Beauty is an art form, but it’s easy to overlook the fact that nature is too in our industry. We love product-centric visuals and splashy marketing campaigns – we’re involved in their creation as marketers – but taking clean ingredients and making them front and center in a way that doesn’t feel overplayed is rare.
What first captured our attention from Fluency Beauty was the seamless blurring of both. Vibrant visuals, pigmented swatches, and an inclusive celebration of beauty with striking photography and organic accents that still do not detract from the fact that the lip products being sold seriously pop.
Fluency’s product portfolio currently consists of (3) shades of multi-sticks that can be used on lips, cheeks and eyes. Each multi-stick retails for $26.00 on the brand site and can be bundled together for $10 off at $67.85 USD.
Shade Offerings:
There’s four major pillars of Fluency Beauty:
Vegan Formulations
Cruelty-Free & Leaping Bunny Certified
Full Circle Ethos
Care for Physical & Mental Health
We were curious to learn more about the brand’s Full Circle Ethos.
“We return what we take,” Fluency founder Ada Hsieh explains.
“Our ingredients are sourced from suppliers that utilize regenerative agriculture techniques – farming that works with nature instead of against it. Not only that, but our packaging is biodegradable made from plant starch so that it breaks down in the soil in less than a year.”
Hsieh’s least favorite thing about the beauty industry is cost-cutting when it comes to ingredient sourcing that is a common practice found at big conglomerates. She views it as thoughtless and disagrees with the lack of knowledge exploitation that targets consumers.
And while thanks to the overwhelming access to information we have today, it’s certainly becoming easier to be informed, there’s also an endless supply of misinformation that can easily lead consumers astray when it comes to understanding the significance of the products they’re purchasing and putting on their faces.
We also love Fluency Beauty’s acknowledgment of beauty and mental health, and how the two can be very closely connected more often than not.
“My mind is always running a million miles per second, but when I sit down to do my makeup, I find that [it] quiets down and I’m completely focused on this art form,” the Fluency founder says.
“It’s color therapy and it’s so much fun. It’s relaxing. It makes us feel good and we’re in the moment,” she adds.
Prior to founding her brand, Hsieh didn’t come from the beauty business historically. Fascinating enough, she worked as a trader on Wall Street, but grew to feel that it all felt a little pointless.
“Helping the rich become richer? I yearned for more, for [something] deeper,” Hsieh says.
This wake up call is something many of us can relate to, even if we’ve never stepped foot on Wall Street the way Ada has.
“Some people may think beauty is surface level and how could that be any deeper than trading millions of dollars a day? What they don't realize is that beauty rituals go so much deeper. It's an emotional act,” the founder says of her professional transition.
“Why do cancer patients remember to doll up and throw on their favorite lipstick still? Why do women refer to makeup sometimes as war paint? I wanted to help people feel good about themselves and then when they do, maybe the world would be better for it,” she concludes.
To Hsieh, the absolute best part of the beauty business is the opportunity for self-expression and self-care.
“It’s a mood-booster and a vibe. It just makes us feel good,” she explains.
We GET it, Ada.
Fluency Beauty is new in its journey, but we anticipate big things for the brand, including a significant rise in brand awareness over the next year and interest from retailers to cement partnerships if they’re savvy.
As for advice for aspiring brand founders and new founders in the beauty space, Hsieh leaves us with this:
“Research, research, learn, learn, and then just do it. Put your ego and fears aside. You don't have to have things figured out. No founder does and we do it anyway.”
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