Trinny Woodall: Reinventing Beauty, One Stack at a Time
text Sandra Myhrberg
From fashion makeovers on television to redefining the beauty industry, Trinny Woodall has always been at the forefront of transformation. As the founder of Trinny London, she has built a brand that champions innovation, personalization, and empowerment—helping women feel their best at every stage of life. In this interview, Trinny shares the inspiration behind her beauty empire, the challenges of building a global brand, and how she continues to push boundaries with technology, sustainability, and skincare-first solutions. With a fearless approach to business and an unwavering commitment to her customers, Trinny proves that reinvention isn’t just possible, it’s essential.
Trinny, you’ve had such a dynamic and diverse career—from television to founding a global beauty brand. What inspired you to create Trinny London, and how did your personal experiences influence its core philosophy?
I started my career in finance and in my 30s, I realised I wanted to make over women and take them on a journey of evolution. So I started that part of my career as a journalist and I wrote for many years for the Daily Telegraph. I did a column called Ready to Wear, which turned into a TV show for the BBC called What Not to Wear — I did that for 10 years. I spent 20 years going all around the world making over women and the question that I was most asked was, ‘what colours suit me?’ The first thing that a woman can accept in herself in a makeover is the change in her makeup and I realised then the impact you could have by switching up her makeup and the idea for Trinny London was born from the inspiration of these women. To offer portable, personalised makeup that was joyful, effortless and inspiring.
Starting a beauty brand in an already competitive market is no small feat. What was the biggest challenge you faced in the early days, and how did you overcome it?
I think I learnt many things from an online business I started a few years before I started Trinny London. I learnt a lot about what I would not do at Trinny London and one of those things was hiring people who are too senior, too soon. This helped me grow my team on a slower scale when I started Trinny London. Another key lesson is understanding exactly what your proposition is in order for your business to grow. If I look at the mistakes I’ve made since launching Trinny London, there has been product development that hasn’t become a product. This could be down to something going wrong in the development or manufacturing process. It’s a big moment to have to decide to abandon a project because we think the product isn’t good enough for the brand.
From fashion makeovers on television to redefining the beauty industry, Trinny Woodall has always been at the forefront of transformation. As the founder of Trinny London, she has built a brand that champions innovation, personalization, and empowerment—helping women feel their best at every stage of life. In this interview, Trinny shares the inspiration behind her beauty empire, the challenges of building a global brand, and how she continues to push boundaries with technology, sustainability, and skincare-first solutions. With a fearless approach to business and an unwavering commitment to her customers, Trinny proves that reinvention isn’t just possible, it’s essential.
Trinny, you’ve had such a dynamic and diverse career—from television to founding a global beauty brand. What inspired you to create Trinny London, and how did your personal experiences influence its core philosophy?
I started my career in finance and in my 30s, I realised I wanted to make over women and take them on a journey of evolution. So I started that part of my career as a journalist and I wrote for many years for the Daily Telegraph. I did a column called Ready to Wear, which turned into a TV show for the BBC called What Not to Wear — I did that for 10 years. I spent 20 years going all around the world making over women and the question that I was most asked was, ‘what colours suit me?’ The first thing that a woman can accept in herself in a makeover is the change in her makeup and I realised then the impact you could have by switching up her makeup and the idea for Trinny London was born from the inspiration of these women. To offer portable, personalised makeup that was joyful, effortless and inspiring.
Starting a beauty brand in an already competitive market is no small feat. What was the biggest challenge you faced in the early days, and how did you overcome it?
I think I learnt many things from an online business I started a few years before I started Trinny London. I learnt a lot about what I would not do at Trinny London and one of those things was hiring people who are too senior, too soon. This helped me grow my team on a slower scale when I started Trinny London. Another key lesson is understanding exactly what your proposition is in order for your business to grow. If I look at the mistakes I’ve made since launching Trinny London, there has been product development that hasn’t become a product. This could be down to something going wrong in the development or manufacturing process. It’s a big moment to have to decide to abandon a project because we think the product isn’t good enough for the brand.
You often talk about empowering women to feel confident at any stage of their lives. How do you hope Trinny London contributes to this message of empowerment?
Our mission is to give everyone the tools they need to fearlessly feel their best. Fearlessness to me means having that faith in myself. It frees me up to knock on the next door without knowing for sure what’s behind it. We are all capable of more than we realise. Finding ways to embrace and amplify our self-belief brings us the clarity to know what we want and the confidence to get us there. And once we have it, we can keep moving forward.
What has been the most rewarding feedback or story you’ve heard from a customer who uses Trinny London products?
“Every moment, I choose Joy” – Sherin. Sherin was a very special member of the Trinny Tribe community, who one of our Lip2Cheek shades is named after. Sherin’s words instantly captured our ethos to support, educate and inspire people to be their best.
Many women see you as an inspiration not just in beauty, but as an entrepreneur. What advice would you give to women who want to start their own businesses but may be hesitant to take the first step?
I started Trinny London at age 50 and I think it’s never ever too late to have that journey of being an entrepreneur. Your age is the least relevant thing. It’s about your passion when you get up in the morning. It’s about the energy you bring into a room. It’s about the conviction you have about what you’re doing.
The beauty industry is rapidly changing with trends like AI, personalization, and a focus on skincare. Where do you see the future of beauty heading, and how is Trinny London preparing for that future?
There are many ways that AI can be immeasurably helpful as a D2C brand and we’re spending a lot of time researching. I’m excited about how we can continue using AI to advance our industry-leading personalisation tool, Match2Me. I want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to see what suits them.
What’s next for Trinny London? Are there any exciting projects, collaborations, or product launches we can look forward to?
What’s next is, what is next…
