The 22-year-old who made £5,000 a month from home and is now trying to redefine the beauty industry

At 16, he was pulling in £5,000 a month selling bugs he kept in his home. Now aged 22, Cameron Reardon has sold that business for a six-figure sum and is launching a skincare brand which he hopes will re-define the beauty industry.

After a presentation in college on how to start your own business, Cameron began buying insects to breed and sell at his home in Llanelli in 2020. Soon he was selling to buyers as far as Europe and the USA and sold the company two years later for a new venture.

Since then Cameron, who appeared on the BBC’s Young Welsh & Pretty Minted in season two, as well as being featured on the prestigious Wales 35 under 35 list, has been developing a skin care brand which he hopes will give people the same effect as more intrusive procedures. You can read more about how Cameron launched his insect selling business aged 16 here.

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CR Beauty, which has just launched and will sell products online, is a science-backed ethical skincare line, he says. In the past two months Cameron has been named as an "emerging skincare and cosmetics managing director of the year", a finalist for the graduate start-up of the year and a finalist for young director of the year at the IoD Wales Director of the Year Awards.

He said it was his fear of needles that spurred him on to get help developing his new range. His mother is also happier to have a house full of skin products than bugs, he jokes.

“I think Bug Box did really well during Covid because people wanted things to do at home and I even opened a New York franchise before selling it for six figures in 2022. Selling bugs was not me anymore. It was fine for a 16-year-old but I wanted to do something different. I’ve always had a passion for skin care but knew opening my own skincare range would be complex.”

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Using money from the sale of Bug Box and money he earns business mentoring, Callum approached a dermatology production team in England. He told them what he wanted and they have come up with the formula: “I wanted beauty without needles. One of my products we describe as botox in a bottle. There is a trend for cosmetic procedures but I have a massive phobia of needles and some people don’t want procedures.”

Cameron’s line is launching with 12 products including a sun protection cream, an anti-ageing range and cream fillers. There are also face masks, scrubs and toners. Some of the products are vegan.

“It is really science-backed and took two years to develop because of all the regulations and also production and marketing. I am really excited it is launching now," he said. “I have funded the development with the money from Bug Box and my work as a freelance business adviser for Wales-based Business in Focus. I am now looking for investors to bring it forward. I think we are offering something new and unique. I know there are loads of beauty products out there and it is competitive. My mother loves it and prefers it to the bugs too. Everything in the line is almost vegan 99% are naturally derived with all British ingredients.”

Cameron said he thinks he is a natural entrepreneur but has been spurred on by the business community. He said: “A lot of it is to do with the supportive network. It is a mix of people who are mentors and business mentees. I am the first businessperson in my family. I was always selling things from a young age and used to sell my old toys and bears from a stall outside the house.”