Acclaimed Pip Box business marks first birthday with Elle Magazine nod

Award-winning Chester business The Pip Box has achieved national recognition as one of the UK’s top beauty subscription boxes and is celebrating its first birthday this month with a commitment to ending animal cosmetic testing for good.

The first year in business is often the toughest, with reports suggesting that half of UK start-ups fail in year one. However, Chester-based business The Pip Box has bucked the trend and is celebrating a successful first year with several high profile accolades and awards.

Its successes include winning a Small Business Sunday Award as chosen by Theo Paphitis and being selected by ELLE Magazine as one of the top beauty subscription boxes in the UK.

Local entrepreneur Sofi Evans, 29, started the cruelty-free beauty subscription box service last year, inspired by her love of animals. When her own puppy Pippa joined the family Sofi was motivated to make the switch to completely cruelty-free cosmetics and decided to start a business to help others do the same.

The Pip Box provides both cruelty-free and vegan subscription plans, delivering beauty products to subscribers every month and donating 50p from every box sold to the charity Animal Free Research UK. Unlike most beauty subscription boxes, The Pip Box only feature full or travel sized cosmetics, banning sachet samples, with each box worth £40 on average.

According to Cruelty Free International, over 115 million animals are being used for testing worldwide – including thousands of dogs every year. Sofi is dedicated to helping people discover how easy it can be to make the switch to cruelty-free, and has a big goal of ending cosmetic testing on animals for good.

She said: “Ending cosmetic testing is a really big goal, but I believe that together with our subscribers and the brilliant beauty brands we work with we can make a difference. Every month we help people find cruelty-free alternatives to their favourite beauty products and show them that it’s not as hard as you think.”

Sofi, who grew up in Connah’s Quay, said: “Making the switch can feel daunting at first but I’ve had some lovely feedback from subscribers saying that the boxes have introduced them to cruelty-free brands they never would have tried, and that some of the items they’ve been sent are better alternatives than the products they were using before!”

Sofi is now committed to educating people about cosmetic testing, raising the profile of independent, cruelty-free beauty brands and growing her business even further. The future is looking bright for The Pip Box as the subscription box trend continues to grow and The Pip Box has already expanded into Europe too.

For more information, visit www.thepipbox.co.uk .