Amy Jackson speaks to Emirates Woman on the new rules of beauty retail in Dubai

Beauty

Actress, model and media personality Amy Jackson Westwick took to the Next in Beauty Conference stage in Dubai for The New Rules of Beauty Retail, a panel moderated by Kelly Kovack, Founder and CEO of BeautyMatter, which looked at how beauty brands and retailers hold the attention of today’s consumers while the retail landscape shifts around them. Seated alongside Bridie, the chief marketing officer of the British brand P.Louise, Jackson drew on nearly nineteen years in the industry, stretching back to a first modeling job at fifteen and running through a screen career that began with the Tamil film Madrasapattinam and, more recently, a YouTube channel she now calls her favorite platform, and the discussion kept returning to how a market as nationally diverse as the UAE rewards beauty brands that build emotion and community around their products.

Speaking to Emirates Woman once the session had wrapped, Jackson reflected on how beauty marketing has changed since her first campaign, on what Dubai’s growing field of founder-led brands is getting right, and on why a small city in the north of England still shapes the way she thinks about beauty.

You’ve worked across modeling, acting and fashion. How have you seen the beauty industry, and the way people engage with it, evolve over your career?

It’s just shy of 19 years since my first modeling job, when I was 15, and it has changed dramatically. Back then you were booked by a brand to do a shoot, the campaign went out, and that was largely the end of the conversation. Now the way we advertise, and the way brands, creators and consumers connect with one another, has completely changed. What I’ve noticed is that the consumer and the community are what we really hone in on, whether we’re the brand or the content creator, because we’re creating the products and the content for them. Beauty is so subjective and so different in every country, and it gets adapted for social media, campaigns and TV commercials, but what is king now is definitely community. There are so many products out there that people want the experience, and they want to be part of the world and the aspirational effect a brand can give them. If I look at a poster on a billboard and think it’s beautiful but feel no connection to it, that isn’t enough. The beauty world is about emotion, and that’s what we’re trying to create and bring into the industry.

I’ve been writing about how the definition of luxury is evolving, and it seems to be as much about the experience that leads you to a product as the product itself. Going back to your panel, what were your key takeaways about the consumer market, especially in the UAE?

What fascinated me, although I knew it already, was hearing the statistics about all the different nationalities that live in this city, and in Dubai specifically. It blew my mind. Beauty is subjective and interpreted differently around the world, so with that many nationalities you can’t cater to just one, and you have to create something that works as an umbrella for everyone. That’s why I think emotion is key. I was also struck by the numbers that one of the other panelists, Bridie, spoke about for P.Louise. I think they come from the way the brand handles its behind-the-scenes content and the amount of content it puts out, although I do believe in quality over quantity. It brings the consumer along on the journey, from the very beginning right through to the final product, with the founder’s story and what inspired them along the way, and all of that makes people want to be part of the brand. I notice it myself too. I recently started a YouTube channel, which is my favorite platform, and everyone I meet on the street now says they love my vlog. It’s a different kind of community, because people get a sense of who you are in a way that a nice picture, which is so easy to scroll past, can’t give them. When they’re behind the scenes with you and feel that they know you, that connection is massive, and that goes well beyond the beauty industry.

You visit Dubai often. Has there been a beauty moment or brand discovery here that really stood out to you?

The one that jumps out at me is Huda Beauty, of course. I knew of Huda before I even arrived in Dubai, and I remember coming over for a film launch and saying I had to see the Huda store, which was at the top of my list. I think it put beauty in the UAE on the map internationally. While I’ve been here I’ve also been looking around at the different brands, and I’m blown away by the startups and the founders and their stories. There are so many options, and they cater to all the different nationalities who live here in such a fast-growing market. Aside from that, I just love the city. It’s similar to New York but cleaner, and it has a buzz that’s electric. It feels like a country that wants to do more and be active, and everybody seems to be a go-getter, which I love. I like that attitude that anything is possible, and being around that energy naturally motivates me.

You’re so well traveled, with London, India and Dubai all part of your life. What have you found to be common to beauty in these places, and what’s different?

A: I instantly think of the way a product makes me feel. Whatever country you’re in, I think what unites people, in beauty and more generally, is that feeling, and I keep coming back to it. For me, beauty is about freedom and self-expression. I come from Liverpool, which I mentioned on the panel and which I think fell on deaf ears because it’s such a specific, small city, but beauty is embedded in our culture there, and it’s about having fun and expressing yourself creatively. I can’t describe how important it is in a Scouse woman’s life. We feel good when we get our hair done and when we take care of our skin, and we love makeup. Getting ready for a night out is the main event. I think that fun and creativity and self-expression are there in beauty worldwide, regardless of the city or country you’re in, and it’s something I’ve noticed internationally.

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Images: Supplied & Feature Image: Supplied