Bettina Cosmetics was founded in 1963; and current company President, Bettina Mercado has led the family-owned beauty brand since 2001.
“When my family gave me the opportunity to take over this company, which has been a family business for six decades, I had a successful acting career in New York. However, I took a chance and embraced this project and we have already seen the fruits of our effort,” says Mercado in a media release circulated by the brand this past Monday.
And now, coinciding with the brand’s new Walgreens retail deal, Bettina Cosmetics is supporting other Latin women entrepreneurs with an initiative called Bettina Permia tu Valor.
“We want to recognize other stories of women who have successfully taken that leap,” says Mercado, adding that she expects “their testimonies will help inspire others and with it, boost the economy."
Bettina Cosmetics strives to encourage and support Latinx women entrepreneurs
For now, the Bettina Permia to Valor is a competition open to entrepreneurs in Florida “who even in times of crisis, like those caused by the pandemic, dared to take a leap of faith and launch their company,” according to the media release. But the brand has plans to roll the initiative out across the United States.
(“To enter Bettina Premia tu Valor, participants will post a photo or video of themselves along with their success story on Facebook or Instagram tagging @bettinacosmeticsusa and @bettinacosmetics using the hashtag #BettinaCosmetics.”)
The 5 selected entrepreneurs will have a nail color named after their business and the proceeds from the online sale of each color will go to the corresponding winning brand.
Bettina Cosmetics expands beyond Puerto Rico to reach more Latinx beauty consumers
Bettina Cosmetics already had a presence in the US market, retailing in 28 Navarro pharmacies and over 100 Walmart stores across Florida. And according to this week’s media release Bettina Cosmetics nail polishes are the best-selling nail color products in Puerto Rico.
Now, 50 of the brand’s 145+ nail colors are available in over 600 Walgreens stores in Florida. “It is with great pride and excitement we announce that, thanks to our partnership with Walgreens, our nail polishes are now available at 738 points of sale throughout the state of Florida,” says Mercado.
“We bring a quality product with beautiful colors while still offering a competitive price that is lower compared to other global brands,” she adds, explaining one aspect of the brand’s value proposition.
And Mercado has plans to expand not only the entrepreneurship initiative across the States but the Bettina Cosmetics brand as well: “I also dream of taking our products to places where there are more populations of Hispanic women like Texas, New York, New Jersey and more,” she says.
“In fact, from these and other states, we receive several online orders, which tells us there is a demand and brand recognition in many other states.” There are also plans to expand the Bettina Cosmetics brand into Central America, starting with Peru.
Meeting expectations of Latina beauty consumers across the Americas region
Bettina Cosmetics isn’t simply an affordable brand targeting Latinx consumers; the brand’s full range of color cosmetics products are pigmented “specifically for the skin of Latin women,” as the media release notes.
And, “if there is something that characterizes Hispanic women, it's that they like to accentuate their natural beauty at all times,” says Mercado in her comments to the media. “We always like to be beautiful,” she says—a sentiment that the Cosmetics Design audience will recognize from the recent 5 Insights video on the Latina Beauty movement, featuring Stephanie Flor, Founder of Around the World Beauty.
“With Bettina Cosmetics,” Mercado says, “we want Latin women to have nail polish options beyond the traditional ones and to offer colors that match their skin color and mood.”
