"If brands cannot offer products that dark-skinned beauties can wear, those brands shouldn’t be offering products at all."
Brand founder NaChé Thompson is one of 40 entrepreneurs to win a coveted grant from beauty giant, L’Oréal in support of her line, NaChé Cosmetics. The brand continues to be a rising star in the beauty space, now with its added boost from L’Oréal's 2024 Inclusive Beauty Fund Grants in partnership with GlobalGiving, the NAACP, and Hispanic Federation.
How were the brands selected?
According to Chief DEI Officer, Liliahn Majeed, these entrepreneurs "are shaping a more inclusive future for the beauty industry and their commitment to bringing products, services, and education to communities across the nation such that more people feel seen and considered is truly inspiring.”
"I immediately started crying when I saw the email saying NaChé Cosmetics had been selected. The struggle to fundraise and constant rejection that comes along with that is really mentally taxing, and that incredible news came at the perfect time," Thompson shares.
The founder has a serious global vision for her brand and is not alone with her frustration regarding the overall a lack of funding for fellow women and people of color.
"It's really slowed my progress, so this grant is transformational for my company. It allows me to expand my product line after years of only being able to offer three products. Along with that, executives from L’Oreal will be mentoring us as part of the grant program," she says.
Thompson admits that she underestimated just how difficult it would be to raise money, despite being aware of the statistics surrounding Black/women-led businesses. She hopes to ultimately beat those odds in spite of the immense challenge.
"Nothing that’s truly for me can miss me."
"NaChé Cosmetics takes a universal approach to product development. If we can solve a long-standing problem for the most marginalized groups of makeup-wearers, the solutions we create will ultimately benefit everyone. With that in mind, we stand for true inclusivity and a push for a better Beauty Industry."
We can't wait to see what comes next from the brand here at Beauty Brief HQ and are already incredibly impressed with what Thompson has developed for her current lineup.
Aside from the quality formulation of the products themselves, we were delighted by the thoughtful creativity that she has put into her packaging.
"One of the things I sought to do with NaChé Cosmetics is push back against traditional beauty standards that leave so many beautiful people feeling excluded. Our packaging is a part of that," Thompson explains.
The exterior packaging features a beautiful graphic of a woman with a deep skin tone and also includes a hidden surprise: when all the boxes are stacked on top of one another, the full picture of the woman comes to life.
While we thought that the unique shape of the NaChé lipstick bottle was intended to be a chess piece, we were excited to learn that it's actually two curvy women standing back to back when you place two bottles side by side.
Currently available on the brand site are (3) highly pigmented lipstick shades including:
Gail - a vibrant brown
Ruby - a deep red
Queen - a gorgeous mauve
Each shade retails at $24.00.
So why lipsticks for a first collection?
"Next to foundation, lipstick is the main product I’ve struggled to find in the perfect shade. I have
countless stories of times where I needed lipstick, but couldn’t find any that looked really good
on my dark skin tone. It’s really frustrating," the founder says.
Thompson is far from the exception.
"I know so many people who’ve had the same issue. They’ve thrown so much money down the drain on poorly produced lipstick that clashes with their skin tones. Companies tend to offer a bunch of lipstick shades that just don’t look great on everyone," she adds.
NaChé Cosmetics was created to be a safe space for deeper complexions.
"My goal was to offer carefully curated shades, tested on real skin to make sure they look great on everyone before we launch[ed] anything. There are more shades to come, and every one of them looks great on a huge range of skin tones," Thompson explains.
The format of her lipsticks are a luxe liquid matte formula that come packed with plenty of pigment, don't flake or dry out the lips, and stay ON for the long run.
NaChé's founder shares that she started out with a limited budget, but knew that she wants her products to be high impact regardless of this fact.
"Matte lipsticks are really versatile. If you’re in the mood for a shinier finish, you can layer another
product over your matte shade. In the future, we’ll launch satin finishes, more mattes, traditional
stick form lipsticks, foundation, concealer, blush, and more," she says.
In order to land on the perfect selection for her shade range, Thompson held a focus group that included people with a wide range of skin tones, which has since become her standard practice for all product development at her brand.
"We literally tried 50 shades of lipstick that day. Everyone tried on every shade. The shades that didn’t look incredible on every single person in the room got thrown in the trash. We narrowed it down to 10 shades," she says.
The NaChé founder picked 3 of those 10 that she felt would be the most frequently used of the whole mix, something her audience would want in their makeup bags right away.
We were curious to learn more about the founder's own personal relationship with beauty.
"As a dark-skinned Black woman, someone with features society tries to tell me I should be ashamed of and hate, I have a complicated relationship with beauty. I deeply believe that I am beautiful. I find dark skin unbelievably beautiful. But the Beauty industry leaves me out," Thompson shares.
She explained that products frequently leave a white cast on her skin. Even the darkest shades available from many brands are still too light for her skin tone. The founder even describes many blush options as looking like "clown makeup" once applied.
We've seen a MAJOR shift in the conversation around this exact issue in recent news, led by the stunning creator Golloria.
"It’s devastating. How can an industry that is supposed to make us all feel more beautiful constantly neglect to make products that work for people like me? What is the message there? Whatever the message is, I reject it," the founder says.
Adding that "I’m committed to offering an alternative message: that dark skin is beautiful, it is incredible, and that dark-skinned beauties deserve high-quality, thoughtfully designed products that look amazing on them, just like everyone else."
We appreciate the transparency Thompson has when it comes to sharing the struggles with running a small independent business, but there has been immense joy, too.
She's been pleasantly surprised by just how many people tell her they’re thankful for NaChé Cosmetics.
"Each time I’m tabling at an event, there is someone who says they really didn’t think
they could wear red lipstick as a dark-skinned person, and they’re shocked at how incredible our
Ruby shade looks on them. That feeling is unmatched. I feel so touched every single time, and
so honored that my vision is having an impact on people, even though we are at such an early
stage in the company’s journey. People need what we’re making, and being able to provide it
brings me joy," Thompson explains.
The founder has been an educator for over a decade and developed NaChé Cosmetics after needing better makeup options for her first job outside of the classroom years ago.
"The interview was the next day. So I went to a popular makeup store, and left nearly in tears at my frustration about being unable to find a single lipstick shade that looked great on my skin. I went to another store and found an okay shade, but it felt like cement on my face. It made me so angry. Because it wasn’t the first time nor the last time that I felt that frustration or humiliation. I knew I could do better, and I knew people in the same situation as me deserved better. Years later, here we are. I’m a beauty founder committed to inclusivity and to meeting the needs of the historically underserved. Beauty needs to change. It’s past time."
We couldn't agree more.
Thompson is based in San Bernardino, California and says that "one thing we know how to do here is make a whole lot out of just a little bit. That mentality definitely keeps me going and motivates me to keep pushing until my vision comes completely to life."
Inspired by that "make it enough" mentality, the founder explains that her products are also great for multi-use beyond just lipstick. Each shade can also be used as cream blushes, lip liners, and eye shadows.
As far as advice for fellow and soon-to-be beauty founders, Thompson leaves us with the following:
"Run your own race. You may have to run more slowly than the people around you, or you may have to take a different path, and that’s perfectly fine. What you want also wants you. So just keep your vision for your company in the front of your mind and run your own race at your own pace."
You can learn more about NaChé Cosmetics and shop her collection here.
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