True + Luscious is one of many indie brands, which simply by existing, illustrates how yesterday’s beauty intrapreneur can become today’s entrepreneur and build businesses that disrupt the industry from a whole new angle. Here, Mehir Sethi shares notes on the beginnings of a color cosmetics brand that she plans to lead into high-volume omnichannel success.
Name: Mehir Sethi, CEO and Founder
Indie Beauty Company: True + Luscious
Launched: May 2020
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
Cash flow: I own 80% of the business. No funding yet. And, we passed $1 million in sales in 2020, our first full year of operations, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. (Read more about how Sethi has been financing her brand’s growth here on Beauty Independent.)
Indie how? To me, a beauty brand qualifies as indie if it is independently owned and operated by entrepreneurial founders.
Teamwork: 7 employees, 3 full-time, 4 part-time
Distribution: True + Luscious is sold across the US through Amazon and on our website www.trueluscious.com.
Years in beauty: 15
Years at True + Luscious: 3
Entrepreneurial experience: I created one of the world’s first all-vegan beauty brands in 2007, which was recently acquired by a retail conglomerate. My career in the global beauty industry spans 15 years as a beauty brand founder, an advocate for cosmetic safety and product development consulting for some of the world’s most recognized color cosmetics brands.
The business: True + Luscious is a clean, wellness-focused beauty brand with a range of makeup and skincare essentials powered by botanicals. Our mantra: Good. Clean. Glam.
The wow-factor: Clean formulas that support and nourish your skin. All-vegan and cruelty free with a minimum packaging philosophy.
The consumer: Clean-conscious consumers looking for skin-friendly alternatives to their everyday essential beauty products.
Milestone moment: Our products being used by makeup artists on their celebrity clients. It is the best possible endorsement of a beauty brand’s product quality and performance!
Advice for fellow beauty entrepreneurs: Develop your own proprietary formulas with a clear idea of who your target customer is.
Just one: My go to product is our Flowerdose Lip & Eye Serum. I use it daily and carry it everywhere to de-stress and hydrate my lips and eye area.
