Fresh from her appearance on BBC One show Dragons’ Den, Millie Flemington-Clare – the accomplished founder of accessible and inclusive make-up brand Human Beauty – reflects on her experience
Perfect is boring. Human is beautiful. That’s the rallying cry behind Bristol-based make-up brand Human Beauty, an accessible and inclusive venture from Millie Flemington-Clare who was the centre of much discussion online after a memorable appearance on BBC One show Dragons’ Den.
Human Beauty is different to other make-up brands, in that it prioritises good design to help ensure its products are accessible to everyone, including Disabled and Neurodiverse users.
Features include trademarked anti-roll packaging that’s easy to grip, sensory-friendly formulas with no strong smells, and NaviLens and QR codes containing visual and audio descriptions for people who are blind or may have colour blindness. Millie also ensures that inclusive models are used to showcase her products, but also always uses Disabled or Neurodiverse photographers and make-up artists behind the scenes for her campaigns.
Millie knows first-hand the challenges of accessibility in beauty. She is one of just 2,000 people worldwide who live with Cystinosis, a rare condition affecting – among other things – people’s kidneys, eyes and growth rate. So, growing up, makeup became a tool for self-expression and confidence, yet she never saw herself represented in mainstream beauty. This experience has fuelled her mission to ensure that everyone feels seen, valued, and empowered.
Entering the dragons’ den
Why was her appearance the source of much debate? Well, Millie had been hoping for a £50,000 investment from one of the dragons, with a 20% share in her business. Deborah Meaden declared her pitch “the best deal I’ve ever seen in the den!”, despite the fact that Millie walked away without any financial backing, “…You’ve given away none of your business and you’ve got loads of help.” Instead, she was offered the time and support (ranging from distribution aid, online retailing and sourcing assistance to teaching the “dark arts” of social media) from dragons Stephen Bartlett, Touker Suleyman and Peter Jones.
After her pitch, Millie stated that the dragons’ help would be “game-changing” for Human Beauty. The aftermath of the show saw the founder receive lots of press attention – with opinions varying from the dragons being ‘condescending’ to jubilation about how lucky she was to get these offers of support.
Since the show, the dragons’ teams have reached out to Millie, with varying levels of support: she received an office tour from Stephen and his team (though at the time of writing was yet to be taught any social media secrets); Peter’s team offered someone to help with Human Beauty’s website, though they found little fault with the existing set-up; and Touker’s people have reached out offering support and advice, though Millie explains that this help – if and when she takes up the offer – will not be free.
“Since the show first aired, we’ve done more sales than ever before,” Millie says. “And ultimately, we’ve reached a much older audience than I’d expected, too. But that just demonstrates that my products, especially the mascara, are suitable for everyone. No one my age [26] watches live TV, and thousands of people don’t have a TV licence.” She notes that because of people catching up on the show via BBC iPlayer and on social media, Human Beauty’s exposure has been more gradual.
How does Millie feel about being a Disability advocate on TV? “Ultimately, there are so many positives and I have made a difference in people’s lives. I get hundreds of messages and comments every day on social media, and people spot me in the street to say ‘shout louder’ and thanking me for what Human Beauty is doing. Interactions like that make it worthwhile. It’s a community, and the fact that I am making real changes to the beauty industry, meaning people feel seen and heard, is such a lovely feeling.”
Millie’s mission
Since the show, Millie has been eager to share more of her story – some of which was cut from the final edit. Before appearing on Dragons’ Den, she already had a number of accolades to her name, including featuring in in Superdrug’s Faces of the Future, being named Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2020, Graduate Start-Up of the Year 2023, Judges’ Choice Award at the Santander x UK Awards 2022, and Innovate UK’s Inclusive Innovation Award 22/23 (which included a £50,000 grant).
“I also have a first-class honours degree in digital marketing, which I got while I was having two kidney transplants – right in the middle of my degree,” Millie adds. “And I was told I’d never achieve the Innovate UK grant because Human Beauty was a make-up brand – but it was seen to be innovative. My third-year figures were £65,000 – £60,000 of that was through grant funding and winning competitions because of my pitching skills.”
Human Beauty challenges the status quo of the beauty industry, and likewise, Millie wants to challenge the status quo for what might be assumed about Disabled business founders. “People outside of my world hear ‘Disability’ and think wheelchair user, but actually the reality is, any one of us is just one accident away, or just ageing, to become part of the Disabled community. It’s such a wide umbrella term. If your eyes get bad when you’re old or you get arthritis or shaky hands, which ultimately, pretty much everyone does as you age, you are part of that community, whether you want to identify as Disabled or not. It’s not a bad word.
“In Dragons’ Den history they have never successfully invested in a Disabled female founder. Disabled entrepreneurs are 400% less likely to secure investment and female entrepreneurs only make up 2% of venture capital investment, so being a female Disabled founder in that world is another story. This is despite 25% of UK start-ups being founded by Disabled entrepreneurs.”
The next six months are crucial for Human Beauty, with Millie determined to make her business profitable. “I’m looking for investors who match my ethos and want to make real change,” she says. “Hopefully that will include an investor who’s from one minority group. I’m also working on another business to create much wider societal impact in terms of making brands’ products more accessible. Ultimately, I want to create cross-industry change to make accessible products.”
Millie’s mission to push back against the beauty industry’s “toxic traits that push perfection” continues. “Human Beauty is a make-up brand for everyone though, not just Disabled people. We’re creating cosmetics that are accessible for all, because accessible design is simply good design – making products better for everyone.”
You can watch Millie’s episode of Dragons’ Den on BBC iPlayer now. For more information about Human Beauty, Millie’s story and to buy her products, visit humanbeauty.co.uk and follow @humanbeautyldn on Instagram and TikTok
