According to Karen Grant, a global beauty analyst at NPD Group, makeup usage has soared in the past decade with the average woman using more than five makeup products in a typical day. Hispanic women, she notes, are “among the most likely to use makeup products and she is more engaged, meaning she is the most likely to not leave the house without it.”
This Hispanic Heritage Month, we are honored to highlight Hispanic and Latinx founders and influencers who are making an impact on the beauty industry. And today, we want to highlight some Hispanic and Latinx founders who are bringing Latinx heritage, culture, and representation to the makeup world!
While we honor and celebrate these founders and the Hispanic and Latinx communities every day, we want to take time this Hispanic Heritage Month to amplify these individuals, their stories, and impact.
Natalia Durazo and LaLa Romero, Co-Founders of Sweet Street Cosmetics and Bella Doña
When artist and fashion designer Natalia Durazo and recording artist LaLa Romero decided to start a makeup line alongside Bella Doña, their successful clothing line, it felt like a “natural progression”.
“Lala and I knew that if we were coming into the makeup game, we needed to come correct. We had to contribute powerful products and statements if we were ever going to make it in this industry with so many amazing brands already producing great products. Winged liner is part of my everyday look, but much like many girls (of all cultures), we heavily rely on a strong, pigmented, precise liner which is hard to come by,” they told NAÏRA.
Their first product, The Wing Queen Liquid Eyeliner, launched in 2019, epitomized all that and so much more. Makeup enthusiasts quickly fell in love and Wing Queen has stayed at the top ever since.
But their outreach and efforts go far beyond the creation phase. Sweet Street and Bella Doña both use actual customers for their photoshoots, not agency models, to highlight real women of all backgrounds.
Durazo and Romero continue to create makeup products and clothes that celebrate their heritage, neighborhood, and culture by “clos[ing] the gap that exists in offerings that celebrate beauty and artistry originated by everyday women of color.”
Durazo’s Instagram | Romero’s Instagram | Sweet Street Cosmetics Instagram | Sweet Street Cosmetics Facebook | Sweet Street Cosmetics TikTok | Website
Gabriela Hernandez, Founder of Bésame Cosmetics and makeup historian
Gabriela Hernandez fell in love with makeup watching her grandmother apply hers each morning. After immigrating from Buenos Aires to the United States and graduating from the Art Center College of Design, she chased her passion of makeup and history.
She fell in love with the history of the makeup ritual and soon published her book, Classic Beauty: The History of Makeup. Not long after, she founded Bésame Cosmetics, which is owned and operated by her and her family.
Named after the phrase “Kiss me” in Spanish, Bésame Cosmetics’ star product is stunning lipsticks that Voyage LA describes as “an outstanding group of products designed to provide the women of today with a dose of the elegance of years gone by.”
And that focus on the elegance of years gone by is especially shown in Bésame’s range of period beauty products, from black cake mascara, beautiful red lipsticks, and cream rogue. Each
“The main reason why I do what I do, make cosmetics, is because my customers tell me that wearing makeup helps them feel beautiful. It empowers them, and it gives them confidence. They don’t do it to impress others, they do it to feel good about themselves and for self-expression,” Hernandez tells PopSugar.
Hernandez’s company also has exclusive Disney limited-edition collections. Entrusted with access to Disney’s historical base of colors, Hernandez creates the collection (and a majority of the art) for editions inspired by Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Mary Poppins!
Bésame Cosmetics Instagram | Bésame Cosmetics website
Megan Martinez, Founder of Chaos Makeup
For self-taught celebrity makeup artist Megan Martinez, makeup was a “means of survival” as a teenager. By 15, she thought of herself a full-time makeup artist and started making her way in the world, applying for national gigs, publications, and more.
When she worked as a celebrity makeup artist, Martinez loved using bright colors and lots of highlighters, but she couldn’t find a product that combined the two. Instead, she started making them, and Chaos Makeup was born.
Chaos Makeup’s first highlighter boosted it to fame (Allure reports that some of Martinez’s products are even in Val Garland’s kit!) and it has stayed in the spotlight ever since.
Martinez is deeply proud of who she is, where she comes from, and the change she’s making in the world. “I’m really proud of being Latina. I don’t feel there are a lot of tattooed Latinas in my industry. I am part of a group of Latina women who are up and coming in this industry. Selena’s legacy – my favorite artist and influence – made me feel like I could do whatever I wanted if I worked hard for it and believed in myself,” she told Remezcla.
Martinez continues to give back to her community in a big way. Remezcla reports that Martinez is the only known makeup artist in the US recognized at the local, county, state and national level for their humanitarian work. According to Chaos Makeup’s site, “a percentage of each purchase goes towards funding local animal rescues, international animal rescues, and humanitarian goods.”
Chaos Makeup Instagram | Chaos Makeup TikTok | Chaos Makeup website
Regina Merson, Founder of Reina Rebelde
A self-described makeup addict, Regina Merson thought her life’s work lay in being an attorney. But she soon realized that her true love lay with makeup, so she took a chance and founded Reina Rebelde, meaning “rebel queen”.
Reina Rebelde is one of the first makeup lines to celebrate Latina culture. Merson told Chica Beauty that “My culture is the full inspiration for Reina Rebelde. Without my love of Mexico and being Latina there is no Reina Rebelde.”
On their website, Reina Rebelde describes their collection as products “that will take us from glamorous to fierce, aspirational to trailblazing, messy to polished, and allow us to unapologetically and authentically share our Reina Rebelde essence with the world.”
Merson continues to handle nearly every order and run tech support, social media marketing, and more, and sources from other Latina-owned businesses to help uplift the entire community.
Merson’s Instagram | Reina Rebelde’s Instagram | Reina Rebelde’s TikTok | Reina Rebelde’s website
Simone Xavier, COO and Co-Founder of Sigma Beauty
Simone Xavier may have the most unique background of any executive in the industry: according to the Sigma Beauty website, she’s a former veterinarian with a PhD in infectious diseases.
During a trip to Brazil, Xavier and her husband noticed a gap in the industry. There was a true need for good makeup brushes, so they got to work, using their savings to create and launch their first brush set in 2009.
That brush set sold out fast and the company, Sigma Beauty, soon expanded to do business in 70 countries and carried in over 2400 physical stores.
“Being a Brazilian woman striving in business, especially a business I was not trained for, I think that has been very empowering,” Xavier said to Forbes. “…Take me as an example that you can do anything you put your mind to. It doesn’t matter if you are a woman, doesn’t matter if you’re Latina, it doesn’t matter if English is not your first language, nor if you have come from another place. None of that has been really a barrier for us to strive and for me to be able to do the things I do today.”
Xavier continues to create forward-thinking, clean, sustainable, inclusive and cruelty-free products that serve people across the globe.
Stay tuned for more posts celebrating Hispanic and Latinx skin and body care, and other beauty industry founders!
