A young Australian beauty entrepreneur who turned down a $300,000 offer on Shark Tank for her innovative eyeliner stamps made the Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list just four years later.
Iris Smit, 27, has built a $15 million beauty empire since she left the show thanks to The Quick Flick Stamp, a beauty fridge that keeps skin care products cold and a self-adhesive eyeliner for false lashes.
the young one Perth one woman told FEMAIL she is honored to have made the list at a difficult time for businesses in the Asia-Pacific region — and has big plans for the years ahead.
Iris Smit, 27, has been named on the Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list
The Sharks were extremely interested in her $35 product and Andrew Banks chose to invest $300,000 in the company (pictured on Shark Tank)
“I am honored to receive this prestigious recognition, especially as a young female entrepreneur who has been in business from day one,” she said.
“The Quick Flick started for me in my living room, and to see it grow from a local business to now being represented in major international retailers is really a dream come true.”
“It’s very encouraging for an industry and a group of people who deserve as much recognition as possible for their hard work. I am so proud to represent the small business sector in Perth on Forbes,” she said.
The young woman rose to fame after her appearance on Shark Tank, where she turned down an offer of $300,000 for 25 percent of her beauty business.
Iris Smith (pictured) turned the very simple makeup idea into an incredible $10 million profit within a year
Iris was one of 4,000 people to qualify for a place on the coveted list this year. The youngest person on the list is just 14, while the average is 26.8.
After her success with the Quick Flick and Beauty Fringe, Iris created the Quick Screen range with a three-in-one moisturizer, primer and SPF50+ formula.
She spent two years coming up with the products that provide complete sun protection over makeup — and leave skin glowing without white spots or a “cakey” mess.
The sunscreen not only protects your face from the sun, but it also protects your skin from blue light damage from digital gadgets.
Growing up in sunny Western Australia, SPF has always been the most important thing I’ve done for my skin. But finding a multitasking sunscreen that I was happy to apply to my face turned out to be tricky,” said the beauty innovation queen.
‘I wanted to challenge myself to really innovate and improve the existing products for consumers,’ says the entrepreneur.
She created a new collection of SPF50+ products designed to be worn with your makeup
She spent two years coming up with a simple solution by creating products that provide full sun protection over makeup — and leave skin glowing without white spots or a ‘cakey’ mess.
“I’m really proud to bring to market not one, but two products that perfectly combine skin care and sun care and solve many of the problems consumers face when using sunscreen products.”
Iris first got into the beauty world after launching her brand The Quick Flick, which offers women an easier way to ‘stamp’ a perfect winged tip on your lids in just seconds.
The young entrepreneur — who invested $10,000 of her own money into the brand — appeared on Shark Tank in May 2018, just three months into her business.
The sharks were extremely interested in her $35 product, and Andrew Banks offered to invest $300,000 — a deal for 25 percent of her company.
She also invented these for those who like to chill their skincare
Iris has built a stunning $15 million beauty empire after creating Quick Flick and Beauty Fridge
But by the time she was due to sign the contract, five months had passed, and Iris realized her company was worth more than the offer.
“When the Shark Tank show was filmed, I had only been on it for about three months. It was early days, but by then I was already making $100,000 a month,” she told the Daily Mail Australia.
My company was valued at $1 million by the sharks in the show, but by the time the show aired in May, the valuation had already tripled. I wasn’t in the position where I really needed the $300,000.
The Quick Flick first made headlines in December 2017 after Iris, the interior architecture student at the time, launched her brand in her two-bedroom apartment — delivering orders to the post office via a shopping cart.
‘I was cash flow positive and already had a lot of retail deals in the pipeline. Signing the deal would also have limited me from starting other brands like Beauty Fridge.
“I had so many ideas for other products and brands, I didn’t want to limit my career and lock myself up.
“Despite so many friends and family pressuring me to sign the deal, the thought of it terrified me. I trusted my gut, so I knew it wasn’t right.’
Her products, including The Quick Brow, are now in stock across Australia
The winged eyeliner queen set out on her own — and within 12 months she made $10 million dollars.
“I never thought The Quick Flick would explode after the Shark Tank show. The publicity we got was invaluable,” she said.
“I honestly believe that the company grew overnight what other companies would do in a few years. It was certainly tough and I had to put in place procedures fairly quickly to keep up with the demand.’
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