Like many color brands, Social Paint began in the lip category. There are 5 colored lip glosses in the band’s product portfolio thus far. Tostado took care to ensure that the gloss formulations are not only gluten free but also cruelty free and include an SPF, which is why she describes the resulting product as “Pretty, Pure and Protective!”
Here, the beauty entrepreneur shares a profile of herself and the Social Paint brand.
Name: Kristen Tostado
Indie Beauty Company: Social Paint
Launched: April 2018
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
Cash flow: Social Paint is privately funded. My husband (partner in the LLC) and I own 100% of the company.
Indie how? To me a beauty brand is independent if it is privately owned by the founder(s) and has a unique “soul” to the brand. In my opinion, indie beauty brands focus on the quality of their products, rather than mass-production.
Team work: 1 employee - ME!
Distribution: Social Paint is distributed globally through our own ecommerce site socialpaint.com, other ecommerce sites safeandchic.com and florabeautybar.com, and at select boutiques in California and Massachusetts.
Years in beauty: This is my first time working in the industry.
Years at Social Paint: I started to develop the concept for Social Paint about 3 years ago.
Entrepreneurial experience: Prior to launching Social Paint, I had an invitation/card company, and a neighborhood tutoring business.
The business: I founded Social Paint because of the lack of (sometimes non-existent) cosmetic products available in the market that are clean/natural/organic, certified gluten free and cruelty free, anti-aging, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory. After a childhood spent mostly feeling ill and dealing with various health issues, I was finally diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2004. I felt a sense of relief to know what was going on and to learn how to heal myself. I started to dissect every ingredient list looking for gluten and was disappointed to also discover how many harmful chemicals are in our daily products.
The wow-factor: What sets Social Paint apart is that our lip glosses are certified Gluten Free (this is a process!), certified Cruelty Free (by Leaping Bunny), SPF 15 using only the safest non-nano zinc oxide (physical/mineral block that does not enter the bloodstream, tasteless and odorless), anti-aging, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and made in California!
The customer: Our target customer is anyone who is interested in living the most natural, toxin-free life possible.
Milestone moment: I love to see our followers on Instagram tag us in their posts and rave about our glosses.
Advice for fellow beauty entrepreneurs: Listen to your gut instinct and don’t cut corners to save money. Keep going with your vision and the quality of your product should be paramount.
Just one: Asked about her go-to product, Tostado says it’s organic rose-hip oil.
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.