Samantha Cutler on the serious work of makeup for tweens

You could call Petite n Pretty a kids line and miss the point. Founder Samantha Cutler spent 15 years inside prestige product development before she made anything for young faces. What she built is professional grade color, pared back and safety tested, for ages 7 to 16. We talked about sheer payoff, small applicators and retail.

Samantha Cutler did not set out to be first. She set out to answer a question she kept getting at home in Beverly Hills. Friends knew she had developed products for MAC, Smashbox and Stila. They asked what their daughters should use. She had no answer she trusted.

The adult formulas she knew were too heavy, too fragranced, too pigmented for developing skin. The kids options she found were toy like, loaded with artificial color and harsh chemicals she would not let her own children use. So she started with what she knew how to do. She built real formulas, then made them age appropriate.

Petite n Pretty launched in summer 2018 with an eyeshadow palette and lip glosses. Now it sits in Ulta Beauty and Neiman Marcus, with TikTok tutorials and in store glitter events doing much of the teaching. What others miss is how trade minded it is. Cutler talks about pigment load, wear time and doors in the same breath as self expression. The thesis here is simple. Safe is the entry ticket. The product still has to perform.

You landed an internship at the MAC Pro store when you were 17, then joined MAC Product Development after graduation. What did those early years on counter and in the lab teach you that you still use now?

Thank you for having me. That internship changed everything. I knew I wanted to work in beauty, so I went straight to the MAC Pro store when I was 17. I watched artists work. I watched what sold and what got returned. I learned how undertone shifts in daylight, how a formula wears by hour six, how a brush can change payoff more than pigment.

After graduation I joined MAC Product Development. Then I spent 15 years developing for MAC, Smashbox and Stila. That taught me discipline. You learn to write a brief, to test stability, to say no to a shade that looks pretty in the pan and muddy on skin. I have loved makeup from a young age and I always viewed cosmetics as an outlet for individuality and self expression. But development taught me to pair that feeling with process. If the texture drags, if the applicator is too big for a smaller face, the feeling falls flat. I still think like that developer first.

You have said friends would ask for recommendations for their younger kids and you never had an answer. The products had tons of artificial colors or chemicals you would not let your own children use. What was the breaking point?

It was very personal. With my experience working for these established brands, people would ask me for my recommendations for their younger kids, which I never had an answer for. I would go and look at what was out there. The adult products were not developed with age appropriate ingredients. They had tons of artificial colors or chemicals that I would not let my own children use. The kids products were often toy makeup, with poor payoff and no safety testing I could trust.

At home I was watching my own children light up when swiping on sparkles. Those moments took me back to my mothers vanity as a child, that creative freedom I felt there. Years later, those memories came to life once again, watching my own children. But this time, I realized that the products my children were using were not created for their needs. So I set out on a glitter revolution, developing a brand specifically for the next generation. Not watered down adult makeup. Not dress up. Something built for them from the start.

You often return to those special moments at your mothers vanity as a child. How did that memory shape the way you design for a seven year old versus a sixteen year old?

That memory is the core. The creative freedom that came with my first beauty experience, sparked from those special moments at my mothers vanity as a child, taught me that makeup is play before it is polish. I wanted Petite n Pretty to protect that.

For a seven year old, that means sheer, buildable color that is hard to get wrong. No heavy coverage. No harsh lines. Small handles that fit small hands. Cotton candy flavor in gloss makes application fun. For a sixteen year old, it means the finish still reads as real. She wants payoff that shows in a photo, blush that lasts through school, highlighter that does not look chalky.

That is why we use sheer buildable pigments and petite applicators only. The same palette can give a soft wash for eyes and cheeks on a younger child, or a layered look for a teen. I launched Petite n Pretty in the summer of 2018 to encourage young creatives to sparkle outside the lines while exploring, expressing, and embracing individuality with products developed just for them. That phrase still guides every shade decision.

You launched in summer 2018 with an eyeshadow palette and lip glosses. Why start with color for eyes and lips, the hardest areas for safety testing?

Because that is where the delight was. My kids lit up swiping on sparkles. I remember my first grade teacher applying thick coats of Chanel mascara and being mesmerized by her lashes. Eyes and lips are where a child first sees herself change in the mirror. If we could get those right, with comfort and shine, we would earn trust.

We also knew the bar was higher there. Lids are thin. Lips get licked. So we built testing in from day one. Every formula is dermatologist tested, ophthalmologist reviewed where applicable, and pediatrician approved. Our gloss is lightweight, non sticky, high shine and ultra cushion. Our palettes use sheer washes, not dense adult pigment. Starting with the hardest categories forced us to set standards we now apply across the line. When I created Petite n Pretty, I set out to develop a beauty brand that was age appropriate, fun, inclusive, and clean. That meant proving clean could still deliver shine and color payoff in the mirror.

Your tagline is Beauty Thats Made Safe. Smart. Sparkle Ready and your site calls the line the first professional grade beauty brand built exclusively for kids, tweens and teens. What does professional grade mean when coverage has to stay sheer?

Professional grade, to me, means formula discipline. It means real, professional quality formulas that are also completely safe for developing skin. We do not use toy bases. We do not overload with filler or harsh chemicals. We choose clean beauty standards that eliminate nuts, parabens and phthalates, and our WhimsiCali palette is also talc and gluten free.

Sheer does not mean weak. It means controlled pigment load, smooth slip, even laydown. A blush should blend with fingers. A shadow should build in thin layers without fallout. A gloss should shine without stringing. We test for that. We make in the USA and we work with the kind of labs I knew from my prestige years. Blending my background as a product developer and mother with the playful glimmer of my hometown of Beverly Hills translated into Petite n Pretty becoming the Gen Z favorite makeup brand. That Beverly Hills part matters. I had access to talent and labs who knew how to make color that photographs well and wears well.

Safe is the starting point. The color still has to show up in the mirror.

Samantha Cutler

Your standards list no parabens, no phthalates, no harsh chemicals, no nut derived ingredients, 100 percent cruelty free, plus custom petite applicators. Which of those was hardest to hold in production?

Nut free was non negotiable from the start, and it narrows your options more than people think. Many emollients and flavor houses rely on nut derived carriers. We had to source around them. Paraben and phthalate free is now more expected, but when we started in 2017 and 2018 it still required rework with suppliers.

The applicators were the quiet challenge. Petite applicators sound simple. They are not. A smaller doe foot has to pick up enough gloss without flooding. A dual ended eye and cheek brush has to feel soft on a smaller face but still place color. Tooling for custom sizes costs money at low volumes. We kept at it because fit changes everything. A brush that is too long makes a child press too hard. A gloss wand that is too large deposits too much at the corners. Getting the tool right helps young creatives get a sheer result without coaching. That is smart design, not just cute packaging.

You have said Ulta organically reached out and requested a meeting, then you flew to Chicago and received your first PO a few months later. The chain now carries the line in hundreds of doors. Why does in store matter so much for this shopper?

We have a strong direct to consumer presence, but in store is where our younger consumer is. That sentence has held true every year. A tween wants to swipe the gloss, smell the cotton candy flavor, hold the palette next to her skin. Her mom wants to read the back, check the pediatrician approved badge, feel the texture.

Ulta organically reached out to us and requested that we meet. We flew to Chicago and met with the team, and we received our first PO from Ulta a few months later. That led to coverage in WWD as being the first beauty brand for young creatives, then the rollout to 388 doors, then the nationwide launch announced November 17, 2022 with an event November 19, 2022 in Pasadena. We also sell in Neiman Marcus. In store lets us teach sheer application at the tester unit. It lets a first time buyer learn that a little goes a long way. TikTok can spark interest, with about 450,000 followers and 4.3 million likes by 2023, but the counter closes the loop for this age group.

In 2020, a year after launch, you started Zoom camps when Covid closed stores. What did teaching over video reveal about how kids actually learn makeup?

Covid hit a year after launch, so we had to rethink fast. In 2020 we launched Zoom camps. I thought we were just filling time until stores reopened. What we learned changed the brand.

Kids learn by doing, in short steps, with a mirror in hand. They do not want a long lecture on undertones. They want to try the blush on cheeks and eyes, see the difference between one swipe and two, laugh when glitter lands on a nose. They ask honest questions. Does this sting. Can I share with my sister. Will this wash off before soccer. Parents watch from the side and listen for safety cues.

Those camps built our Sparkle Squad tutorials and our TikTok approach. We kept language plain. Sheer wash. Press, do not drag. Start light. We also heard what to make next. Gift sets for birthdays and holidays came directly from that feedback. Complete sheer sparkling looks in one box, with brushes and a sherpa bag, so a new user can start without guessing.

You have said being the first in a category is always scary, and since launch many more brands have aimed younger. With TikTok putting the line next to Drunk Elephant among kids, how do you stay distinct?

I think being the first in a category is always scary, but since we have launched, we have noticed that many more brands have launched with a younger demographic in mind. That quote still feels true. When you are first, there is no map. You set testing, pricing and shade logic yourself.

What keeps us distinct is focus. Our customer is kids, tweens and teens, roughly ages 7 through 16. Some press has written 6 to 15 or 4 to 18, but our development target stays in that middle school window where needs shift fast. We do not chase adult trends. We do not add heavy coverage or strong fragrance to look older. Our pricing reflects that choice, from an early 16 to 34 dollar range to now 14 dollars for gloss and 28 dollars for palettes. That undercuts prestige adult by design, so allowance and gifting can stretch.

TikTok puts us next to brands made for adults, including ones kids love to post. We answer with education and retail trial. Try the sheer finish. Read the dermatologist tested label. Meet us at Ulta. Distinct, for us, is discipline.

Closing note from the desk

What stays with the desk after this conversation is Cutlers steadiness. She talks like a developer who has sat through stability testing and a mother who has wiped glitter off a counter. The line holds both ideas without strain. Sheer is not presented as less. It is presented as correct for the face in front of you.

Petite n Pretty set out to make beauty that is made safe, smart and sparkle ready, with real formulas, small tools and clear testing for young creatives. In a loud market, that reads as care. We will be watching how the shade logic grows as those 7 year olds become 16.

Product spotlight

10K Shine Lip Gloss for Tweens, 14 dollars, 0.12 oz or 3.4 g. A lightweight, non sticky gloss with high shine cushion and cotton candy flavor, in shades like Gia Pink sheer shimmer pink. It is for everyday swipe on shine for tweens. Swipe one layer straight from the petite wand, add a second for more shine.

WhimsiCali Eye and Cheek Palette, 28 dollars, one palette with dual ended brush. Blooming pastels plus rose garden pink blush and violet highlighter, made without talc, parabens, phthalates, nuts or gluten. It is for sheer color across eyes and cheeks. Brush a light wash over lids, then press blush on cheeks.