How I started in beauty: The Inkey List co-founder Colette Laxton

In this new content series, TheIndustry.beauty takes a closer look at the early journeys of some of the beauty industry’s most influential leaders - from their first jobs, the skills they honed along the way, and the advice they would give their younger selves at the very start of their careers. We also invite them to share what the next chapter of their professional journey looks like - and how they hope to grow from here.

Colette Laxton co-founded The Inkey List with her now-husband, Mark Curry, with a clear mission: to democratise skincare through knowledge. Built on the belief that better information drives better decisions, the brand empowers consumers not only through its accessible, ingredient-led products, but also via its askINKEY service and a range of educational activations designed to put clarity back into skincare.

Having begun her career at Boots, Laxton reflects on those formative early experiences, the lessons learnt, and how they continue to shape her leadership today.

Have you always had an interest in beauty? Why does it appeal to you and why did you want to work within it? 

No, it was never the plan to work in beauty! I wanted to be a journalist but got a “real job” at Boots and fell in love with the industry immediately. However, beauty has always been a huge part of my life - I have been performing since age three, and my red lip has always been my armour to go on stage. Then, after suffering from terrible acne as a teen, I really understand the power that skincare can have.

Tell us about your first job in beauty. What drew you to the role? What was this experience was like?

It was at Boots HQ in Nottingham, and I was lucky enough to spend almost ten years working in multiple departments. I was drawn to the brand side of beauty as I am consumer-obsessed and love taking real insight and developing solutions for people, from end to end.

Being a brand manager was my first real role and was so varied - day to day, I would be working on new products with the R&D department, developing marketing campaigns, and building VM fixtures, all while working with multiple departments hourly.

What were the most valuable skills or lessons you gained from that first experience?

The fast pace and wide-ranging skill set required to be a brand manager was the perfect set-up for becoming a well-rounded skincare founder (unbeknown to me at the time!), but the biggest lesson I learnt was relationship building. Understanding how to earn respect, use my influence to impact decisions, and be someone people genuinely want to work with was the most valuable lesson I have ever learnt! Most of my success has come from favours and people going out of their way to give me a chance when I needed it.

If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice at the very start of your career, what would it be - and why?

Try to ignore the imposter syndrome you are feeling. Everyone is winging it (no matter their level) and as long as you use good insight and trust your gut, you can’t go far wrong. Believe in yourself and start with “yes” at every opportunity that comes your way!

What does the next chapter of your own career look like and how are you hoping to grow from here?

It has been a wild ride becoming a skincare founder and I’ve learnt it all along the way as we’ve built The Inkey List at incredible pace. The next goal is to sustain and scale to build the brand as a true legacy skincare staple for years to come - this will take a whole new skill set, one which I need to learn.

I would also love to take all the learnings from being an early-phase start-up founder to help others - I am passionate about mentoring and would love to support the next generation of beauty entrepreneurs (and help them avoid some of the mistakes I have made!).

Has there been a person in beauty that you have always admired and why?

I am fascinated with serial entrepeneurs! Success is such a mixture of timing, hustle and vision. It is so inspiring when this can be done multiple times! Bobbi Brown and Marcia Kilgore, specifically, have something rare in the timing of their brands - JUST ahead enough to disrupt but yet near enough for consumer buy in.