July 17th, 2019
Brushes are the tools of the trade and a makeup artist’s biggest investment, especially at the start of your career. Finding a company that offers a wide range combining quality and price is a must for students and pros alike. As a global manufacturing company, Royal & Langnickel works with makeup artists from around the world. We get ten questions with Jodie Young, Makeup Artist Relations Manager with the company.
MODA Pro
How long have you been with the company and what is your role in Makeup Artist Relations?
I have been with Royal & Langnickel for just over a year. As Makeup Artist Relations Manager, I interact directly with makeup artists across the globe to ensure our products are meeting their needs – that ours are the brushes they want to keep in their kit. Every artist tells a story through their work. My goal is to pair those artists with the best tools to help create the purest expression of their artistry.
OMNIA Pro
What’s the background to the company? Who founded it and what drove the development of the first brushes?
Royal Brush was first established by George M. Dovellos in the United States in 1979. The first brushes he developed were fine-art and hobby-ceramics brushes. He saw the opportunity to add brushes as a product line to his business of selling sponges as painting and cleaning tools. He saw that existing brush manufacturers were not catering to the market’s needs. He capitalised on the opportunity by creating his first range of brushes after researching the market and by following an artist-centric approach. George sought to always sell his products at a fair price. He wanted to be sure that artists could afford to expand their brush selections to include the various new shapes and new materials that were novel and innovative to the industry or their trade.
After quickly selling out his first production run, he immersed himself, focusing on the brush business and partnered with his two brothers, William and Gus. The three brothers quickly expanded the business while continuing to focus on the artists who were using the product. They applied market trends, which appealed to artists, and capitalised on product innovations. The company then purchased Langnickel Brush in 1990 which had been manufacturing artist brushes since the 1940s in Manhattan, New York. From a manufacturing standpoint, as the breadth of the brothers’ brush-making knowledge grew over the years, they were quick to apply new methods in product development that leveraged the latest technologies to bring new products faster to market than the competitors. It is all of these years of artist brush manufacturing experience that we now apply to makeup artist brushes. It is what makes us unique and continues to drive our business. Over the years countless artists’ input and feedback have driven the development and innovation of many of our makeup brush styles and handle finishes.
You must appeal to a wide sector of purchasers. Who buys your products?
In short, you will find our products used by all levels of professionals, hobbyists, enthusiasts, students and general consumers. We also produce contract manufacture brushes for O.E.M. as well as private label manufacture brushes for famous brands.
Which countries are your biggest markets?
Our products are distributed in 80+ countries. Our largest markets are English-speaking countries of the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia, but also Europe generally and Central and South America.
What’s the range of products that you supply?
As a brush manufacturer we are able to cater to all different levels of artistry and/or targeted price points. This being said, we produce brushes that sell for $100s of dollars each for our ultra-luxury and prestige customers and markets, while we also produce high-quality brushes for mass-market and also student/entry-level qualities. We make various ranges of brushes to suit different market segments and consumer expectations based on price. For example, within makeup brushes, our OMNIA® and [R]evolution® ranges were created for and in collaboration with high-level artists. Our MODA® range is meant for the enthusiast, our Chique™ range is ideal for the everyday consumer. As an artist company, we also manufacture an expansive range of artist supplies that are not only used in the fine art and craft markets but also the makeup industry as well.
Where are your products manufactured and where do you distribute from?
We are a global manufacturer of products. We now produce and distribute upwards of between 12-14 million brushes per month in our various markets worldwide. Production locations vary according to the product. We manufacture some products in the U.S.A. while others are manufactured in Europe and Asia.
Do end users buy direct from you or from authorised resellers and distributors?
We sell primarily to wholesalers and distributors, but we also offer select products for direct sale to consumers from our websites.
How often do you develop new additions to the range? What are your most popular products?
For makeup brushes, we develop and introduce new products approximately once a month between all of our ranges. Our OMNIA® range in a favorite among makeup artists for its quality and durability. Our Moda® Pro range is popular with both enthusiasts and artist for its affordability and quality.
How closely do you work with makeup artists when developing products?
We work very closely with artists and many of our brush styles and handle finishes have been inspired by artists.
What’s new for Royal and Langnickel at the moment? How do you see the company’s products developing in the next five years?
We always have something going on! We are currently working with a group of artists to develop some new OMNIA Pro brushes styles. We will continue to be inspired to innovate and develop products as we work with artists.
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