Tropic Skincare is a British online and

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

company which sells skincare and cosmetic products. The company is based in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

, South London, where it designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes its products. The business is jointly owned by ''Apprentice'' series 7 runner-up Susie Ma, and entrepreneur and Apprentice host, Lord Alan Sugar.

History

Tropic was informally established in 2004, when founder

Susan Ma Susie Ma is a British-Chinese skincare entrepreneur, philanthropist and Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree. She is known for her appearances on the seventh series of the BBC television series The Apprentice in 2011, where despite coming in third plac ...

aged 15, sold a single body care product in Greenwich market, inspired by her upbringing of Tropical North Queensland. The company officially became incorporated in 2011. After Susan Ma took part in the seventh series of ''The Apprentice'',

Alan Sugar Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. In 1968, he started what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics com ...

invested to become a 50/50 partner in Tropic. In 2013, Tropic launched its Social Selling Business Platform with 400 founding sales people. Tropic has since increased its product range to include skincare, body care, hair care, sun care, tanning serums and products designed for men.

Business structure

Tropic uses a

direct sales Direct selling consists of single-level marketing (in which a direct seller makes money by buying products from a parent organization and selling them directly to customers) and multi-level marketing (in which the direct seller may earn money f ...

and multi-level marketing business model, in which sales people are paid for selling and for sales made by people they recruit or sponsor. Sales people host

party plan The party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting what is presented as a social event at which products will be offered for sale. It is a form of direct selling. The primary system for generating sales leads for home party plan sales i ...

events where products are demonstrated or sampled and orders are taken from customers. Sales people also can attend commercial events and have personal web-shops, where products are sold online. "Ambassadors" earn a 25% commission on products they sell themselves, and advance through the "qualifications" ("ambassador", "manager", and "executive manager") set out in the Success Plan. The terms and conditions sellers sign requires that ambassadors only buy stock to sell for genuine customer orders, rather than purely to advance levels. It also caps Ambassador's stock capacity to 20 items at any one time. There are no volume requirements to earn commission.

Ingredients

Tropic's products are composed of naturally derived ingredients. Tropic's products do not contain

parabens Parabens are a class of widely used preservatives in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Chemically, they are a series of parahydroxybenzoates or esters of parahydroxybenzoic acid (also known as 4-hydroxybenzoic acid). Parabens are effective p ...

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

gluten Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all grain ...

, synthetic

preservatives A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by ...

, or

sodium lauryl sulfate Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sometimes written sodium laurilsulfate, is an organic compound with the formula . It is an anionic surfactant used in many cleaning and hygiene products. This compound is the sodium salt ...

. All products are

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

, and many contain

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

s such as

bergamot oil Bergamot essential oil is a cold-pressed essential oil produced by cells inside the rind of a bergamot orange fruit. It is a common flavoring and top note in perfumes. The scent of bergamot essential oil is similar to a sweet light orange peel oi ...

, rosehip oil, in conjunction with

aloe vera ''Aloe vera'' () is a succulent plant species of the genus ''Aloe''. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions. An evergreen perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but grows wild in tro ...

juice and

shea butter Shea butter (, , or ; ) is a fat extracted from yellow the nut of the African shea tree (''Vitellaria paradoxa''). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moi ...

, which are also prevalent throughout the range.

Ethics

Tropic is certified by the

Vegan Society Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

, and

Cruelty Free International Cruelty Free International is an animal protection and advocacy group that campaigns for the abolition of all animal experiments. They organise certification of cruelty-free products which are marked with the symbol of a leaping bunny. It was ...

. and is a CarbonNeutral and Ethically accredited company

Press

Tropic took part in the 2017 Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 'Emerging Brands' conference. Tropic has featured on the Fast Track 100 for five consecutive years.

References

{{Reflist Manufacturing companies based in London Companies established in 2011 British brands Cosmetics brands Cosmetics companies of the United Kingdom