 Neutral Undertone)
This concealer promises to be suitable for all skintones, good for discolourations and scars, and a creamy glide-on feel. It’s got mineral pigments and says there’s breathable coverage, so I was hoping for decent coverage that was kind to my skin. The shade I bought pulls a bit yellow on my skin despite the fact that it’s neutral undertones and I’m yellow undertoned, so I imagine I should have bought a different shade. There’s great pigmentation, but it’s quite a hard, thin feel formula in the pan and I think I prefer a true cream with a thicker feel for my application preferences. Lasts well, decent coverage. There’s nothing really wrong with it but I still don’t feel myself reaching for it, so I tend to use it on minimal makeup workdays when I remember I have it, for my undereyes and a few discolouration areas.
Would I repurchase? Probably not.

Everyday Great Skin Foundation – £5.50 members cost, £30 full price
(Shade: Ivory 100 (Pink undertone)
A great review of this foundation by Stylist is how I initially came across Beauty Pie so I was excited to give it a try. It’s matte finish and oil free, and doesn’t dry down too fast so it’s easy to work with. It’s medium coverage and doesn’t oxidize, but I wouldn’t say it did anything for me that most drugstore foundations don’t already do. I prefer a medium-full coverage foundation, though, so it perhaps just doesn’t suit my preferences.
Would I repurchase? I doubt it.

Incrediblur Instant Retouching Foundation – £3.82 members cost, £24 full price
(Shade: Ivory 100 Pink undertone)
For workdays I sometimes like to use a lightweight naked-feel foundation with light coverage. I love the Maybelline Dream Wonder Nude foundation but it’s discontinued in the UK and I couldn’t bring myself to try Urban Decay’s Naked because I didn’t want to spend £25 on a foundation that only offers minimal coverage. With this in mind I gave this Incrediblur foundation a try. It’s definitely lightweight and light coverage, lighter than my Maybelline fave. As expected, it doesn’t do anything to cover blemishes, helping to even skintone at most, so I use it paired with the Velvetizer powder to get a little more of a substantial but natural finish. It’s a very thin runny formula and as such I can’t help but think applying it with a brush or sponge will soak half of it up, so I tend to apply with my fingertips to minimise waste. It’s a very pale ivory, a little too pale for me really, but once I’ve added powder and contouring it’s acceptable. Still, it’s definitely lighter than the same Ivory 100 shade in the Everyday Great Skin Foundation from above. It performs the same as most other foundations in regards to oil production on my forehead and nose, so if you’re not an oily person this should stay matte for you all day long.
Would I repurchase? Unsure, as I’ve begun to use just concealer and powder on natural workdays.

 Lips

L natural light, R flash: Top Matte Futurelipstick in Red Light, bottom Moisture Lock Wondergel Lip Liner in Racy

Moisture Lock Wondergel Lip Liner – £1.79 subscribed wholesale, £15 full price
(Shade: Racy)
This is the best lip liner I’ve ever tried. Typically I find dry liners stay on better but are horrible to apply, while soft liners are more likely to melt or smudge, but this is the perfect middle ground. The gel formula means it applies softly and comfortably with no snagging at your lips, but the pigmentation is so great that–be warned!–it will actually stain your skin if, like me, you’re one of those people who always gets lip liner on your fingers and/or the lid during application. The staying power is wonderful and it feels comfortable enough to be worn alone, so more than once I’ve worn this liner by itself and achieved as bold a look as I get when wearing bullet lipsticks.
Would I repurchase? If I used lip liners enough, definitely, but my liquid lipsticks make them redundant.

Futurelipstick Matte – £2.62 members cost, £20 full price
(Shade: Red Light)
I wear liquid lipsticks 99.9% of the time (Colourpop Mattes and Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink, specifically) so I almost never bother trying a standard tube lipstick anymore, but since it was so cheap I wanted to see whether high end produced lipsticks are all that different to drugstore brands. Conclusion: eh, if they are, I can’t really tell. For me the Maybelline Superstay 14hr tube lipsticks are the best bullet lipsticks I’ve ever found for being truly matte, applying and wearing comfortably, and lasting a long time. This Beauty Pie lipstick has a less dry application and wear than the Maybelline’s, and to be fair it performed comparatively to all good lasting lipsticks during eating. But for me, there’s a crispness to the outline of liquid lipsticks that I just prefer on my lip shape, in addition to how bold the pigmentation makes the colour, and the superlative lasting wear, so a bullet lipstick was never going to win me over without matching or exceeding those very high standards. If you’re a liquid lipstick fan you’ll likely feel this is on par with all other good tube lipsticks, but if you hate liquid lipstick and love tube lipsticks then you might find this performs comparatively to your favourites. As it’s only £2.62 when you’re subscribed it’s worth trying if you’re a MAC fan.
Would I repurchase? Unlikely given my liquid-lipquid penchant.

L natural light, R flash: ‘Bitten’ Fantasticolour Liquid Lipstick

Fantasticolour Liquid Lipstick – £4.38 members cost, £20 full price
(Shade: Bitten)
Considering I adore liquid lipsticks, I had such high hopes for this product, assuming a high end luxury lab is bound to produce a superior product to champion liquid lipstick makers Maybelline’s and Colourpop’s labs. I was totally disappointed. The application itself is gorgeous, a soft gel-like formula I’ve never experienced from any other liquid lipstick. It was easy and comfortable to apply, then dried down matte to a lightweight comfortable finish. The shade Bitten, however, looks like a vibrant red on their website but pulls to an incredibly dark rusty brown-red on my lips, positively vampiric. It wore off easily and patchily when eating, performing worse for me even than Lime Crime’s Velvetines and Makeup Academy’s £3 Lip Lacquers, which are fine but not top tier products. My only thought holding me back from painting the whole shade range with a tarred brush is that I often find this dark brown-red shade performs more poorly across all brands and their individual formulas compared to each brand’s versions of a true red or various pinks. I keep wondering if the pink shades available in this line perform better, as even my beloved Colourpops can wear out faster in a similar shade than their other shades, but I’m loathe to use some of my precious allowance on testing out my theory on a pink shade given there’s always so many other products I want to try or rebuy, and given I hardly ever wear pinks.
Would I repurchase? Possibly in a different shade, but unlikely.

Eyes

L natural light, R with flash. Top Power Ink Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, bottom Wondercolour Cream Eyeshadow Stick in Vanilla Whirl

Power Ink Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner  – £2.48 members cost, £18 full price
(Shade:Blackest Black )
I’m very specific about my liquid eyeliners: I like a thin formula and a thin brush applicator rather than a felt pen applicator. For some reason I didn’t clock the applicator shape when I ordered this product, so I had high hopes for it’s waterproof formula and heat-resistant long-wear promises. The formula aside, it was all a no-go for me when I opened the product to find that in place of a thin brush, the applicator is a thin felt pen…with a spherical nib. I have no idea how or why the applicator is this shape, it’s certainly not tauted in the product description as being useful for a particular reason. Trying to use it to create the crisp sharp ends of my winged liner as I prefer felt too much like hard work, so I’m not a fan. I’m sure it’s the kind of thing one could get used to, but I’m assuming it’s supposed to have an immediate benefit that some people find improves their ability to create a clean, sharp liquid liner shape, which I do not. If you’re similarly devoted to a thin brush applicator as I am you won’t want to bother giving this a try. I’ve haven’t been able to bear using it enough times to decide if the formula lives up to all its promises.
Would I repurchase?  No

Wondercolour Cream Eyeshadow Stick  – £2.56 members cost, £20 full price
(Shade: Vanilla Whirl (Matte))
Designed to be used as a cream eyeshadow stick, I’ve been using mine in the pale skin-toned Vanilla Whirl shade as a replacement for my now-dry MAC Paint Pot. I have very oily lids that crease any eye product easily, so I prefer to use an eye primer under a pigmented cream nude product, like this shadow stick, before then applying my powdered eye shadows to give those shadows a solidly matte, even base to grab on to. This shadow stick replaces my MAC Paint Pot with equal lasting performance, but a lighter pigmentation–which I actually prefer, especially as it’s a fraction of the price. I use it with every single eye look I wear.
Would I repurchase?  Definitely.

On the whole I’ve liked or loved most of my Beauty Pie makeup purchases (and I love my skincare purchases too, more on that soon) so I’m always excited each month when my membership allowance refills. They regularly add new products to the site and often ask for feedback via their Instagram @Beautypie and via the profile of their founder @marcie.kilgore on potential products or ideas as to what Pie Members would like them to source.

If you have any questions still about how it works or the products listed above, feel free to leave a comment!