Creating your own brand can be a scary and difficult adventure for anyone. Add into the equation that you’re a black female, and the process just became that much harder. Even through all of her struggles and hurdles, Leticia Williams founded Vatarie Cosmetics, all the while keeping the ingredients clean and not testing them on animals.
Turning Her Dream Into a Reality
Vatarie Cosmetics is a vegan/cruelty-free cosmetics line with so many beautiful lipstick shades that are kiss-proof and don’t dry out the lips. Even though they launched in June of 2020 during a global pandemic, the brand has seen a good turnout of sales on their website and are here to stay.
“My baby sister and I were supposed to start this brand together, but after she was shot and killed in 2011 I completely gave up,” Leticia said. “2015 is when I dedicated myself and decided to make our dreams a reality. I spent a year and a half testing and creating products until I found the perfect shades and ingredients that were safe and not harmful.”
The Struggles of Starting a Business
Leticia says hard is an understatement for starting your own brand, especially when you’re not born with a silver spoon or already in the eye of the public. It takes a lot of time, money, self-control, and discipline. Many doors were shut on Leticia, but she didn’t let that stop her and now she has a whole line of luxurious lipsticks for consumers of all shades and sizes.
“I’ve always felt like I wasn’t good enough due to mental abuse and being a black woman in this industry feels as though you have to work twice as hard as someone who is not my skin tone. Coming from a broken, struggling, black family dealing with addiction is a child’s nightmare.”
Keeping It Clean
Leticia thinks it’s super important to know what you are putting in your body, and that’s why she makes it easy for all of her customers to know about every ingredient she uses in her products. Not only does she place the ingredients right on the product packaging, but they are also available on the website at www.vatarie.com.
Currently, Vatarie Cosmetics has a line of smear-free liquid lipsticks, but they plan on coming out with even more products. “We are definitely just getting started and plan on bringing more heat to the cosmetics world. We are working on eyeshadow pallets and lipglosses,” Leticia said.
Besides bringing more products to the cosmetics world, Vatarie Cosmetics has big plans for opening their own storefront. The brand is just getting started and the possibilities are endless. If they can have a great start during a pandemic, they can survive anything. Let Leticia’s story be an inspiration to all out there who are looking to start their own business.