placing women of color at the forefront

We’ve all been there. On the search for that shade of “nude” that matches our unique skin color, only to be disappointed by a small selection of cream tones and beiges. After a successful collaboration that launched a shade of rich brown nude lipstick, Edwina Kulego decided to launch her own brand that provided healthy solutions for women of color. Today, Essentials By Edwina offers shades of nude that have been tested on many different pigmented skin tones in order to find a compelling and complementary result. 

I caught up with Kulego to learn more about her brand that keeps women of color at the forefront. 

On the importance of using ‘clean’ ingredients:

“Many consumers are unaware that traditional cosmetics products include ingredients that are derived from animals and also conduct animal testing. I believe that it becomes a conversation about ethics, health and transparency. At Essentials we are all about having honest dialogue with our tribe and educating ourselves on best practices. Essentials is a clean beauty brand: Vegan, Cruelty Free, Paraben Free. Each product is also enriched with vitamin E to keep the lips hydrated and happy.”

On their most popular shades:

“Nogah, the bestseller from our first collection, is now called Ghana and it remains our number one bestseller to this day. The runner up would be Liberia, which is the darkest shade from the collection, and the third is Lala, which is a fiery bold red color. I do believe that the darker shades sell better because they are simply harder to find.”

On plans for their next launch:

“The pandemic has slowed down our plans a tiny bit, but we are back on track now and are working on some exciting new colors to add to our third collection, which we are planning to launch for Holiday. We are also launching a blog on the website to stay connected to our tribe and to create a safe space for women of color and others to share valuable information on beauty and health. It’s an exciting time, and we are so very thankful for our supporters.” 

Follow Essentials By Edwina on Instagram for more.