Get To Know: The Lip Bar

Get To Know: The Lip Bar

Last Updated on November 20, 2022

From the fairest skin tone to the deepest complexion, The Lip Bar brings you all the makeup essentials that you can apply and be out of the door (or on that Zoom meeting) in under 10 minutes. The Lip Bar is makeup…with the quickness.

If you’ve never heard of The Lip Bar, get ready for an interesting read. In this article, we will be breaking down how the brand came to be and their philosophy, before jumping into their diverse product range and offerings. We will also be discussing why you may want to consider buying The Lip Bar products, and where they’re sold, so you can mobilize the glam squad for the next shopping day.

TL;DR: The Lip Bar’s brand profile

Who is The Lip Bar?

After graduating from college, a young Melissa Butler headed to the big city to work on Wall Street. However, she soon began to feel unfulfilled with her career. Whenever she went beauty shopping, she would become frustrated with the lack of makeup available to black women that were affordable and non-toxic. In true black woman fashion, she decided to start her own line.

Melissa spent countless nights and weekends researching formulas and reaching out to cosmetic chemists on LinkedIn. She began to learn how to mix lipstick formulas without compromising their ingredients. She did this until she successfully came up with her signature formula. After sacrificing her time, energy and even a bit of her roommate’s personal space, The Lip Bar was founded. The brand launched in 2012.

To scale her business, Melissa took The Lip Bar to the big screen, appearing on an episode of ABC’s Shark Tank, a show where entrepreneurs hope to secure funding to grow their ideas. It wasn’t all good news for Melissa, however, as the judges told her that her business had no future. Instead of allowing that to dampen her dreams, she used it as fuel to invest even more of herself into her brand. She launched The Lip Bar pop-up truck, in order to get her lipsticks in the hands of consumers. Moreover, the show brought much-needed exposure to her brand – especially amongst the African American community. Public support coupled with Melissa’s own grit and initiative, she met with outstanding success.

Today, The Lip Bar products are worn by numerous women of all races, including celebrities like former First Lady, Michelle Obama.

Pictured below, circa 2015: The Lip Bar pop-up that launched the brand to fame. Melissa (right) strikes a #winning pose with her business partner.

The Lip Bar philosophy

The Lip Bar embraces the multicultural and diverse range of women that search for inclusive and non-toxic makeup. It believes that beauty isn’t a one size fits all, and that black women should have access to vegan and cruelty-free makeup like everyone else.

“The Lip Bar defies beauty standards not just by the products we produce, but also through the voice we provide to our customers. We tell their stories. Our imagery reflects diversity because that’s reality, beauty isn’t a singular look. The way we approach beauty and the way we want our customers to look at beauty isn’t linear. It’s inclusive of women who are a variety of shades, hair textures, shapes and sizes.”

Melissa Butler, Forbes Magazine

So whether you’re a dark Kenyan goddess like Lupita Nyong’o, or brown-skin beauty like Chloe & Halle, The Lip Bar boasts a wide variety of shades you can wear. Melissa challenges the status quo through her brand, contributing to the growth we see today in the black beauty space. She uses her company to prove that we don’t have to beg for a seat at anyone else’s table, we can always build our own.

The Lip Bar‘s product range

Although The Lip Bar started with a line of colorful, highly-pigmented lipsticks that are black-woman friendly, they now offer a much wider range. You can find a collection of liquid matte lipsticks, glosses, liners, brow products, and eye shadow palettes for the perfect full face of glam. They make their products with clean natural ingredients like Shea Butter and Avocado Oil, soft on the skin and easy to apply. They are also cruelty-free, which means they don’t test on animals.

Customers gush about their products on social media, which has brought the brand multiple awards over the years. The Fresh Glow Bronzer-Blush, for example, won Best Contour Set in Allure’s 2020 Best of Beauty Awards. If there was a product we recommend from the range, it would be their #1 best-selling, red liquid lipstick called “Bawse Lady” (see below). This classic shade is a must-have staple for any occasion, and it looks great on all skin tones.

While prices vary in different locations, The Lip Bar’s website has products starting from as low as $10. In addition to single items, they also offer seasonal deals and discounts that you can take advantage of. For example, the Easy Beauty Bundle is a great introductory kit into the brand. This bundle contains an edit of makeup essentials consisting of foundation, concealer, face palette, brow pencil, and lipstick.

Below is a collection of The Lip Bar’s product range:

Where to buy The Lip Bar Products

The Lip Bar is available to local and international shoppers through their owned website and Amazon online store. United States customers can also shop their products in over 700 Target locations, Target online, Walmart online, and selected Meijer stores. When next you are visiting Detroit (or if you live there), feel free to pop into their flagship store as well (1435 Farmer Street, Detroit, Michigan).

Why should you buy The Lip Bar Products?

Here are five reasons why The Lip Bar may be worth your time and money.

  1. Vegan, Paraben-Free and Cruelty-Free

With beauty products for black women such as makeup and relaxers being linked to different forms of cancer and other diseases, the time for clean beauty is now. Imagine being able to use your makeup without worrying that it is too harsh, invasive, or filled with toxic chemicals. The Lip Bar gives you that luxury. You don’t need to worry that their beauty products will cause long-term medical issues. Non-toxic beauty products are your duty to yourself, to ensure that you are healthy, and that you remain that way. This is what The Lip Bar represents. Also, they are not tested on animals, which is always a massive bonus.

2. Quick and Easy To Use

As a self-proclaimed “Home of Fast Face”, The Lip Bar provides the convenience of quick application. It is a great choice of brand if you’re looking for makeup for your work-from-home Zoom face, or if you’re more of a simple makeup gal. Their packaging is uncomplicated, and their formula goes on easily. Their skin tint foundation, for example, provides a soft skin-like finish that literally melts into your skin. This brings us to our next point: a big reason their products are easy to apply is their formula.

3. Lightweight and Long-Lasting Formula

Nothing is better than makeup that doesn’t even feel like it’s there. The Lip Bar’s lightweight formula has customers raving about its smooth skin-like finish. Their creamy concealers, tinted moisturizers and airy finishing powders make wearing makeup a fun, but simple ordeal. The products are also smudge-free, making them wearable all day. If you’re looking for amazing coverage with minimal product, The Lip Bar’s face products are where it’s at.

4. Award-Winning Products

Don’t just take our word for it, the experts themselves agree that The Lip Bar is worth the hype. Although they only launched in 2012, the brand has won multiple awards across their range. Here are some of their most recent accolades:

  • Best Lipstick Brand – Melanin Awards 2020
  • Best Skin Tint – Pop Sugar Beauty Awards 2021
  • Best of Beauty – Allure Beauty Awards 2020
  • Beauty Innovator Award – Refinery29
  • Best Red Lip Stain – Wall Street Journal 2019

The Bawse Lady lipstick is a notable award-winner which former First Lady, Michelle Obama wore and used as a catalyst to boost voter registration among black women in the U.S. Their tinted foundation has also become a staple for many women across the world due of its light and comfortable formula.

5. Diverse and Inclusive Beauty

Though many multinational makeup brands now realize the need for inclusive products, The Lip Bar has been doing it from the start. They were one of the pioneers of diverse and inclusive beauty that is not only well-made, but affordable. They also provide multiple shades to suit many skin tones. Although the black woman is their main inspiration, their marketing visuals feature women of all races.

Conclusion

Whether you’re looking for a new highlighter for that extra glow, or a lightweight concealer for those quick weekend errands, The Lip Bar has you covered. The brand provides a full complement of makeup items for every event, from staple products for a simple application to multi-products for a full face of glam. With its fab, minimalist packaging and sensory textures, the luxurious black girl in all of us will rejoice.



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