How The Lip Bar Is Knocking Down the Traditional Standards of Beauty, According to its Creative Director

How has The Lip Bar evolved since its inception? 

When The Lip Bar started, we had 12 SKUs, all of which were bullet lipsticks. We actually used to have a full-on bar theme and named all of our lipstick shades after cocktails. Now, we’ve transitioned our brand and we have over 150 SKUs. Our messaging is still focused on inclusion, women’s empowerment and knocking down the traditional standards of beauty, but we’ve evolved our products in a way that’s now more cost-friendly. 

Between COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, how did 2020 affect the brand? 

2020 was hard. It was scary in a lot of ways. But it was also magical at times. The marketing team really had to flex our creative muscles and figure out how to sell products when people weren’t really wearing makeup during lockdown. 2020 forced us to be really honest with our customers and let them know that we aren’t just a brand, and that we were experiencing and feeling the same things that they were — fear, discomfort, confusion. So the most that we could do was to not be super sales-y in our marketing and to let our customers know that we are all in this together and to have real conversations regarding COVID-19.

When the Black Lives Matter protests got a lot of attention in 2020, we saw a huge spike in sales, which was bittersweet in my opinion. I believe that The Lip Bar is an amazing brand with even more amazing products, and during this time, we had a lot of new eyes on us, which is great. But I think a lot of people made their one purchase from a Black business so that they could post it on social media and feel good about it. Then they would go back to their regular ways of spending, not actually caring about the racism and prejudice that happens on the corporate levels of many companies. 

Going forward, what do you hope to see in the beauty industry in terms of diversity, representation and inclusion? 

I’d love to see more inclusion across the board. I’d love to see brands that not only have more inclusive representation as far as marketing, but representation on the corporate level as well. Seeing brands with a token Black model or token person of color hire is quite absurd at this time.

What are some of your favorite Black-owned beauty brands (aside from The Lip Bar, of course!)? 

Some of my favorite Black-owned beauty brands are Beauty Bakerie, Danessa Myricks and AJ Crimson Beauty. 

What’s next for the brand? 

So much! This February we launched in Walmart and released so many new products. Two of those products are our Tinted Moisturizer and the new Skin Glow Highlighting Skin Serum. We are currently developing a full line of skincare, and I’m super excited about that. 

Finally, what are your favorite The Lip Bar products? 

I am madly in love with our new Tinted Moisturizer. It’s the perfect combination of skincare and light and easy makeup. I love our bold liquid matte lipsticks (Bawse Lady, Haute Mess and Playmate). And if I had to pick a third favorite, it would be our new Micro Brow Pencil.