If you’re embarking on a new beauty venture, you may want to take a page out of Yandy Smith’s beauty business playbook. Starting a business of any kind is never easy, and with each new startup, business owners are confronted with a unique set of challenges.
For the reality TV star, it was getting the formulation for YELLE Skincare right. Saturday, on the Beauty Carnival stage at the 2019 Essence Festival, Smith details the trials and errors she encountered while developing her clean beauty skincare line.
Following a trip to Sephora where she spent close to $600 on a 30-day skin care regimen to treat her acne, breakouts, and hyperpigmentation, Smith got the idea to create a skincare line of her own.
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After consulting a master chemist and esthetician, the self-proclaimed hustler went into full production mode to yield an affordable all-natural plant-based line. However, she had a few expensive hiccups along the way.
“When I first started the product, I wanted it to smell like papaya. I wanted it to smell like mango. I wanted to have a strawberry line. All of those lines gave me rashes and broke me out,” detailed Smith. “I literally threw out three whole lines. I just threw the money in the garbage. It took us two years to get it right.”
It’s not uncommon for eager beauty business owners to face the same issues. But Smith, who is now in her second year of business didn’t let those challenges deter her. She decided to go back to the basics.
“I said let’s just strip it. Let’s just get back to the pure basics. Let’s stick to the plans. Let’s keep it natural,” she said. “When you want to start something new, don’t give up.”