Meet the Co Antrim makeup artist whose big pink beauty vending machine has been stopping people in their tracks for its unique offering.
Kerrie-Simone Roberts, owner of Glamorously Gorgeous, got to work buying, transforming and stocking her own vending machine in the Abbey Centre and in just a month, said it has been a 'dream come true'.
Kerrie told Belfast Live that her beauty with journey started when she was young as a way of covering up what she felt were her imperfections. Now she uses makeup to highlight what makes each individual beautiful while promoting self-love.
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She said: "My interest in beauty started when I was quite young - my mum did beauty and as I was growing up, I was struggling with my self-esteem and developed female features way before anyone else and started getting acne when I was only around 10.
"I had a difficult time through school because of that and it really started from there. Back in the day, we were using stuff that was 100% not good for your skin at all but it was just a way of trying to fit in.
"My family would always tell me less is more and as I got older, I began to realise that I didn't need to cover up my skin all the time but I've always been really interested in makeup and beauty."
From transforming herself in her bedroom, Kerrie taught herself to use makeup creatively which allowed her to become more comfortable in her own skin, learning how to work with her natural beauty rather than using it as a mask.
She is trained in lash extensions, makeup, and nails and wanted to create a business that reflected her love of the industry and personality - from this Glamourosuly Gorgeous was born.
"I needed to think of a name for myself and I had done a lot of work on myself internally and I just thought about the way that people look upon me and then realised that it was much more important how I look upon myself. It's what I want to feel within myself and what I want others to feel too," she explained.
Glamorously Gorgeous installed its first beauty vending machine in the Abbey Centre and in just over a month has been the talk of the town with all eyes on the unique pink addition to the shopping centre.
Kerrie continued: "I started to look into the idea and there is a girl in England who does them on a much bigger scale than me but I just thought because I had some money saved, I really want to do something different with it and I was sick of working for other people.
"I have anxiety disorder and I do suffer from depression and workplaces for me were just becoming not enjoyable - I had got myself into a stage where I had completely neglected myself and I just thought I'm not doing this anymore. I had been doing the beauty alongside my other job and now, my wee business gives me the flexibility to do what I can with my illnesses.
"I am able to be myself which I love the most."
A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to get the machine up and running as well as creating her own products to stock with such as her signature lashes and cleansing cushions. Kerrie also sells mental health boxes inspired by her own journey with a portion of all sales going to charities that have helped her.
"I just really wasn't expecting it to go so crazy," Kerrie added. "A lot of people have actually messaged me directly with really positive stuff and I've been so surprised.
"The thing is that I believe in my brand and because I do, other people will and the amount of feedback I've had has been unreal and I've had really lovely compliments about my eyelashes and other products.
"I wanted to implement change within my brand - I came from a household where we didn't have a lot of money and I want to be able to give all people, single mothers or people struggling with the current crisis, that they would be able to walk past the machine and maybe treat themselves or their kids.
"I have tried to lower my costs to make sure that my products are accessible for everyone and anyone."
In the future, Kerrie hopes that her beauty vending machines will be popping up across Northern Ireland so that everyone can feel as 'glamorously gorgeous' as her customers in the Abbey Centre.
She said: "I definitely will be expanding, now I don't know how quickly but I'm just so thankful that I am only three weeks into my journey with the vending machine and this is honestly my dream and it's just so surreal. All I can hope is to grow more and more."
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