The beauty industry is one of the fastest growing markets in North America, and it’s one that U of T graduate and Toronto native Corinne Haddad entered when she founded 1day beauty, a cosmetics company dedicated to “democratizing” beauty products.
Haddad graduated from U of T with an English degree in 2017. Soon after, she enrolled in post-graduate courses in business and online marketing through U of T, and in 2018, Haddad founded 1day beauty from the comfort of her home.
At the moment 1day beauty primarily sells lip products, but Haddad expressed in an interview with The Varsity that she hopes to expand to other products in the future.
According to Haddad, from product design to retail, running a startup has been a challenging process. She credits her family members for being supportive.
Haddad said that her business can become difficult at times and credits her schooling at U of T for helping her navigate some of the adversities that come with being a founder. “U of T is not an easy school,” said Haddad. “One thing you learn [after] surviving four years [at] U of T is a strong commitment to what you are doing, so you develop strict self-discipline and you never give up.”
While a major in English may appear unconventional in her line of work, it helped her become more articulate when marketing her products. While at U of T, Haddad also touched on the beauty world, writing product reviews for cosmetics and posting makeup tutorials online.
“Beauty democratized” is a core ideal of 1day beauty, as Haddad believes that everyone should have input on the products they purchase.
Unlike many larger corporations, Haddad takes a more intimate and personal approach with her customers. On Instagram, Haddad encourages followers to reach out for help with shades and products, and takes their responses into consideration when creating products for the customers.
The keywords of 1day beauty products are: “allclusive, clean & cruelty free.” Haddad’s newest design is visual impairment-friendly lipstick packaging. Haddad’s mother is visually impaired, and Haddad emphasized that this simple packaging change means that a customer can tell the different shades from the Braille on the package.
Right now, 1day beauty is still an e-commerce business.
“I feel so lucky to live in this time [when] we have the internet, [which] is so easy to get access to, and Instagram that is just there [like] a huge free billboard,” she reflected.
Haddad has relied on Instagram largely to promote products and build her business by collecting customer feedback.
Haddad has found that throughout the process she has felt really close to the community.
“Using the communities we’ve built on our social media channels to ask about product names and types, preferred ingredients, and packaging, to name a few [things].”
Haddad continued, “[this] has not only fostered a stronger relationship between us, but has also ensured that we’re always following what people want. The goal is to be as community & consumer-centric as possible.”
