How Perseverance Led Beauty Bakerie To Become A Must-Have Beauty Brand — Shop Now

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In honor of Juneteenth, OK! is highlighting several of the incredible stories behind our favorite favorite Black-owned and founded beauty brands. Today, we’re taking a look at the origins of Beauty Bakerie, a beloved cosmetics company that is now available at Ulta, Amazon and CVS, among other major retailers.

Before earning international recognition for its must-have formulas and adorable, baking-themed packaging, Beauty Bakerie founder worked tirelessly to make her brand what it is today through perseverance. At just 27 years old, Beauty Bakerie’s founder and CEO Cashmere Nicole was a single, working mother battling breast cancer when she launched her company, using her health struggles to inspire the brand’s mindful formulas.

“During a challenging, but successful fight with breast cancer, Cashmere became extremely health conscious and research-driven about the products we put in and on our bodies,” reads the brand’s about page. “The Beauty Bakerie brand is a direct reflection of Cashmere’s perseverance and passion for both high quality, healthy ingredients that enhance the beauty in everyone, every day.”

But it’s not just good for you — beyond its ingredients, Beauty Bakerie’s products actually work. Alongside garnering stellar reviews from beauty gurus, the company boasts several high-profile fans like gold medal-winning gymnast Gabby Douglas, who launched a line of lip products with the brand back in 2017, and even Beyoncé, who was spotted sporting the company’s Cranberry Stiletto Lip Whip on a night out.

“The mission of this brand was created to both inspire and empower its reader,” Nicole explained to Digital Beauty back in 2019. “To remind them that life is sure to deliver challenges, setbacks and trials, but it is up to us to consider how we will approach those trials."

And it seems part of this empowerment comes through inclusivity. Unlike other beauty brands that list their complexion products from lightest to darkest, Beauty Bakerie takes a different approach, organizing their items — including all 30 shades of their InstaBake Aqua Glass Foundation — in order from darkest to lightest, a conscious choice Nicole said was to encourage all of her customers to feel beautiful in their own skin.

"There are constant reminders, subtle and overt, that being a woman of color is second best," Nicole said during a 2018 interview with Refinery 29. "For foundation, I know what's important to me as a Black woman — that's why the order is from dark to light. I wanted equal representation, and for everyone to feel just as beautiful."

Beauty Bakerie’s Matte Lip Whip retails for $20 at ulta.com.

Beauty Bakerie’s InstaBake Aqua Glass Foundation retails for $34 at ulta.com