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Sara (pronounced “Sah-rah”) Strand says she has always had an eye for color, even as a young child. Originally from Sweden, Strand moved to London as a teen and started doing makeup by day and sang in a band by night. After nabbing a deal to develop Pop Beauty with Top Shop, Strand, now 27, has made the leap over the pond to the United States, where her very affordable line can be found in Beauty 360 and Ulta stores, as well as on Sephora’s Web site. Oh, and if you attended the What Comes Around Goes Around party at Space 15 Twenty in March, you saw Strand’s handiwork on the models.

Sara Strand

Q: How did you get into the makeup business?

A: I was kind of born into the business. My older sister is a skin therapist, and my other sister is a makeup artist. Personally I’ve always been obssessed with color, what it can do to your mood and your look. When I was 12, I was signed to Sony and had a record deal and learned the importance of makeup for stage and TV.

Q: What kind of music did you make?

A: It was kind of funky with a rap twist and rock ‘n roll fusion. I was a very cocky 12 year old.

Q: When did you start doing makeup?

A: When I was 16, I moved to London and became a makeup artist and had my first shoot with Vogue. I just wanted to get out of Sweden and go somewhere more cosmopolitan, more of a melting pot. And I felt like I wanted to do something else, get away from what the music producers created for me, the image they created for me. So I joined a band in London and played all over for 10 years. So it was like makeup was a day thing, and music was my night thing.

Q: How did Pop Beauty come to be?

A: My sister had Pixi by Petra. Originally we started Pixi together, though it was her vision. From Pixi, my taste in makeup and beauty grew. Six years ago, we were approached by Top Shop, and they wanted youthful ideas for makeup that was trendy and edgy. So we thought of Pop. From there it just took off.

Q: Why did you move to Los Angeles?

A: The weather is so much better here! But the business is really booming in America, so we needed to be here. I spend a lot of time in New York as well, but a lot of the beauty brands have their bases here, so it’s convenient. And we have a new president that came on board last November, Andrew Knox (formerly with Too Faced), and he’s based here.

Q: What differentiates Pop Beauty from other makeup brands?

A: When we first started, it was very much an edgy London brand. And what was going on there was Top Shop culture – you go in and buy clothes to update your woredrobe. And that’s what I wanted Pop to be, a way to update your makeup bag with fun colors in fun packaging. That was missing on the market. From there, it’s really evolved into primers and bases. I don’t think the brand is changing, it’s really becoming itself even stronger. It’s always  been about how to make your eyes, skin, lips pop. We’re making it complete.

Q: Pop Beauty’s prices are very reasonable. Have they always been that way, or have you adjusted pricing to match the economic climate?

A: It has always been part of our DNA. I wanted to bring makeup artistry to the streets, to take the high-end elements of makeup and make it accessible to everybody. That’s exactly what Top Shop was doing – they’d sell things you’d see on the catwalk but you could afford them. We’re growing in this climate, and keeping our fingers crossed!

Q: Anything new in the pipeline?

A: I can’t see in the foreseeable future that Pop will have a full line of foundations, but we’ll have tinted moisturizers coming. Concealers are out now. And for fall and holiday, there are some amazing kits coming out, some like you’ve never seen before.

[UPDATE: A previous version of this post stated that Pop Beauty products could be found in Sephora stores in the United States. The cosmetics line can be found on Sephora’s Web site.]