Indie Beauty Entrepreneur Danessa Myricks’ Makeup Innovations

At Makeup in New York, Danessa Myricks sat down with Leila Rochet to discuss her beauty career.

Danessa Myricks Beauty is a household name for many, but founder Danessa Myricks admits her success wasn’t a given when she launched her eponymous cosmetics line several years ago.

“I was a displaced worker and an accidental makeup artist,” Myricks told Leila Rochet, CIO, Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation, during a session at Makeup in New York. “I was a single mom of two. At 30, it was time to recreate my life.”

She did just that. A self-taught makeup artist, Myricks worked for free for a year before snaring her first paid gig.

“I didn’t know anything!” she told Rochet. “Everything was so new, but today, I am grateful for my ignorance. Everything I’ve done has been experimental. It was hard, but I had the courage to try new things.”

Breaking into the professional beauty business was tough enough, but Myricks said the biggest challenge was overcoming her own fears.

“It’s all about having the courage to try new things—even today,” she insisted. “So I live in a space of courage.”

A Vision for You and Myricks

That courage enabled Myricks to create a cosmetics brand that is a reflection of her personal story and the people she meets. Danessa Myricks Beauty line addresses issues that are missing from existing beauty lines and solves consumers’ problems in a creative—and inclusive—way.

Myricks set to create a brand that worked for everyone. She recalled looking at beauty ads and not feeling represented.

“So, regardless of race, sex or gender, I developed a beauty line for everyone in the room. I think of real people when I develop products. I always listen to their stories.”

The Danessa Myricks Beauty product line includes skincare beauty oils, serums and powder, and a wide collection of color palettes for lips and cheeks.

For Myricks, the most difficult part of the makeup manufacturing process is finding partners who are on the same page.

“When I think about our customers, inclusivity isn’t just about the shade, the formula must be inclusive, too,” she explained. “Yes, we want beautiful textures, but if the formula is pure white, so what about people beyond medium? We need partners who feel the same way we do— create products for everybody.”

Inclusivity is top-of-mind, but having fun is imperative for entrepreneurs, according to Myricks. In fact, she maintains that having fun is at the center of everything for Danessa Myricks Beauty.

“Yes, we are problem solvers, but I will never forget about the way makeup makes you feel,” she told Rochet.

Even as a teenager, her mother may not have been able to find a shade to match her daughter’s skin tone, “but when I put on a blue eyeliner, I lit up! It brought me joy,” she recalled.

Today, she and her team focus on all five senses to bring joy and confidence to their customers.

In fact, the company’s acronym is DREAM. That is:

• Dare

• Reimagine

• Ease of use

• Accessible to everyone

• Magic

“There is no ‘No’ in our world,” she asserted. “If it doesn’t exist, we ask ourselves, ‘what do I have to do to make it happen?’”

That mindset enables Danessa Myricks Beauty to launch products that have never been available. Myricks told Makeup In New York attendees that her team is creating new makeup routines.

“We’re not making makeup—we are connecting hearts and minds through beauty around the world,” she asserted. “We’re trying to find partners that are willing to grow with us.”

Advice for Entrepreneurs

Clearly, Myricks is passionate about beauty and how its power to transform her and her customers. But she is just as passionate about her independence.

“There is nothing more important than your own vision and ideas,” she told Makeup In New York attendees. “Stay laser focus on your ideas—despite the competition.”

For entrepreneurs starting a brand or creating their next product, she reminded them to remain true to themselves; know who they are, have a clear intention and trust their gut.

“People told me nobody wanted a blurry balm powder” she recalled. “I’ve heard ‘no’ 10,000 more times than I’ve heard ‘yes!’”

In order to turn a deaf ear to naysayers, she advised beauty entreprenuers in attendance to remain grounded in who they are and who they want to serve.

“Have clarity and intention behind your brand,” she said. “My intention is to serve everyone at all times.”

What’s Next?

Myricks got her start by pushing beauty boundaries; now she wants to reimagine how consumers think of beauty.

“Does it have to be skincare AND makeup? Can it be one?” she asked. “Does the routine have to stay the same? Start with this, then this and end with that? What if we turned it upside down?”

Along that line of thinking, Myricks said she often finds inspiration for new products by starting with the packaging and working backward toward the finished product.

Clearly, Myricks is an inspiring indie beauty success story. But what inspires her? Input from customers who describe how Myrick Beauty changed their lives.

“We’re making space for someone else,” she concluded. “If I give up, if I listen to ‘no,’ who else will shrink?” she asked. “I am making space for ‘more.’ It’s for everyone who hasn’t been seen, hasn’t been heard, or like me, a single mother of two.”