Latest / Skin Anarchy / LAMIK Beauty is Leading The Way to the Next Beauty Frontier: Customized Clean Cosmetics !

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LAMIK Beauty is Leading The Way to the Next Beauty Frontier: Customized Clean Cosmetics ! · Skin Anarchy

• 0:01
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• 1:21
  SPEAKER_03: Hey guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: Before our episode starts, I wanted to pop in and just remind you that Juneteenth is coming up, and I really would love to see everyone come, you know, really support black-owned businesses.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: We should be doing that every day.
• 1:35
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• 1:37
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• 1:40
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like, you know, it's it's just something that deserves a reminder.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: So I wanted to just pop in and say, don't forget about that, it's coming up and uh find your favorite uh black-owned business and definitely support them and as many as you you know can discover.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: And hopefully you discover some through our podcast because we always are looking for new and amazing brands, and you know, a lot of them just so happen to be black-owned businesses, which is awesome.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: So check it out and uh also check out this episode coming up.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: Hi guys, welcome back to Spirit Care Anarchy.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: This is Ecta, and I have a fabulous guest today.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: Her line is so beautiful, and it is probably the most like easy and inclusive and diver it's just like as if she does it like effortlessly.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I am super excited about this, uh, this you know, brand and the guests.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_03: So without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to Kim Roxy, who is the founder and CEO of Lamake Beauty.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: So welcome to the show, Kim.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited you're here.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: I am so excited to be here.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: I've been thinking about this all day long.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, me too.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: I know I'm I was just chatting with Kim before the episode, and I was telling her how um our whole team is was super psyched for this recording because we are just in love with her line.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, Kim, I want to get started because I want to ask you um about you and your journey and really um what led to you creating a brand and launching and becoming an entrepreneur.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe you could walk us down memory lane and we'll start there.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so it started for me back when I was in college, just working at a makeup counter.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um and you know, just going to the mall looking for a job, thinking I was just gonna just, you know, work at Foot Locker or Great American Cookies or something like that.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_04: But I ended up getting hired at this makeup uh store.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_04: And after a couple of weeks working inside of there, they asked me, like, what are you telling these women?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_04: What are you what are you doing?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, What you talking about?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_04: They said you're selling more makeup.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_04: My manager said you're selling more makeup than me.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_04: What are you telling these women?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_04: He said, Because you don't even do makeup that good.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_04: So what are you telling these women?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, It is about the fact that I have fallen in love with making women feel good about themselves.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_04: And that's what that's what transformed me.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_04: And so after doing that while in college, uh, when I was 21, uh graduating from college, I opened up my own makeup store in the mall.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I ran it for 14 years.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: And uh from there, yeah, and we, you know, opened it up in the mall in the fourth largest city in the country, Houston.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_04: And I had an extensive career, and we had become like a household name in the Houston community, contributed a lot back to our community as well.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_04: And um uh because that store, my mom gave me$500 and I saved up$9,500.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_04: And that's how I opened it up.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_04: And after my mom passed away from metasthetic breast cancer, um, it sort of gave me this chance to like really look in the mirror and and you know, ask myself, am I doing enough to find a solution for the problem?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_04: And that is that 75% of beauty products marketed to women of color are toxic.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_04: And my mom wore makeup every day.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_04: And I was just thinking to myself, I don't want anybody to be at that kind of risk factor.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: And so um, I I really like doubled down um and I finally, you know, to scary enough, did something that I never saw anybody do, and that's kind of like up close and personal, build a high growth company.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_04: And so I went out to really strike the deal on that.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_04: And um in 2018, I closed my store um and I went out to Austin and started on this venture of creating this tech-enabled clean color cosmetic brand, uh, digital first e-commerce, um, but to bring that solution to the market.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I just I didn't want to interrupt you.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: I just wanted to hear the whole story because I mean, wow, you know, talk about strength and talk about overcoming adversity and moving forward like full force.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, genuinely, like hats off to you, you know, genuinely, Kim.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's amazing that you um had so much strength in you that you not only, you know, had to deal with such a tragedy.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so sorry to hear about your mother.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, I I just, you know, I just have no words because we should never be victims to things that are coming from an industry that is supposed to not only elevate us in terms of our self, you know, perspective and perception, but also just make us feel good, right?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: We should never have to worry about is this toxic, is this good for me or not?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so I don't know.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's just that that's crazy.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: But that but the good thing is that, you know, you've created something genuinely beautiful and it resonates with literally all women of color.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I absolutely, I think that's my favorite part about your brand is that it's not just for black women or you know, this kind of women or that, it's for everybody.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_03: And I love that.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I I wanna um I wanna actually ask you, you know, about that, your your vision, because I know obviously you just explained you had a lot of experience, right, with the um cosmetics and then the beauty end.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: But then uh when you were coming up with um ideas of your first uh products or you know, your SKUs, like what was the vision there?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: What did you want to initially launch with?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_04: Um I initially wanted to launch with our brow, a brow product, because I was diagnosed with a form of alopecia that caused my eyebrow hairs to fall out.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so I wanted to launch with that.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um and uh I remember I was making small batches of lip gloss and I was thinking, you know, there's enough lip gloss on the market.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_04: Um uh and I said, you know, I don't, I don't really, I don't really need to touch that.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_04: Um uh there's enough makeup on the market, but then I gotta not like yours though.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I mean, I'm being real, but that's what I'm about to tell you.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_04: I I had a customer send me an email, and at the time I was thinking, you know, I might not do lip gloss again and you know, this kind of thing.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, I never articulated that.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_04: That's something I was you know thinking about.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_04: And uh I had a customer email me, and her name is Margaret, and she said, Kim, I have never, she said, I have had she she she used to get at least two to three upper respiratory infections a year.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, because you know, whatever you put on your lips, you consume.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly, yes.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_04: And so she was saying she just noticed, you know, she would get those two to three upper respiratory infections.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_04: She was trying to figure out why we should get them.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_04: She said when she switched to our lip gloss, she does not get them anymore.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_04: So she was like, she had ordered because what happened was she had ordered like 12 lip glosses, and I was thinking to myself, is this like a wholesale order?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_04: So we called her up and she was like, No, no, no, no, no.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_04: I'm getting that because I'm getting ready to go overseas and I cannot take the chance of running it out.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_04: She said, This is the only lip gloss that has not caused me to get upper respiratory infections.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_04: Wow, that was huge.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's when I knew I had to do it.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_03: So, what was the okay?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: So now obviously you know I'm gonna ask you how you formulated, right?
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: Because like this is that's phenomenal.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I just want to comment though before we move on that like I as soon as I tried your product, like specifically the the um two shades of lip gloss that you sent my way, I was obsessed.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm not lying, I'm not exaggerating.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: I literally immediately I showed everybody, like I showed my team, I was like, how the heck did she come up with the perfect brown shades?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I like you don't understand like the struggle for me in terms of like trying to find lipsticks, you know what I mean?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, we all have our stories, all women of color, we have our stories and makeup and like how we all struggled to find some sort of a shade and some sort of product.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: For me, it was always foundation and neutral or brown lip shades that I could wear to work every day or you know, school or whatever, right?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I tried when as soon as I tried this, I was like, damn, she she hit it, you know, she hit it on the nail on the head.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's perfect.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's you know, it's the coverage, just this just for everyone listening.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: The coverage is so buildable, but it's not going to overwhelm you and it's not going to be like bam, here I am, kind of thing, right?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like very, very versatile.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean, I just wanted to mention that before we continue, but yeah, like I mean, that's crazy that she really, you know, that your product was so clean that it it prevented her from actually getting sick.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's amazing.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's amazing.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_04: It's amazing.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_04: And it just goes to show that sometimes there might seem like the the market is crowded or it's too much, or they don't need you, you know, but but they do.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_04: They do.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, and what you know can't show we yeah, we need more women of color.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: We need more women, like I mean, you know, that have a real story, you know what I mean?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: Like that let's be let's be honest here, okay.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: I I really try to be as transparent as I can here, and I want to get your opinion about this.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, being like in this industry is very difficult, first of all, for women of color.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: And secondly, it's even more difficult for me when I look at it as a consumer, just like witnessing that, you know, because I look at it and I'm like, where are the brands that I can really believe in?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: Because I know if a girl or or sorry, you know, a woman creates something that she has similar things she's gone through, like me, like in terms of like shades and complexion and you know, like just those kind of things.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: I know she's gonna create something amazing.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: So where is she?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so I'm always looking, like, right?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to get your take on that.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: I want to talk, you know, I want you to tell us about the journey and how it's been, you know, uh getting Lamik off the ground and like, you know, really launching and all that, all that stuff.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, launching-wise, I had to use uh for our brand for for e-commerce, you know, and all of that.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_04: I had to use, I use the crowdfunding effort.006% uh black women get venture capital funding.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_04: And so um I had to go another route.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_04: And so I put up a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign on iFund Women, and that's how I got the C capital, the friends and family round that people call it, um, to invest in our technology, invest in products and everything.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and that's the clever way.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, and and and if you want to put it that way, uh the way that I had to get that initial friends and family round.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, like, you know, and that really it's something that's always bothered me.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think I I know what you're talking about with the venture capital because I I saw that um I saw a post.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: I I think uh the 15% pledge account on Instagram had made that post.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: And when I first saw that, I was literally like looking at it, and I remember just sitting there looking, like, what is wrong with us?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what is it that people don't get?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what like what's it gonna take for everyone, not just the beauty industry, but just people in general, just to realize like this is a genuine problem, and you're preventing not only like you know, from like people from this industry being truly inclusive and diverse, but you're also preventing millions of consumers from connect, you know, from connecting to people that they believe in, that they resonate with, that they can look at and say, I you know, I I associate with her, like I can relate to her, you know what I mean?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: That kind of experience.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know why that's even something that we struggle with, right?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's like it just blows my mind.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, it does, it does, it does.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, if if you allow it, sometimes it can extremely frustrate you.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so I just have to be mindful, you know, um not to let it kind of take over everything and to, you know, push through regardless, but also take care of my own self and not take other people's ignorance and make it my identity, you know.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yes.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: I really love that.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I wanna um I wanna actually ask you because you know, that's something that I think I actually recently talked to um, she's uh the vice, the executive vice president for Iman Cosmetics, um, Karen.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um Karen and she she was talking to me, we were talking about diversity inclusion, right?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_03: And we were talking about how all of this leaves like micro traumas for many women of color, especially many black women that have gone through this repeatedly over and over and over again.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it what it leads to is this like unnoticed and almost like subconscious feeling of like I just have to move past it and I have to keep going and I have to keep pushing.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_03: And that's something that like at the same time, as much as I admire you and I admire your strength at the same time, like I really need the industry to understand that that this is a this isn't not it's a problem that's being created and women, you know, in this demographic are overcoming it, but at the same time, it's a problem that doesn't need to exist, you know.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: So like stop causing unnecessary trauma to people who are genuinely talented and have something to contribute, but you're just your biases won't let them, you know what I mean?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_04: So anyway, but I want to well it and it's and it's one of those things where you say something really, really good and really interesting is the fact that you know you you put us through that and then you try to give us a badge of honor for for for being strong or something like that.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um yeah, it's it's it's it's uh basically like almost like uncalled for.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's it's like you you know, don't put people through that and then give them a badge for saying, you know, you you got through it, you know, kind of thing.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_04: Look at you.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but no, that that mental health and all that is just too rough.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it is.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: I agree.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I, you know, I I I completely, you know, I completely get it.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I and I really want to focus on just how good your brand is because I think it's really important that people understand that these are products that um were you guys are all out there, the ones that, you know, hopefully none of you are listening the the you know what I'm talking about.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: Hopefully no racist people are listening to my podcast because that would be I don't like you, you know.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_03: But like um, you know, my point is like I I want people to understand that these are really genuinely amazing products and um you know what you were able to crowdfund and what you were able to kind of like stir up, it really had like shows in the quality of your work.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, your lip glosses are genuinely, like I said, that they're they're my favorite, they're beautiful colors, they're beautiful shades.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_03: You haven't overdone it where you have like 90 shades and you don't know what to pick, you know what I mean?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like everything you've created is very, very usable and it's very it feels good.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like I want to like talk about that whole experience um that you went through with the formulas because um it's a very, very nice texture, you know.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: And I because like I hate those glosses that are like super sticky, and yours don't do that.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I want you to watch that.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: That's yeah.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that's what you know, your strong reaction to the lip gloss, and my strong reaction too is I cannot stand the uh sticky lip gloss.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_04: So you you you called it out for exactly what it was.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: No, I hate sticky lip gloss.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: It's like literally the worst feeling when you have like like glue on your lips.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's just like what that's that's fine, sweetie.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_04: Well, just don't don't use it if you don't have to, okay?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, that's my dog.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry about that.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's okay.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and you know, I I just uh like I think that your I think the lip glosses are a very nice like middle ground between like a liquid lip and a gloss outside where they really fall.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_04: So I I really love that.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, my own personal thing I have to tell you, um, because I I have to appreciate the products as well to wear them, right?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_04: So I um the thing that gets me that I really love is the fact that my lips are hydrated when it comes off, so I don't have like this really dry sort of lip, you know, and that's what happens a lot of times with lip things on your lips, you know, after you take it off, it's extremely dry.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um and this one is so nice and hydrated.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely, and also you can use them as blushes, by the way.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: Everyone listening, and also eye color.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, I know a lot of us, yeah.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like I use that, that's what I do.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like I keep it in my um, so I keep your shade.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_03: This one, I have it right here.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh uh chocolate.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's like literally, well, it's supposed to be chocolate, right?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_03: But it's like she's got the cute little like no chocolate lit.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's it's chocolate lit.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, chocolate lit.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so I keep this one in my um uh coat pocket, my white coat pocket, and I actually use it for work because I can just pop it on and it's like a beautiful, natural looking blush.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: It looks really good on um, you know, any I think any skin tone, but especially like deeper skin tones.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: We don't like, I mean, I don't I don't like blushes on deeper skin tones that look like super like bright, you know what I mean?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like so nice, like it's just natural.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it's a very multi-use product, you know?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: It really is.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's super it, and I like to create something that I call a latex eye.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and uh um it it it sort of gives like this latex look on the eyelid, you know, with the gloss.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah, I know strong milk, yeah.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so using a gloss, it it's kind of gives like this shiny, probably like a latex eye.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_04: So just trend alert, use the lip gloss, like you said, for the cheeks, for the lips, but then also for that eyelid.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, it's so pretty.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's absolutely gorgeous.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I know that you have a few other products in the line, and I really would love to talk about those as well.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I just because you know it's it's very hard for um, I think for makeup lines.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't know, I don't have one, but I I I can imagine it's it's very, very difficult to create like multiple different categories of products.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to talk about your brow products because you have awesome, like the brow duo is so good.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to talk about that.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how did you um kind of really go towards that?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like in terms of formula, in terms of like how long did it take you to like craft it, all that good stuff.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so we worked um on the formula of the lip gloss.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but I'll say, like, you know, the fact that we've been like dabbling in it and trying different things, um The time that it took us to you know get down to the one that we wanted for this iteration that we have now, um, it took about took about six months.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and um, you know, you just try different ones, you try for a while, you see how it works.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you got to use a look gloss down to the bottom and make sure and all of that.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_04: But um, but also we have an incredible um, you know, manufacturing lab we work with that we co uh, you know, co-manufacture with.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and um we're able to to get such great quality products um and able to experiment a little bit and try things out and also take the expertise to make the best judgments on things too.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um but yeah, yeah, I love that.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I was just mentioning that there's the brow duo, like the um the for so for the eyebrows, like I know you had mentioned like you know, you really wanted to first come out with an eyebrow uh product.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: And so I know the brow duo is such a I just love how you've um marketed it on your site because like if for everyone listening, by the way, like to check out the brand, you can go to l-a-m-i-kbeauty.com f y just for everyone listening.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um but if you look, if you click on the um eyes like category and you go to the brow duo, you will see pictures of like real women, like genuinely like women you might know, like friends, you know what I mean?
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: They're not like crazy looking models or like you know, they're they're real women, and and so and also the shades, like they're they're so awesome because I know that for me for a long time when brow products really started coming out the market, I was so hesitant because they were either way too dark or like brown, you know what I mean?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like light brown, and it was like, yo, I can't use any of these.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm gonna look like either I'm I'm graying in my eyebrows or I'm gonna look like I just put eyeliner all over myself.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: So I love how you have like so many shades, like there's like dark brown, like I'm just telling everybody like there's like medium brown, dark brown, um, you know, and then there's like subcategories, you know what I mean?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like I love how you did that.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_04: Um I um, you know, one thing about it is is that I was big about the fact that I could not find a um a brow powder that like showed up on my skin and it needed to look like hair um for me because I'm missing hair on the ends because I have a form of alopecia.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_04: So for me, having that really made like me be like, okay, I need one for my skin tone.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_04: My skin tone is is deep, uh, you know, deep brown, dark skin.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_04: Like I need something that's gonna show up on me.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_04: But then also there's people that are there, ladies that are darker than me, guys that are darker than me.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_04: So I knew I needed to kind of come across the board and then also much lighter and more pale.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, you know, all of fair skin, like all of that.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_04: We needed that.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_04: And so um albinism as well.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I had customers with.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_04: So I wanted to make something that went all the way across the board.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and you don't need a hundred colors to do that, you just need the right colors, um, you know, to do it and to show up.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_04: And uh it's made from 88% natural and certified organic ingredients.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_04: And uh to have color that shows up uh is actually like a treasure.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so uh that's that was my thing.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_04: I wanted to be able to hit across the board, um, but also make it very approachable.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_04: And um recently uh we were just in the news uh about uh an amazing woman who just hit the red carpet with our brow duo on.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and her makeup artist said that he he used it for her brows and for her eyeliner.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_04: Who was this?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_04: Who was the uh Megan Markle?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, that's amazing! Yay! Yes, congratulations!
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: I love seeing that.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so glad.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, that's the one thing I love about like the makeup artists these days is they're actually open to exploring, like they they really do look like for genuinely good products.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, huge shout out to all you amazing makeup artists that do that.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I actually want to ask you because I you know what I really love.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, one of the I think the coolest products you have is that customized foundation.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I want you to talk through that.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how does that work?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: How do you like do like how is that whole process?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_03: Because I think this is really something like you know, we need more than 70 shades, you know what I mean?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like those brands that come out with 70 shades and you're just like even more lost because I don't know what to pick, you know.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_03: So I would like to kind of walk through your process and like you know, how do you go around go about like formulating the foundation for the for the person and all that?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so we have people just send us a picture and we're like, hey, we'll send you a foundation that fits.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_04: And to be honest, it started off from a Facebook post.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_04: I put a Facebook post up, um, and I was like, hey, if you um send us a, you know, if you could get a custom foundation made just for you, you know, what would it be?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_04: What would you do?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_04: You know, kind of thing.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_04: And they were like, uh, I would get one.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_04: Like I was like, who would want one?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_04: They've said me.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_04: And then next thing you know, I got all these comments.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, like me, me, me, me, me.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um uh, and I was like, what?
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I was like, oh my goodness.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so I was just so grateful um that people responded, but bigger than that, I said, well, send me your picture and we're gonna, you know, send you a sample.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_04: Because I'm like, oh my goodness, let me see if this, you know, like I was like, let me see.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_04: You know, we're like in quarantine, you know, we haven't all kind of thoughts.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_04: I thought, you know, I'm just like, you know, people can't get to the store.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_04: I'm like, okay, let me just try this.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_04: And I sent it to him and it just like took off.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_04: And and you know, um, man, it's like the most five-star review product on our website.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's like huge.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because that's a huge move.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's like so innovative.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: Like the industry, like, really doesn't, you know, understand this concept of like, hey, we're all different.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: And especially when you have more melanin-rich skin, you need to look at our skin.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like, stop putting us in a computer and generating like like ideas of like what kind of shade we are, because that doesn't make any sense.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you have to look at our face and then figure out, you know what I mean, like what someone needs, especially like if you have like, you know, like hyperpigmentation or like you had mentioned, you know, like um any kind of skin disorder that's causing um, you know, changes in pigmentation, right?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like, so that's I it's huge.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: I love that you have uh a customized foundation.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's that's I think the next step in beauty, especially for um complexion products.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, yep, yep.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, I I love it.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I I actually, you know, I one thing I I want to ask you, and I I think this is a very important um thing to address is that you know, in terms of like marketing your brand, right?
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_03: Because I always wondered this about brands that are founded by people um, you know, of diverse backgrounds.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: You know, if I were to if I were to market a brand, like for example, there's a lot of like Indian founders that are women and they're like marketing their brand and they're making like some like it makes me cringe sometimes when like I see an Indian founder and she's got like India stuff all over the packaging, you know what I mean?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_03: Because it's like you don't need to scream that out loud, you know, like just let it be known that you this is your background, this is your culture, but like it's important for us to represent ourselves.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: I think everybody, regardless, as global.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_03: We're global, we're humans, like we're all people at the end of the day.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_03: So, like I want to ask you like when you were thinking about marketing, like, you know, would you want to market to just like specifically women of color because you knew they would get it, or did you just kind of say, you know what, I'm just gonna put it out there and see who likes it?
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think, you know, I I just did a post about this on social media yesterday.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_04: Um, that, you know, I think it it can happen both ways in our ways, because you know, I there's makeup on aisles right now, and they don't say it's just for beige women, but they don't have a color to fit me, but they don't have to say that.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_04: They don't have to say this is just for lighter skinned women, this is just for white women, this is just for whatever way they want to put it, they don't have to say that, right?
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_04: And they can just exclude me and never have to have have the onus or own up to while they exclude me.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so I don't think that it is the fault of any company that markets to uh to a certain group to let them know, hey, I see you and and I, you know, am obviously who I am, and I cannot hide that or cover it up or anything.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_04: And so I let people know, hey, I put myself as a priority when making this line.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um and uh and I don't back down from that.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_04: But making me a priority doesn't lose the opportunity for you.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_04: Um and we should all sort of be like that.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_04: We definitely have pride and and and esteem and who we are and what we represent.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, if it's a cultural thing, it's a heritage thing, you know, people have to, you know, be be fine with that, you know, because I have to assimilate uh whether it be code switching or talking a certain way, so people can, you know, feel comfortable around me, all kinds of different things that that I know, particularly black women do to um kind of fit in um that is not natural for us.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but because certain people want to feel like we're accommodating them, then we do that.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that it's okay for anyone to sort of put whatever their heritage is or whatever, and and and make others uh sort of expand their minds um in what's normal and what is acceptable.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: It like make them feel comfortable, right?
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I feel like if you do that, it also makes people feel more comfortable.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like, for example, like lately, I've no joke, like I've been on this, like um, you know, like Indian bangles, like there's like a bunch of them that come in a set, and like I've been wearing those like different colors, you know what I mean, and like matching my outfits to them.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_03: And the other day I went to Starbucks, I was in the Starbucks uh um drive-thru.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_03: And one the the barista that was uh handling my orders, she was um I I believe Nigerian.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_03: And so when she saw my bangles, she was like, Oh my gosh, are you Indian?
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Yeah, and she's like, I love your bangles because in our culture we also wear a lot of gold.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, that's such a cool, you know what I mean?
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_03: Like it was such a cool conversation, and it was just opened up because it was like uh this is like my subtle way of like expressing my culture, you know what I mean?
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_03: So like I do it and I did it, I do it for me, I don't do it for anybody else.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's not it's not super showy, but it's something I like.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_03: So if someone notices that and it opens up the conversation and opens up dialogue, like what could be better than that, right?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's like we we all have to stay true to our cultures, and that actually leads me to a question because I really want your viewpoint on this.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I think um a lot of people have their theories, and a lot of people that talk about this actually are not um, you know, they're not African-American, they're not black, they're not, you know, like they have no idea what they're talking about half the time.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to get your opinion, like, you know, what is one thing you would want to tell someone who doesn't understand like what truly what black culture is, like in America?
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what is one thing you would like want to explain to them, especially when it pertains to beauty, as far as like what you know, um women of color in that demographic, what they're looking for, what they like, you know, what what makes them feel like themselves, like truly.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_04: Um you know, there's so many things, but I think one thing I'll just put up to highlight is the fact that um uh uh I think one thing I put up to say is that you don't have to um for for for people uh one question I mean I've gotten before is like, is this, you know, is this just for African American women just because I'm a black woman selling the makeup?
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_04: Um and I say one thing that I think people should think about is just because you know give give everybody the same energy you give any other company when you just see a product and you don't you don't look at the owner, you don't even know what the owner looks like, and and you buy and you go along with it.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_04: Just just think about that and stop trying to, you know, like belittle other people um is something that I think about.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_04: Um uh because that can be, you know, it's just it's just like sort of disheartening.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_04: Um it's like putting people in boxes, right?
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like you're like putting someone in a box by doing that.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_03: I hear you.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, that's actually like that's a really, really solid point.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like I'm glad you said that because that's very true.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_03: People do that.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I actually it gets on my nerves, you know?
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_03: And don't get me wrong, I'm all about supporting, you know, every single black owned business.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: I really am genuinely from my heart.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_03: But at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure, just like you explained, um, every black owned business doesn't want to be put into that box and say, that's the main thing you're highlighting about my business.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: No, why don't you focus on the products?
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_03: Why don't you focus on how good the quality is and how well crafted it is or how well formulated something is, you know, so I completely get you.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_03: That makes so much sense.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, and and just and also too, just um also too, just the fact that you you you don't um you don't like uh don't don't don't why are you not buying it because of that?
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_04: Check yourself, not the entrepreneur.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yeah, stop hating on brands, please, everybody on social media.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_03: I hate that's one of my biggest pet peeves, actually.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Kim, it's I hate that genuinely.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like I get mad when I see other influencers, like if they even on my post, like for some care anarchy, like on her Instagram.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_03: If anyone says anything that's just not constructive or like adding to the conversation, like I'm just letting I will delete your post.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_03: And there was this one woman, like I'll tell you a quick story.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like, there's this one woman, she did that once for one of the brands that I had on, and she was just not being constructive, she was just being terribly mean, and I would kept deleting her posts, and she commented again.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_03: She was like, You deleted my post because you didn't like what I said, and then I commented back to her.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, No, I just don't like unnecessary negativity.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: We don't need any more of that, you know.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_03: We're doing people are doing their best.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_03: You can't keep hounding them, you know.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: No one's perfect, no brand is perfect.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I completely echo that and I completely agree with you.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I think, you know, just thank you, you know.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for coming on the show and thank you for sharing your beautiful brand and just what you've created is magical.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: It I really love it.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, when I can use a product every day, that tells me the real value of it.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I love you.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and everyone out there listening, everyone listening.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to tag obviously on um our post, you know, our uh cover art for this, but definitely go check out Lamique Beauty, you know.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh just go check it out.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: You're really gonna fall in love.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, just to start off, you know, get the get the trio for the lip glosses.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's such a beautiful product.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: I promise you're gonna love it.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, just check it out.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: And also, if you're you know, I just want to say this is like I'm sick seeing people write on social media support black business and then not walk the talk.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you really want to walk the talk, then I'm telling you seriously, like black business or not aside.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_03: This is a genuinely good brand.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_03: This this lip, like the lip range, the eyebrow products, like everything that Kim has made is a genuinely amazing formula.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh really good.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_03: You can use it every day, you're gonna use it from the beginning to the end.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_03: I promise you that.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_03: So support her, support the business, you know what I mean?
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_03: Based on that, and also obviously support Black Business.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, yeah, thank you so much.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and um, thank you so much, Kim.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm it was an honor hosting you.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 39:23
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• 39:27
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• 39:30
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• 39:45
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• 40:00
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• 40:02
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• 40:10
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• 40:22
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• 40:27
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.