TheIndustry.beauty Awards Winners' Interview: Daisy Kelly, founder, Glow For It

In this series, TheIndustry.beauty continues to celebrate the achievements of the winning brands from TheIndustry.beauty Awards 2025 through a collection of dedicated interviews.

With the Awards dedicated to 'The Innovators' of the industry, we set out to uncover the forward-thinking strategies behind their success. From our winners, we discover everything from the importance of innovation and the trends influencing the next wave of beauty to the biggest opportunities and challenges facing the sector today.

Glow For It received the award for Digital Retail. Founder Daisy Kelly speaks to TheIndustry.beauty about how she maintains customer loyalty and engagement in a competitive market. She also shares her advice for beauty brands looking to start or scale their presence on TikTok, her insights on the next big shift in digital beauty retail, and more.

What are the core values that drive Glow For It and how are they reflected in the business?

At Glow For It, our core values are not just principles, they are the foundation of everything we do. Empowerment, authenticity, and quality guide every decision we make, from product development to how we show up for our community.

We believe in celebrating natural beauty and creating products that genuinely support this mantra. That’s why we’re committed to using ethically sourced ingredients and formulations that deliver real, visible results to our customers.

I take a hands-on role in every aspect of the business to ensure these values are woven into the DNA of the brand, from the products we launch to the content we create. Our community is central to our journey; we listen closely, respond intentionally, and allow their voices to shape every new product we bring to life. At Glow For It, it’s not just about building a brand, it’s about building trust.

What strategies does Glow For It employ to maintain customer loyalty and engagement in such a competitive market? How do you keep your community engaged and coming back?

In a crowded market, we’ve built loyalty by investing deeply in the people who support us, prioritising meaningful relationships over influencer reach or surface-level visibility.

We connect with our customers daily through TikTok Lives, often going live for twelve hours a day, creating a direct, unfiltered line of communication that keeps our community engaged and involved. These live sessions aren’t just about selling; they’re about showing up, listening, and being present.

Every six weeks, we host exclusive, ticketed community events where we meet our customers face-to-face. These events offer real value and genuine connection, while giving us priceless insight that directly influences product development and brand direction. By staying close to our audience, we ensure they don’t just come back, but they grow with us.

Can you tell us about your social-first marketing approach? How has TikTok played a role in the growth of Glow For It?

TikTok has been instrumental in the growth and scalability of Glow For It, it's the heartbeat of our social-first strategy. From day one, I made the decision to document the brand journey on TikTok, and that transparency has built real trust and connection.

Today, we’ve grown to over 160,000 followers, and our Lash Growth Serum is now TikTok’s number-one bestselling lash serum with over 200,000 units sold on TikTok Shop alone, a milestone driven by organic community support paired with a reliable and effective product. We show up consistently: posting multiple times a day and going live daily. That real-time visibility keeps our audience close and continuously invites new people in.

Our approach isn’t about chasing trends, it’s about building long-lasting relationships through authenticity, routine, and showing the people behind the brand. TikTok hasn’t just given us reach, it’s given us loyalty, and that has directly translated into both community growth and sustained sales.

What are some of your most notable achievements on TikTok?

One of our biggest milestones on TikTok was our 12-hour showcase live hosted from TikTok’s Manchester studio. It was a record-breaking day where we generated seven figures in sales and sold a product every 25 seconds. It was a defining moment that proved just how powerful the platform can be when paired with consistency, community, and the right messaging.

Another standout achievement was being awarded TikTok’s “Greatest TikTok” in 2023 for one of our most viral videos - a huge moment that recognised not just our content, but the authentic connection we’ve built with our audience. These moments have solidified TikTok as a core pillar of our brand’s growth strategy and a space where we continue to break boundaries.

In your view, what’s the next big shift in digital beauty retail? Where do you see the industry heading, and how are you preparing for it?

The future of digital beauty retail is being shaped by three things: speed, convenience, and loyalty, and we’re actively building around all three. Today’s customers expect instant gratification, seamless service, and a brand they can truly connect with, and we’re leaning into that through a strong subscription model and a loyalty programme designed to increase customer lifetime value in a meaningful way.

Platforms like TikTok and Amazon have reset consumer expectations, with things like next-day delivery and free shipping becoming the norm, so we know that to stay competitive, beauty brands need to offer the same level of convenience while maintaining authenticity and product quality. At Glow For It, we’re not just adapting to that shift, we’re building a brand that’s designed for it.

What advice would you give to beauty brands looking to start or scale their presence on TikTok/as a digital-first business?

If you’re building a digital-first beauty brand, especially on TikTok, you need to take a full-funnel approach: Branded Content, Affiliate Outreach, Livestreaming and Paid Media.

Don’t rely on just one avenue. Utilise all the platform’s tools: affiliate content, branded videos, paid ads, and livestreams in order to see maximum results. Each plays a different role in the customer journey, and when balanced well, they work together to drive real results and impact in a saturated algorithm. Daily or consistent lives are especially powerful, they allow the platform to learn your behaviours and give you a direct, real-time connection with your existing customer and potential customer.

My top tip: don’t just show the polished ‘end product’. Share the behind-the-scenes. Show the building of the brand, the packaging process, the wins and the losses. People buy into people and the more open you are, the more they’ll trust you and your brand.

What was the significance of winning the award for Digital Retail?

Winning the Digital Retail Award was a major milestone for Glow For It, not just because of the recognition of industry experts, but because of who we were standing alongside. Being shortlisted next to industry leaders like The Inkey List, a brand I’ve long admired, was an honour in itself. To then win was a huge moment, especially as a newer brand built from the ground up.

It validated the power of our digital-first approach and, more importantly, showed how platforms like TikTok can level the playing field for emerging businesses. It proved that with the right strategy and community connection, you don’t need a legacy to compete with the giants.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities and challenges in the beauty sector today?

One of the biggest challenges in beauty sector right now is saturation, the space is crowded, and standing out requires real innovation. It’s not enough to launch a good product. it has to be unique, effective, and resonate with your loyal audience.

That’s why, as a founder, I’m constantly focused on evolution, making sure our innovation, storytelling, and customer experience keep pushing forward. But within that challenge lies the biggest opportunity: if you stay connected to your community, listen to what they need, and move quickly, there’s still huge space to grow. The brands that win are the ones that stay agile, authentic, and relentlessly focused on their why!

What does it mean to be an innovator in the beauty industry today?

To be an innovator in beauty today means leading with intention, not just invention. It’s about solving real problems in meaningful ways, whether through breakthrough formulas, transparent storytelling, or how you connect with your community.

Innovation isn’t just about creating what’s never been done, it’s about doing what is important differently and better. For me, that means listening first, moving fast, and building a brand that’s led by values, not trends. In a space that’s constantly evolving, true innovation is staying authentic while pushing the boundaries of what beauty can be.

What trends are influencing the next wave of innovation in beauty?

The next wave of innovation in beauty is being shaped by consumers who are more informed, more value-driven, and more results-focused than ever. They’re not just buying into aesthetics, they’re buying into ethics, efficacy, and transparency.

We’re seeing a clear shift toward transparent formulations; customers want to know exactly what’s in their products, why it’s there, and what it will do. That demand is paired with a growing expectation for ethical and sustainable values, from ingredient sourcing to packaging.

Ultimately, value and performance are non-negotiable. Consumers are smart with their spend, especially in a cost-of-living-conscious world. Products need to deliver real, visible results to earn long-term loyalty, especially in social-first spaces like TikTok where feedback is instant and public.

A great example is the rise of Korean Beauty. What started as a viral TikTok trend has evolved into a dominant retail category because of its advanced formulations, efficacy, and long-term results. Now, K-beauty products are some of the top-trending skincare items in major retailers like Boots and SpaceNK, a trend driven by both social buzz and SEO-friendly, benefit-led claims like "glass skin" and "barrier repair".

How does Glow For It maintain its position as a leader in the industry? What strategies are critical to staying ahead of competitors and meeting consumer demand?

Glow For It strives to constantly evolve by being relentlessly close to our customers and obsessively in tune with what’s happening in culture. We listen, through daily TikTok Lives, DMs, comments, community events and that feedback doesn’t just inform our decisions, it drives them.

We’re always learning from our audience, from our data, from what’s happening across the industry. We also keep an obsessive finger on the pulse of social trends. We’re not just reacting, we’re anticipating, testing and driving. Whether it's a shift in beauty language, a new platform feature, or a viral moment, we move quickly but intentionally to meet our customers’ demands. Having a small but dynamic team really allows this to be a key priority within our brand ethos, and we see this as a real advantage compared to our competitors.

What can customers expect from Glow For It over the next year?

The next year is going to be a major chapter of growth and innovation for Glow For It. We have a wave of new product launches on the horizon and each one is rooted in the same values our community knows us for: real results, thoughtful formulation and products that empower our customers to feel confident in their natural beauty.

One of the most exciting developments is our expansion into skincare, a category that’s deeply personal to me. I started Glow For It to solve a problem I had with my lashes, and now I’m turning that same attention and intention toward problematic skin, which has been a lifelong challenge of mine. This next step is about creating skincare solutions that empower our community to feel confident in their natural skin, just like we’ve done with lashes.

We’re also preparing to launch into the US market, which is a huge milestone for us and a chance to share our message of confidence and real results with an even bigger audience.

Glow For It was built on solving real problems and that won’t change. What’s coming next is personal, purposeful, and powered by everything we’ve learned from our incredible community.

As the Digital Retail award was presented by SoPost, we asked the sampling platform what makes a successful digital brand in today's market and how sampling benefits both brands and consumers.

How can beauty brands effectively build and maintain a strong online presence amidst growing competition and changing consumer behaviour?

Becoming a successful digital brand in today’s market hinges on authenticity and connection. Simply having an online presence is no longer enough. Consumers are becoming much more discerning about where they place their trust and loyalty in brands - and with good reason. AI-generated comments and imagery, influencer overwhelm, and the sheer volume of content out there are eroding consumer trust.

To stand out, brands need to offer real value that deeply engages consumers. For beauty brands, this provides unique opportunities. While the beauty industry is inherently visual by nature, how consumers engage with brands is changing rapidly. Consumers trust traditional advertising and marketing less, and instead, are craving authenticity and storytelling they can get behind.

This is why some of the biggest brands in the world lean into digital product sampling in such a big way. Not only does it play an enormous role in building brand trust, but it also directly influences the purchasing decisions of millions of people every day. In particular, during a time where consumer trust is waning and cost consciousness is growing, brands that incorporate product sampling into their marketing signal to consumers that they are so confident in their own brand, that they’re willing to prove it.

It’s this type of confidence that helps brands build trust and advocacy with consumers.

How can SoPost assist digital brands like Glow For It?

Our platform powers digitally-activated product sampling experiences for brands like Glow For It, helping them achieve goals related to driving sales, capturing data, generating UGC and building brand awareness. Everything we do is about helping brands get the right sample into the right hands, in a highly personalised way and through almost any online channel.

For a brand like Glow For it, our precise targeting and wealth of data and insights from pre-sample to post-purchase ensure that you’re not simply throwing samples into the wind and hoping for return; you’re strategically placing them into the hands of engaged consumers who are in the market to purchase full-sized products post-sample.

How can sampling benefit both brands and consumers?

Product sampling boosts trust, and as such, is a highly effective driver of sales. After all, consumers can’t smell the internet. Brands that are willing to give consumers an opportunity to experience their products before they commit to a purchase are perceived as more authentic and more trustworthy than those who don’t. This establishes the brand-to-consumer relationship as more cohesive than transactional, which is what modern consumers are looking for.

Furthermore, for brands, it helps them allocate their advertising and media budgets more effectively. Rather than impressions and clicks, they receive a wealth of data about their audience and direct feedback from consumers. This helps them in driving more effective omnichannel marketing strategies that have a direct impact on sales and market share.

How does SoPost leverage data and consumer insights to optimise sampling campaigns and enhance overall marketing effectiveness?

We collect rich first-party data at the point of sample request, including demographics, preferences and intent signals. This gives brands unparalleled insight into who their consumers are and how they interact with the product. Our intelligent order processing allows us to leverage more than two billion data points to personalise consumer experiences based on the brand’s objectives, and to boost return on investment. Our data and insights also help us generate actionable feedback through reviews and surveys, track conversions and build high-quality CRM audiences for future loyalty and retention efforts.

With every trial experience, we're not just delivering samples: we're delivering insights that power smarter marketing decisions and stronger brand-to-consumer relationships.

TheIndustry.beauty The Innovators Awards will be back for 2026. Find out more at theindustry.beauty/awards. For sponsorship enquiries, please email partnerships@theindustry.beauty