How the Founders of Just B Cosmetics Are Making Lipstick More Inclusive

The beauty industry has made strides towards inclusivity, but what do you think still needs to be done?

Madiha: It's one thing to say representation matters. It's another thing to make that happen. So while I agree that with some makeup brands that have been expanding their lines [shade ranges], I want my daughter to open a magazine and find someone that looks like her. That's what representation actually means. Not just color wise, but also age wise and different ways of life. At Just B, we feel and breathe representation in everything that we do. And we're trying to do that by being inclusive at the forefront, rather than as an add-on. 

What truly sets the Lip Spectrum apart from other lip products?

Bina: I think the unique thing we brought is the concept of layering and having a spectrum. We’re not saying, ‘Here’s your lipstick.’ We’re saying, ‘Here’s a spectrum to find your lipstick.’ So we've given control to the customer while giving them very safe parameters to experiment with.

Madiha: What gets me really excited in the morning is deciding what lip I'll create that day. The problem is no longer, ‘Is this going to look good on me?’ It's more about, ‘What do I want to do today?’ It's about my mood and how I'm feeling. Today I mixed the pigment fluid Bougainvillea from the Not Just Magenta Spectrum with the pigment glaze Grapefruit Pink from the Not Just Peach Spectrum and created a happy accident. That’s the amazing thing about the Spectrums. You can mix and match to create something totally unique. 

Just B is all about women empowerment, which is something that Bina and I feel very passionate about. It’s built on the whole idea of empowering, but with encouragement that you can create mixes that work for a set of people who have been under the impression that their skin has something wrong with them. To me, that's what makes it unique.

What was it like creating the brand during the pandemic?

Madiha: We started the company in February 2020, and 30 days later lockdowns started. Throughout this entire journey, Bina and I haven’t been on the same continent, so we built the whole brand using technology wherever possible — through Whatsapp, Zoom and Google Hangouts. The name Lip Spectrum was decided over Whatsapp! We were constantly communicating, and as we were making progress, the pandemic was showing us ways to sharpen the brand. 

For example, masks were becoming a norm, and we were coming out with a lip product. I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t scared. We questioned if people were even going to buy lip products. Then, we thought, ‘Okay, we still need makeup for work calls. How do we create that?’ Or, when we take our masks off and put them back on, how do we make sure our lips still look okay? We ended up creating colors that don’t move around to address this. 

My husband also created a 3D model of the Spectrum, and we overlaid different colors on the model to choose which Pantone we should use because we couldn't keep going back and forth with vendors. We had a lot of hurdles to jump through, but it all ended up working out.

The Lip Spectrum has seen great success so far, but what is next for Just B?

Bina: I'm very aware that lightning seems to have struck, you know, in a non-lethal way. We keep saying, ‘Pinch me!’ I think our customers are also along for this ride and are rooting for us because they're excited about the representation. So I feel like this is almost like a community project that we've done. All it takes is one swipe. And I literally see peoples’ faces light up again and again.

Madiha: That said, we do plan on expanding the color range, but we’re very selective. We don’t want to add 40 or 50 shades to the line. A lot of our time actually goes into really nailing down exactly what we want to do next. We’re figuring out how to bring makeup solutions to South Asian people. We want to play with the duality that we've discussed, but in a way that gives them pleasure and joy.

If people were to take away one thing from Just B, how do you want them to feel?

Bina: I mean it’s in the name: Just be. Just be yourself. We want the brand to be your non-judgmental friend. Someone that you don't have to keep in touch with every day, but you can always go to that friend and can chat with them. It's not about fixing your flaws. It's just being comfortable in your own skin.