Tropic Skin Care

Tropic Skin Care, Ltd., often just referred to as Tropic, is a British natural skincare and cosmetics company. Founded in 2007,^[1] Tropic began as a single product, sold by schoolgirl Susan Ma, at Greenwich Market in London, but has since expanded into a full scale product line which, in 2014, amassed a turnover in sales of £3 million.^[2] The company's founder Susan Ma was a contestant on the seventh series of BBC reality television series The Apprentice that aired in 2011 and, although she was only a runner-up in the competition, Lord Sugar invested in the company in 2012.^[3]

History

The origins of Tropic Skin Care begin with then-15 year old schoolgirl, Susan Ma, in 2004 when she sold a single product at Greenwich Market, but the company was first founded in 2007;^[4] she was eager to create a business that would generate enough money to be able to buy a house for herself and her mother.^[5] She insists her vision for a cosmetic company came in 2005, at the age of 16.^[6] A 2010 graduate from University College London,^[7] graduating with a 2:1 Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Economics,^[8] she became a contestant on the seventh series of The Apprentice the following year,^[9] becoming the youngest ever participant on the show at 21 years old. Although she didn't win the competition, she remained in contact with Lord Sugar and, in 2012,^[10] received a 50/50 partnership investment from him,^[11] enabling her to build the brand and move the production into new premises in Croydon.^[12] In 2011, users of Tropic was estimated to be around 20,000.^[13]

Products

Tropic Skin Care's body of products consists of skin care (cleansers, astringents, lip balms, face masks and several other products),^[14] body care (soaps, body wash, tanning products, hand therapies and others),^[15] and makeup (foundation, concealer, eye liner, lipstick etc.).^[16]

Ingredients

Tropic prides itself on its products being composed of only plant extracts, antioxidants, and vitamins.^[17] Products do not contain parabens, alcohol, gluten, synthetic preservatives, or sodium lauryl sulfate. All products are vegan friendly,^[18] and many contain essential oils such as bergamot oil,^[19] rosehip oil,^[20] and tea tree oil,^[21] in conjunction with aloe vera juice and shea butter which are also prevalent throughout the range.^[22][23]

Ambassador programme

Tropic offers an ambassador programme, referring to them often as 'Glambassadors'.^[24] The programme adopts a party plan format of social selling, enabling customers to throw 'pampers' with the Tropic products sold by an ambassador with it still having a social aspect without seeming commercialised. Ambassadors are able to integrate this work with full-time employment, with the possibility to move up to Executive levels that pay full-time salaries.^[25] A popular programme in 2012 the ambassador programme had 350 consultants across the United Kingdom and saw a sharp increase to hit the 1,200 mark in September 2013.^[26][27] As of 2016, the figure appears to be over 4,500.^[28] Consequently, Tropic is regarded as one of the fastest growing social selling companies within the United Kingdom.^[29]

The programme has incentives for its ambassadors, including the annual 'Glammies' award ceremonies that take place in Birmingham.^[30] Similarly, the company has taken ambassadors on foreign trips to places such as Marrakech for members exceeding certain targets.

Awards

Tropic won Product Business of the Year Award in 2015 at the UK Startups Awards.^[31] Similarly, Tropic has been nominated for FreeFrom Skincare Awards in the past.^[32]

Press

The company was featured in the fashion magazine Vogue in 2013.^[33]

References