Brand Bio's
Morphe Brushes
Alexa Ries
Morphe was founded in 2009 by siblings Linda and Chris Tawil who shared a vision of bringing high quality brushes and products into the industry. They started with a retail space in California that is still open today. Over the past few years Morphe has developed high quality makeup such as eyeshadow pallets, which are known for their pigmentation, blend ability, and affordability. Their brushes and brush sets are comparable to MAC cosmetics high end brushes but are half the price. Major influencers such as Jaclyn Hill have become affiliates of Morphe because they believe in their products so much. In 2014, Hill and Morphe collaborated to create an eyeshadow pallet full of Hill’s favorite colors which sold out in 24hrs. Morphe continues to grow and gain more attention through the use of social media, influencers, and their price point.
M⋅A⋅C
BreAnna Ganske
Founded in 1984 in Toronto Canada, Makeup, Art, Cosmetics (M⋅A⋅C), was started by photographer Frank Toskan and salon owner Frank Angelo. The brand was created as Angelo and Toskan wanted better color options that would work well with photography. M⋅A⋅C has been the “ultimate color authority” since (MAC, n.d.).
Hourglass
Taylor Jobes
Hourglass Cosmetics was founded in 2004 when beauty industry veteran Carisa Janes saw a void in the beauty market. Founded with a commitment to reinventing luxury cosmetics, Hourglass has carved a niche for itself as an innovative beauty brand. Hourglass exists at the revolutionary intersection of science, beauty and luxury. The brand is acclaimed for its breakthrough formulations, technological innovations and unwavering commitment to reinvention.
Benefit Cosmetics
Maureen Kelly
Co-founders (and identical twin sisters), Jean & Jane Ford began creating cosmetics in the late 70s after achieving success as commercial models & makeup artists. During their professional careers dabbling in all things beauty, Jean & Jane were inspired to open a neighborhood makeup boutique in San Francisco. What began as an impetuously fun neighborhood venture (a veritable “beauty locker room” for bonding over gloss & gossip) has grown into something grand & global (Benefit, 2017).
Kylie Cosmetics
Alexa Ries
Kylie Cosmetics is a new brand within the industry but already gaining major attraction and popularity. Kylie Jenner launched her famous lip kits globally in the beginning of 2016, which included a lipstick and lip liner. After fans got a taste of the lip products they demanded more and Kylie delivered. Since then she has used Kylie Cosmetics as a platform to create and share her favorite products. In just a year the line has grown to include eyeliners, eyeshadows pallets, crème shadows, highlighters, blushes, and holiday themed products. The products can only be purchased online through her website or when she surprises fans with pop up shops around California and one in New York.
Nars
BreAnna Ganske
François Nars, born in the south of France in 1959, has always been obsessed with fashion, color, magazines, and beauty. Growing up around a mom who wore little makeup and a grandma who adore it, Nars was able to find a balance between a full face of makeup and nude (Gonsalves, 2014). It was this talent that landed him jobs with famous photographers, models, and magazines in the late 1980’s. Nars, feeling as though the makeup world need more options, released a line of lipstick at Barneys in 1995 (Background François Nars, 2015). The small line was so successful, the full line and brand of NARS was born. In 2000, Shiseido bought NARS.
Too Faced
Taylor Jobes
Too Faced is a limited liability company started by Jerrod Blandino (Chief Creative Officer) and Jeremy Johnson (CEO) in 1998. when both were unimpressed with the seriousness of the makeup industry. Feminine colors like pink had taken a bad rap during the 90’s decade, and they wanted to change that stigma by starting their own company that was unapologetically glamorous and feminine. With inspiration coming from the love of Paris and European girliness. The first product released was a boutique brand. Today, Too Faced is one of the top leading cosmetic companies in the industry, creating innovative cruelty-free cosmetics that celebrate women.
Milk Makeup
Maureen Kelly
Milk Makeup was founded by Milk cofounder Mazdack Rassi, beauty and fashion editor and E! News correspondent Zanna Roberts Rassi, seasoned Milk Girl and creative director Georgie Greville, and product developer and COO Dianna Ruth. All aspects of the line are developed in-house at our downtown NYC home, Milk Studios (Milk Studios, 2017).
Urban Decay
Alexa Ries
In the 1990’s makeup was taken over by bright colors only, such as pink, red and beige. The founder Sandy was frustrated with the low selection on colors and decided to create her own makeup with a wider range of colors. She wanted to wear purples, greens, and black, and the industry didn’t have colors like that at the time. Sandy and her business partner Wende Zomnir launched Urban Decay in 1996 with a line of 10 lipsticks and 12 nail polishes. The line made a little fewer than 5 million the first year. Their first advertisement in a magazine was titled “Dos Pink Make You Puke?” to show how sick they were of all the current trends. Fast forward to today and Urban Decay has made it well past the grunge of the 1990s. With a growing global market and strong presence online, Urban Decay continues to dominate the industry. In 2013 L’Oréal purchased Urban Decay for an estimated 350 million.
Tarte Cosmetics
BreAnna Ganske
Maureen Kelly, founder of tarte, is addicted to beauty products. Back in 1999 she started to pay attention to what was in the products she was using. Displeased with what she found, she set out to create a products with no “icky stuff,” as she calls it, that also had pretty packaging. She began selling products out of her New York City apartment. With a little finesse, Kelly was able to gain earned media from beauty writers at breakfast hosted by Henri Bendel — the first store to carry her line (Adler, 2010). Now the brand is offered at major beauty stores and QVC.
Bite Beauty
Taylor Jobes
Founded in 2011 by Susanne Langmuir in downtown Toronto. Langmuir first began working as an employee within the product development department in the cosmetic industry. Her background was traveling, sourcing, and working with natural and organic products. She developed her own idea of an organic face oil and thought it would be a hit but it failed. Decided to open a custom fragrance store next and again failed due to a sewage flood. She raised money through friends and family to try her next idea which was “good enough to eat ingredients” lipstick.
Colourpop
Maureen Kelly
ColourPop was born, raised and made with love in the City of Angels. Founded in 2014 by Seed Beauty, we pride ourselves on being wallet friendly and bunny approved. We test our products in the nicest way possible, leaving fur babies to be fur babies and experimenting on people instead (the people at ColourPop HQ to be exact!). We like long walks on the beach, sipping margaritas, swatching Lippies in the moonlight, and... oops, got a little sidetracked! Back to business. Trends come and go, so it’s super important to us that you can keep up with this ever-changing industry without breaking the bank. You can try out the latest trends without serious commitment because our luxury formulas are priced for experimentation. They’re also, like, really pretty. We’re dedicated to creating the best possible products in every shade imaginable for our loyal ColourPoppers & ColourPopettes (Colourpop, 2017).