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Driven by vision and intuition, Susanne Langmuir, founder and chief creative officer of Bite Beauty, is transforming the cosmetics world, one must-have lipstick at a time

- Ingrie Williams

ITE BEAUTY HAS RULED THE LIP COLOUR CATEGORY SINCE FIRST hitting Sephora’s shelves in 2011. But a beauty line that only speaks to one product category wasn’t the original plan. “I was actually working on a full range of cosmetics,” says founder and creator Susanne Langmuir. Finding herself with the challenge of formulating certain items without silicones and synthetics (which is still central to the brand’s DNA), she switched gears, despite naysaying mentors and a ticking timeline.

“Anyone I talked to in the business said not to make my products in-house and not to just do lips, like that was the kiss of death,” she says. “I was so stressed. I was in the final stages, we had already allocated [retail] space and I sent the email saying that I think we should drop all these other products.” She revealed her big idea to really saturate the declining lip category, backed by a strong belief. “And Sephora’s response was ‘Let’s do it,’” she says.

Soon after, the lipstick market began to bite back. “When you focus on something, I think you have a chance to be the best at it,” says Langmuir. “Lipstick was something I always identified with. I think every woman identifies with a good lipstick. It’s ageless, and it’s a small item.”

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