The luxury beauty industry has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last five years. Way back in 2020 we published a highly successful vlog where we sat down with Artisan People’s Managing Director, Heidi Omar, who opened up about her journey through the luxury beauty industry, from the shop floor to the boardroom, and shared her thoughts on where things were headed after the Covid Pandemic. Fast forward to now, and we have decided to give you another update for 2025. From shifting consumer expectations to the rise of hybrid retail, experiential marketing and personalised service, Heidi talks about what brands need to prioritise in 2025 and how jobseekers can stand out. Her passion for people and innovative training comes through strongly, and it’s clear that how we hire in luxury beauty is evolving fast.
Scroll down to watch the full interview from 2020 and keep reading as we dive into the key recruitment trends shaping the luxury beauty sectors in 2025.
Watch the full 2020 interview now…or read the latest update below.
Heidi Omar’s insights help set the scene for what the future of luxury beauty and retail recruitment looks like. Building on her experience, we can see how the hiring landscape continues to evolve, from training innovations to broader hiring trends across the luxury space.
With the rise of luxury beauty on the go, hybrid retail experiences, and increasing demand for skilled consultants, it’s never been more important to stay ahead of recruitment trends.
In today’s luxury market, there’s a growing emphasis on artisanal recruiting, a bespoke approach that prioritises quality over quantity. Companies are moving away from one-size-fits-all hiring, opting for boutique recruitment strategies that focus on personality, poise and brand alignment.
Beauty industry recruitment agencies and cosmetics industry headhunters now curate candidates with unique soft skills, luxury brand training and high emotional intelligence.
Artisanal recruiting has become a defining trait of modern luxury hiring, especially in the cosmetics industry, where emotional connection and storytelling are just as vital as technical know-how.
In the beauty retail recruitment space, demand for leadership roles like area managers, education leads, and regional retail directors is surging. These high-calibre professionals are rarely sourced through standard job ads, instead, proactive networking and partnerships with beauty industry recruiters or cosmetic industry recruitment agencies are essential.
Cosmetics industry headhunters can open doors to passive talent who might not be actively searching but are a perfect fit for luxury roles.
Convenience is key and the rise of luxury beauty on the go reflects a growing consumer appetite for premium services outside traditional retail settings. Recruiting temporary talent, luxury beauty consultants, or mobile service professionals requires a fast, flexible approach supported by specialist recruiters.
As physical stores blend with digital experiences, brands are rethinking how they engage with customers and the talent they need to make it work. The future of luxury retail will rely on hybrid-savvy professionals who understand both ecommerce platforms and traditional high-touch service models.
An example of how we have done this at Artisan People is with our experiential marketing campaign for Estee Lauder. Where a Shade-Match Express pop-up truck travels around the UK helping customers find their perfect foundation colour match.
INSERT IMAGES
Retailers increasingly need talent who can offer seamless customer experiences across channels, whether managing in-store events or providing virtual consultations. Beauty retail recruitment agencies are adjusting their strategies to find candidates who bridge the gap between digital fluency and personal touch.
As a leading name in beauty and luxury recruitment, Artisan People connects premium brands with expert candidates, whether you need beauty industry recruiters for short-term events or luxury industry headhunters for executive hires.
We understand the evolving landscape of the luxury job market and offer tailored recruitment services across beauty, cosmetics industry.
Explore Our Services:
Stay ahead of the curve and partner with Artisan People for recruitment solutions that meet the pace and precision of the luxury market.
My name is Heidi Omar, and I’m the Managing Director at Artisan People.
I began my beauty career actually on the shop floor as a beauty consultant. I was very hungry for success, very ambitious, and I was very driven, very motivated to get to the next position. So I grew within the industry – I became an account manager, business manager, finally went on to be a field manager for various brands such as Dior, Clinique and Estée Lauder companies, and then finally got to National Sales Manager for Estée Lauder companies, before I decided to come into the wonderful world of recruitment.
I always worked with Jo and Tim [Founder Directors at Artisan]. They were my ‘go to’ agency when I was working for brands, because of their professionalism but also their passion for the beauty industry. So I joined Artisan People three years ago as Commercial Director, and then got promoted last year to Managing Director.
We work with a lot of the major players in the beauty industry, including Estée Lauder companies, Chanel, Dior, LVMH and L’Oréal brands, but also some pop up brands, some niche brands, and a lot of start ups, actually, recently.
Wow… so we’ve survived, we’re here, it’s 2021. Congratulations everybody!
But before I talk about now, I just thought it’d be good to reflect on 2020, when we all stayed at home, we all ditched our eye shadow palettes and our lipsticks. We burnt beautiful candles and created spas in our home, and actually our home became our office.
But through the pandemic, we worked tirelessly at Artisan People to continue to recruit great people, so that we could come back bigger, better and even stronger. We’ve got some amazing people on our team, we’ve managed to hold our team together, which is incredible.
But the landscape has changed.
In terms of shopping experiences. I think the consumers will expect more – that became our mantra actually in 2020, “Expect More”. And we were prepared to deliver more.
Obviously, people shopped online and will continue to shop online. But I think the consumers now going into a department store, it’s going to be more of a destination, especially now that hospitality has opened, but there will be an expectation to have a memorable shopping experience.
Current trends… Wow, I think the digital world has gone boom. Technology is at an all time high, even in-store. Skin care has seen a massive increase, because people have been pampering themselves at home. Eyes are going to be a big trend, obviously because people are wearing masks. But I really do think glamour’s going to come back, dressing up is going to come back, and lipsticks will make a return.
I think definitely currently, and obviously in 2020, you could only shop online. And I think online will continue to grow. But I also think there is a consumer – a customer such as myself – that will want an experience in-store, and I think a memorable shopping experience will be an expectation.
And our recruitment and our training will reflect that. We’ve evolved our training. We’ve been very innovative during the lockdown, coming up with better staffing solutions for our brands. Consistency, I think, is going to be a key part of great staffing. Also, we launched the Artisan Training Foundation, and we also take all of our candidates through what we call Artisan Talent School. Only the best will pass. And we’ve evolved that to make sure that our team are ready to hit the shop floor.
Going back in time, to be a make up artist, you have to have some level of training. There are so many self taught MUAs now, that come out shining, and they can be as amazingly talented as somebody that’s actually gone through official training.
Any qualification might help. However, people are now self taught. My niece, for example, can do a fantastic smokey eye, better than I ever could, and I was a trained artist. But we can give people the opportunity at Artisan People to join up with the team, get your foot in the door, set you up with the brands, and you can get all the experience you’ll ever need.
I believe that the trends for the future are:
Which means that at Artisan People, we will change and adapt our training programme to meet the needs of the future business trends.
Opening times
| Monday | 8:30am–6:00pm |
| Tuesday | 8:30am–6:00pm |
| Wednesday | 8:30am–6:00pm |
| Thursday | 8:30am–6:00pm |
| Friday | 8:30am–6:00pm |
© 2025 Artisan People Group LTD | Policies & Notices | Crafted by Cariad Marketing
Registered Address: 3c Sopwith Crescent, Wickford, SS11 8YU | Company Number: 10586901
| VAT 265630988
