The story of Polished London starts in 2013 when founder and owner Debbie was practising as Cosmetic Teeth Whitening Specialist in Harley Street, London. She has built a brand and business since then and we were thrilled to catch up with the powerhouse recently about her business and the pivot during the pandemic.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START MY OWN BUSINESS?
I have been in business for the last ten years. I previously owned a home beauty salon and during this time I wanted to add another treatment to my list and I decided to look into teeth whitening. I trained in Harley street and gained a qualification as a teeth whitening technician which I absolutely loved doing at the time.
It soon became apparent that my customers wanted to prolong the longevity of their freshly whitened teeth and were asking me for advice on what at-home products they could use and if I had any that they could purchase. I noticed this happening a lot, so I started researching, studying and buying products to test myself so I could recommend something to my clients that I could stand over. However, I couldn’t find a brand in the market that I felt I could recommend and work with. I found it extremely challenging as nothing worked as well as I wanted it to, it was very frustrating.
Close to giving up on this challenge, I discovered a new way to get it – I created my own products! I saw a gap in the market for luxury at-home oral care products that actually worked, so I decided to run with the idea. I saved any profit from my beauty business, which I then invested in my new brand and that’s how we started Polished London. We now have 7 products and I work closely with a team of scientists and dentists who manufacture our range. We have so much more to come with my full focus being on the brand and not juggling it with my beauty business anymore.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME FOR YOUR COMPANY ?
We started Polished London with the name of Polished Whitening, it was around 2 years ago that we decided to transition into Polished London because the word whitening wasn’t necessarily where all of our products would fall under. As we started to the develop and grow the brand we wanted to offer luxury products that fall into the oral health category as well as teeth whitening and we felt we could include these by being known as Polished Whitening.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT AT WORK ?
Since we started Polished London, I have always been extremely hands-on, which unfortunately means I’m rarely not working. However, when I do take some time off, I like to spend it with my children doing something fun and making as many memories as possible.
TRY AND DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS?
Kind-hearted, Motivated and Fun
HOW DO YOU GENERATE INNOVATIVE IDEAS?
As we are an innovative beauty Oral Care brand, we design cutting edge vegan and clinically safe products so I spend a lot of my time gathering information and insights into new ingredients and technologies, as well as listening to at our customers and seeing what they are looking for in their oral care. I’ve found over the years that if I believe and trust in a new product, I know our customers will trust my instinct.
IF YOU COULD TALK TO ONE PERSON FROM HISTORY WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
It would have to be Marylin Monroe, she was and still is a true Hollywood icon. She had a tough start in life but she managed to fight hard for her acting career and despite all the doors that shut on her along the way she kept going, she was truly fearless, yet somewhat always afraid. Her vigour and ambition pushed through and she managed to become an iconic household name.
WHO IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
We are a young business and we pride ourselves on having something for everyone to enjoy, however, we have noticed we do tend to attract more females compared to the males. Watch this space as are working on bringing out more products in the next year, some of which will be aimed at the male market which we are very excited about.
WHO HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST INSPIRATION IN BUSINESS?
I have a number of people I look up to in business, with Umar Kamani, the CEO of Pretty Little Thing, being one of them. I’ve noticed that you can’t go on social media without seeing someone tag in PLT in a post or an outfit. He’s built up a much loved, global, fun and quirky brand that the everyday girl, influencers and celebrities all want to be a part of. He has created world domination of such with offices in LA, Paris, New York. This is certainly the vision and dream for us, maybe one day it will all come true!
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT TO DATE ?
I am my own worst critic at times and I know I need to take a step back and see how much we have developed and grown over the last few years, but it’s easy to keep focussing on the to-do list, to the point that you rarely take a step back and take it all in. It is something I need to work on.
However, we recently did a huge photoshoot in London, with an incredible team of well-known names and high-end models, as well as an expert photographer, Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists on an out of this world set built for us. It was an incredible day, with the images being featured on The Daily Mail and major publications in both Ireland and the UK. I couldn’t believe it! it was our first campaign and it went fantastically well. When the images came back, I looked at them and thought “This is exactly what the brand is all about”.
DID YOUR BUSINESS NEED TO PIVOT DURING THE PANDEMIC?
During the lockdown we were extremely busy, which we are very grateful for. We were working from home as our new office unit was in the process of being built, so that was delayed due to the pandemic, but luckily we managed to keep on going. It was difficult at times because as soon as you wake up you are downstairs and straight into work packing orders as quickly as possible. There was no separation from work and home, it was mentally tough plus the worry of what is going to happen. it’s not been easy on anyone but all we can do is be grateful for our incredible customers and just keep on going.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PRODUCT IN THE LINE?
I love them all but my favourite is our newest product launch – The Whitening Paste and Mouth Cleanse set. It comes as a set together and is packaged beautifully.
The toothpaste is a sparkly toothpaste, it is a thicker consistency compared to traditional toothpaste, as we have not watered down the formula. It’s full of key ingredients designed to give you a good healthy brush, Including Papaya Enzyme, Vitamin E and Xylitol It comes with a gorgeous interactive mouthwash which you have to shake the bottle to release the silver NANO particles, which is alcohol-free, vegan friendly and protects the teeth by acting as a shield. If anyone loves sparkles and shimmer, and good quality beauty products, then this is for you.
It is designed and manufactured in the UK and has been produced to provide our customers with a safe, non-abrasive way to remove stains from everyday food and drink consumption, with key ingredients for optimising oral health.
We wanted to create a product for everyone as some of our whitening products we advise not to use during pregnancy or breastfeeding, so we really focussed on this range to be safe for everyone to use and enjoy.
Follow Polished London
Website – https://www.polished-london.
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/