Student make-up blogger to share business adventure after launching cruelty-free cosmetics brand

A University College Birmingham student is planning to share her experiences of what it's like to run a business after starting up her own beauty brand.

Dieulinh Ho launched her online cosmetics retail business BeautyGloop in April, boosted by support from the team at UCB's Enterprise Hive.

BeautyGloop is a vegan, cruelty-free and inclusive cosmetics brand currently offering a variety of lashes, with plans to expand into lip glosses and other beauty products.

Dieu, a third-year Spa Management student, is also a make-up blogger with more than 16,000 followers on her Instagram page, @chasingdieu.

And she hopes to share her journey in business through her blogging, as well as promoting positive messages on self-expression and mental health.

"I see it as a positive challenge, an adventure," she said. "I don't just want to create a page full of highlights – I want to make videos discussing my journey on BeautyGloop, on mental health.

"I want to contribute to making social media a good place again as I feel a lot of people are struggling on there now. They feel they need to look a certain way or be successful, but social media is an outlet to explore and express yourself."

Dieu created her brand with a similar mindset. "I wanted a name that was something quirky and fun," she said. "It's a brand that's all about inclusivity and empowering everyone."

Dieu's blogging has seen her taking on campaigns as a Beauty Ambassador for Lookfantastic alongside her studies, while she has also previously worked for the likes of Burberry, Kiehl's and Suqqu.

With ambitions to expand her product range as well as plans for a pop-up shop back home in London, Dieu explained how she has been assisted by UCB's Enterprise Hive, which provides support for students at the University with the desire and passion to set up their own business.

The service offers unlimited one-to-one consultations, enterprise workshops delivered by professionals and experts, networking opportunities and a tailored mentoring service.

"I only started off on the creative side at first," said Dieu. "They've been advising me on what more I need to be doing on the financial side.

"They've given me a lot of advice on legal aspects, trademarking, things that I didn't know I needed to be doing concerning tax and VAT. I've got an accountant now too."

And Dieu also revealed how her studies at UCB have supported her in pursuing her business dream.

"I feel like being at university has made me realise what I want to do," she said. "I've changed career paths but what's always remained the same is I've always been a blogger and I know I've always wanted to launch a product.

"We've been studying Business Enterprise so that links in with what I want to do now," she added. "We study things like international marketing and finance - all that helps and I can apply all of that to work."

Visit the BeautyGloop website here or follow @beautygloop on Instagram.

Find out more about our range of beauty courses within UCB's School of Sport and Creative Services here.