Barely Visible Makeup

Like many professional women, Julie Fredrickson and Chelsa Crowley do their makeup as they’re running around—at the office, at the gym, even applying it on the subways of New York. Often, they lug around heavy bags of full-size products that are meant to be kept on a vanity at home. “We’re not doing our makeup in the boudoir,” says Crowley, 33. “Women’s lives have changed,” adds Fredrickson, 31, “but the cosmetic industry has not changed with us.”

A year ago, they began working on Stowaway, a line of smaller-size cosmetics—creamy $15 lipsticks no bigger than a AAA battery, $10 eyeliner the size of a Q-tip—that they launched in February. Their six-product $75 kit, about the size of an iPhone, fits inside any purse. In one month, Fredrickson and Crowley tripled projected sales on stowawaycosmetics.com, the only place the line is sold.