When another brand laid claim to Ada Lip Beauty’s trademark in 2023, it ended up being a blessing in disguise, according to founder Ada Hsieh, who reveled in the opportunity to revamp her brand.
Ada Lip Beauty, which launched two and a half years ago, has become Fluency Beauty and ditched the old iteration of the brand’s muted millennial beige packaging in favor of bold fonts, black-and-white packaging and colorful imagery. “With Fluency, the brand aesthetic is a lot more vibrant,” says Hsieh.
Fluency Beauty’s three-shade multi-stick assortment has two shades from Ada Lip Beauty: semi-matte nude I am Perfect and semi-matte red I am Brave. The third shade is I am Powerful, a semi-matte deep brown shade with purple undertones. Each priced at $26, the multi-sticks are designed for the eyes, lips and cheeks.
While I am Perfect was the bestseller for Ada Lip, Hsiesh notes that I am Brave is the current frontrunner at Fluency Beauty. She credits I am Brave’s rise to post-pandemic consumer preferences.
“Ada Lip Beauty was in the COVID era, and everyone just wanted a daily, easy-to-wear color, but now that we’re kind of out of that phase,” says Hsieh. “Everyone wants to experiment and have more fun, so I think that red is just resonating with where we are now.”
Fluency Beauty doesn’t change the mission and messaging that Hseih established at Ada Lip Beauty of encouraging positivity in customers’ lives. She says, “Fluency is about being fluent about loving yourself and loving others and showing gratitude.”
Hsieh went through two chemists, three formula consultants and a chemistry forum to nail down Ada Lip Beauty’s original plant-based multi-stick formula. She says Fluency’s version is similar, but slightly elevated and containing a greater pigment load.
“Building the brand is just as important as building the product.”
The multi-stick formula includes the ingredients sunflower seed oil, shea butter, vitamin E and tangerine peel oil. Extracts from radish, beet, turmeric and spirulina are responsible for the colors. The packaging is made from corn starch and fully biodegrades within a year, per Hsieh. It can be disposed of in recycling or compost bins.
Fluency aims to raise its profile through imagery posted on social media featuring editorial-like shots featuring older women and lots of flowers and plants as well as a small group of influencers. “They’ve followed along this entire time and still want to help spread the word,” says Hsieh.
A lesson Hsieh from Ada Lip Beauty is that “customers aren’t buying the product, they’re buying the dream.” She elaborates, “You can have the best formula on the streets, but in order to sell the product you have to have a solid branding and marketing strategy in place. We all know brands who have less than ideal products, but they have such a fervent following because of their marketing and branding. That’s powerful. Building the brand is just as important as building the product.”
Fluency Beauty anticipates breaking into retail this year and will be participating in Beauty Independent’s trade show Uplink Expo on June 20 in New York City. Ada Lip was stocked on Amazon as well as in indie boutiques and spas.
Hsieh plans to raise capital for Fluency Beauty to support growth and has been in talks with venture capital consultants on how to make her brand compelling to investors. She self-funded Ada Lip Beauty and has been doing the same so far at Fluency Beauty. Hsieh says, “With capital we can do more activations, pop-ups and just collaborations across the board.”
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