Playing Up the Natural Ginger with Just For Redheads

In 1994, Paula Pennypacker lost her bid to become mayor of her native Toledo, OH. But it wasn’t long before the strawberry-blonde began to see red. But not in an angry sense. A rejection in a career in politics was a redirection to address the politics of the ginger-haired community with a color cosmetics line just for redheads. 

“When I lost the chance to change Toledo, I decided to change the lives of redheads,” she told Happi.

The namesake venture, which she began in her early 30s, was prompted by television appearances. She would watch herself and feel insecure about her makeup (the modern-day “Zoom Effect”). It was the start of the post-grunge era in music and navy-blue mascara was rocked by what she called her “darker-hair” counterparts. The then-trendy mascara only made her pale lashes appear garish and unflattering, she said.

“I always really admired the natural look [that] conventional mascara gave my darker haired sisters,” she recalled. “When I put it on, I looked like a clown.”

In her quest to appear soft and approachable, she started Just For Redheads with her late husband, Duane Abbajay. Pennypacker applied her business degree from the University of Toledo and her experience selling corrugated packaging for Fortune 500 Company Owens-Illinois Corp. into tracking down a manufacturer to produce a test run of her first product: ginger red mascara. To counteract the painted-on look that black mascara provided to her pale lashes, her formula didn’t contain a trace of black. The aim was to give lighter lashes a natural look to blend with ginger manes across the red spectrum, from strawberry blonde to auburn. 

Pleased with the mascara’s natural effect, Pennypacker issued a news release to beauty magazines to introduce the red-brown formula—and the phones have not stopped ringing since, she said. 

That mascara—which remains the brand’s flagship product—is now part of an arsenal of 150 cosmetic products ranging from lipsticks to blush to eyeshadows that flatter the coloring of redheads.  

My Fair Lady

Just for Redheads’ color cosmetics are aimed to flatter the eye and hair coloring in addition to the fair and porcelain skin tones shared by redheads. For lips, the brand makes a Retractable lip crayon in Berry, Fawn, Toasted Peach and Nude. Its mineral lipsticks in Pout, Tawney Peach, Cashmere and Crimson Wisp are high impact and lightweight color with semi-matte finish. Eyeshadows include Crystal Blue, Golden Suede, Dusty Taupe and Spanish Moss. The brand also makes blush and bronzer in Whisper Quartz and Rio De Janeiro, respectively. 

Mascara Studio Lengthening & Volumizing is a water- and smudge-proof formula enriched with panthenol and vitamin E. It is available in Ginger Auburn, Ginger Cocoa and Ginger Brown shades. The brand’s Tinted Brow Gel conditions eyebrows while adding fullness to complement a natural look. 

Recently, the brand branched out into hair care offering shampoo, conditioner, hair extensions (range of reds from auburn to strawberry blonde) and henna. 

Aside from redheads, the cosmetics are also a hit with the blonde and even gray-haired consumers seeking to lighten up their look in their mature years, she said.

Looking back 30 years, Pennypacker’s political loss turned out to be a red-hot win for the ginger-haired demographic.