A Change is Gonna Come
Season 3 of Start Right Here! Has Landed, Skincare For Us By Us, BIPOC-Founded Fragrances Take Flight, A Sustainability Innovator Gets Recognition, and Spelman's Smart Beauty Move
This week’s theme is CHANGE. From the evolution of the Start Right Here! Podcast to innovation in skincare, fragrance, education, and sustainability, BIPOC Beauty Pros are at the forefront of some sensational shifts impacting the industry.
The Big Comeback
After a protracted hiatus, the Start Right Here! Podcast is finally back with new interviews. While we were on break, I thought about how I wanted to focus it going forward. And while it will remain a career-focused show featuring BIPOC guests, I wanted to make sure we are intentional about giving listeners and viewers (hello, YouTube channel videos) more tangible information. One thing that upcoming guests will talk about is overcoming hardship. We don’t talk about failure, and wouldn’t it be great to normalize not hitting EVERYTHING out of the park the first time around?
Next, new bonus episodes will be coming that will tackle practical things. That will enhance your life, career, or entrepreneurial journey—whether you are just starting out or seasoned.
Finally, I have decided that the podcast is only the first step in my mission to empower, educate and motivate BIPOC folks interested in or already pursuing their beauty dreams. That is where The Beauty Roundtable comes in. I will tell you more about that next week.
Just Us: Skincare and Science….By the Numbers
We rarely talk about The Fitzpatrick scale (the numbers assigned to human skin tones to measure how they react to the sun). But maybe we should be talking about them, especially those connected to our darker complexions. In the Season 3 opener, Episode 74, I chatted with Noelly Michoux, CEO and co-founder of 4.5.6 Skin. Noelly shares how her concepts around beauty shifted after her mother’s death caused her to move from Cameroon to Normandy, France. And why moving to New York City led to her first beauty job and made her aware that women of color globally had similar concerns. Her discovery set her on own journey, ultimately leading to meeting her co-founders and together forming 4.5.6 Skin.
But the trio encountered hurdles when it came to manufacturing, and they were unwilling to compromise. She shares the direction they decided to go in the clip below:
Check out the full interview to hear more.
Sweet Sensations: Who’s Making Fragrance Now?
When Boomerang came out in 1992 (how can that be!), .it was the stuff of fantasies for many reasons. But let’s stick with Lady Eloise and the fragrance angle. Now, we know Black women did helm their brands back then. But a big conglomerate hadn’t scooped up any of them. Today, I want to focus on Strangé because the subplot was all about her fragrance. There was a Black perfumer in the lab formulating it too. We hadn’t seen that before.
That fantasy has become a reality, with BIPOC fragrance-makers helping to drive growth in the category. According to research reported in Glossy, Black-founded fragrance brands have seen an increase of 9% (3x times the category average) over the past couple of years. This opportunity may be one of the reasons Brown Girl Jane, which began as a CBD-based wellness brand in 2020, made the decision to pivot to fragrance. The current CBD offerings will continue to be sold online until they are gone, and then the brand will double down on fragrance as they lock in a round of funding, according to Beauty Independent.
Meanwhile, searches for Asian-founded brands like Phlur and Ellis Brooklyn have increased like crazy and show no signs of slowing down. And I have to shout out former beauty director turned fragrance entrepreneur Kim-Van Dang’s successful pivot into the category from importing to retail and her own brand. She has done so much that we had to do a two-part episode. (check out part two for her work in fragrance).
Many say GenZ is looking for something different than some moody model or celebrity in an ad; they want uniqueness at every price point. (Yet, Arianna Grande seems to be an anomaly because it definitely sells). And I will admit to falling down the #PerfumeTok rabbit hole.
But I do find it so refreshing to see experts who look like me giving great advice on all forms of fragrance. One of my faves
!! And I am hopeful for the future because The Fragrance Foundation developed a fragrance career development series for HBCUs (hopefully, they're still doing it).Let’s Get It Started…Creating a Product-Making Pipeline
When we talk about creating a more equitable beauty industry, we inevitably come up against the chicken and egg conundrum. How can a diverse body of professionals take a seat at the table when there aren’t a lot of programs specifically training them to take their place in the industry?
On the HBCU front, it was smart of KAO to partner with FAMU School of Business to develop their Wakati line. But I am even more excited by what Spelman is doing by introducing a year-long online certificate program in Cosmetic Science. The program kicked off this month with six courses in total developed by Professor Leyte Winfield with the help of some members of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. Looking forward to seeing this program’s results, and perhaps it can grow into something bigger.
Work, Work, Work World-Changing Work
Last but certainly not least. I want to shout out Shirley Billot, founder of Kadalys, a deep and green tech company specializing in beauty and health. (EP 51). Who has built her business by harnessing the power of something farmers wanted to toss: the banana waste in Martinique, the island she grew up on. Her amazing skincare line boosts the local economy and promotes eco-conscious practices. Kadalys was recently named one of “The 10 Startups That Will Change The World” by Tech for the Future in France. If you’ve heard Shirley’s story, you would know when she first launched her line, it was difficult to find distribution in France, and she found more receptive partners in other countries. But she didn’t give up. She had a bigger vision. Listen to the short clip below to hear a bit about it.
Let’s end on theme with Seal performing the Sam Cooke classic. See you next time!