Qld mum’s ‘suffering’ sparks $20m business called Lust Minerals

The Queensland woman always had a dream to work in one industry but didn’t want to be a part of the “fluffy” stuff leading to her creating an empire.

Stacey Hollands always wanted to be a beauty therapist from a young age but when she started in the industry she realised she didn’t want to do the “fluffy stuff” like massages.

Her passion was helping people with skin conditions particularly as she was in her early 20s and “suffering” with acne.

The mum-of-two realised that “conventional” make-up was contributing to her issues but found mineral-based products were not affordable at the time as just a foundation cost $89.

“I was treating women’s skin and it would get better and then they would clog their pores by wearing make up and it was a vicious cycle and I wanted to create something affordable as I saw that gap in the market,” she told news.com.au.

Stacey Hollands is a 33-year-old mother of two who founded Lust Minerals, an Australian all-natural mineral beauty brand. Picture: Supplied

The Sunshine Coast resident embarked on two and half years of research and development including trialling products and formulations — with an added incentive to find all natural ingredients for her beauty brand when her dad was diagnosed with cancer.

“Being so young I was determined to find a cure for dad and I went on a journey on how many chemicals we absorb in our bodies and for women it’s up to 2kg a year in the body with make up and fake tan,” she claimed.

“Dad lost his battle after two and a half years but they gave him a prognosis of six months but he went on a journey where we removed chemicals from his life and he took up natural alternatives.

“It did help him stay with us for two and a half years and he had hair on our wedding day after going through chemo. I believe his journey was a bit more positive. I think for us it was too late as the cancer was in three organs, it was really hard.”

Lust Minerals has since grown into a $20 million-dollar beauty powerhouse. Picture: Supplied

In September 2014, Ms Hollands launched her brand Lust Minerals by pouring $10,000 worth of savings into it.

“We launched with a powder first, the formulation a bit different as we added vitamin E to combat drying, a stick cream foundation and matte foundation which is a slightly different formulation and those were the three main products and primer that we still have today,” she said.

It was slow going for the brand for the first two to three years, she admits, as she had her son but she did manage to get around 82 stockists.

In 2018, she moved into e-commerce and was using social media influencers to market Lust Minerals.

Since then the brand has introduced skincare and a make up range with more shades — with a goal to diversify them even more.

Stacey Hollands is a 33-year-old mother of two who founded Lust Minerals, an Australian all-natural mineral beauty brand. Picture: Supplied

For the 33-year-old, their best-selling product is the Lust Minerals Pro Liquid Foundation with one being sold every two minutes globally.

Others also include mineral primer and mineral pressed powder foundation and with skincare it’s the AHA exfoliating lotion, the body deodorant and ingestible vegan beauty crystals.

She is now on track to make $10 million by the end of this financial year, she said, and has achieved a turnover of $20 million since January 2019.

“I am one of those people who started a brand so young and I was quite naive so of course I thought I could make a brand so big,” she said.

“It was a good thing for me and has not put a barrier on the goals I can achieve. I feel the sky’s the limit.”

Lust Minerals has since grown into a global 20+ million-dollar beauty powerhouse, on track to make 10+ million by the end of FY23.

Now she has 20 employees and counts one of her biggest wins as a rebrand of the brand’s look which she poured $300,000 into making happen.

Next up Ms Holland wants to explore the retail space.

“I am very protective of the brand but open to making the brand in arms reach for our community, so perhaps looking into Sephora and Mecca,” she added.

Originally published as Qld mum’s ‘suffering’ sparks $20m business called Lust Minerals