Samreen’s Vanity Rebrands As Citarë To Celebrate South Asian Heritage

At a time when DEI and immigration are under attack, founder and makeup artist Samreen Arshad is doubling down on her South Asian roots in rebranding Samreen’s Vanity as Citarë.

“I’m an immigrant with a minority-owned brand, and while that could have been my super power, with the climate in the U.S., it’s turned into something that I’m kind of working against now,” she says, who moved to the country from Pakistan in 2005 to attend the University of Michigan. “So, this rebrand is really a story of resilience, of how we’ve been able to really hold our place and elevate the brand.”

She adds, “I always wanted a brand that screamed South Asian beauty when you walk into a store, and, right now, we don’t have that. We’re one of the fastest-growing minority groups in the U.S., and South Asians have the highest household income rate in the U.S., so there’s a lot of spending power and there’s a lot of untapped opportunity there.”

Arshad has changed the name of her brand to Citarë to reinforce its community focus. Officially launching on Oct. 7, Citarë means “multiple stars” or “constellation” in Urdu and Hindi, and its tagline is, “Beauty of belonging.” The packaging and formulations are also getting a cultural overhaul. Arshad hired henna artist Unnati Shah to create designs embossed on the brand’s jewel-toned secondary packaging. Natural ingredients like argan, jojoba, coconut oil and amla or Indian gooseberry are incorporated into the formulations.

“Henna is an integral part of celebration in our culture, and obviously it’s catching on with Western society,” says Arshad. “We don’t just want to be seen, we don’t just want to be included, we want to belong because we do belong here, and that is what I want people to feel when they experience the brand.”

Backed by Backstage Capital, Arshad raised $229,000 last year, including $77,096 on the crowdfunding platform Wefunder, to support the rebrand. She tapped Forner Studio, an agency that’s worked with Apothékary, Blueme and Primally Pure, to spearhead it, and a portion of that funding went toward hiring head of product development, Orly Sigal, former SVP of marketing at Color Street and VP of product marketing at Clinique, on a contract basis. Arshad assembled a 10-member focus group to provide input on the rebrand. “It was important for me to not just make it my vision,” she says.

Priced from $24 to $32, Citarë’s assortment contains six shades of Samreen’s Vanity’s bestselling Dual-Ended Lipstick, three of which are new, four gel eyeliners, two liquid liners and three new lip glosses. Cheek products will be introduced down the line. Product names are being updated. The previous names Sugar High and Nudie Patootie are out. Product names Spiced Chai and Floating Lotus are in.

Arshad has been teasing Samreen’s Vanity’s rebrand on social media since last year. Prior to Citarë’s Oct. 7 official debut, the brand is featuring behind-the-scenes content and product teases on social media and email this month. In August, Arshad will helm a storytelling-driven campaign exploring the identity and purpose of Citarë and how it came to be. Customers will be able to sign up for early access in September.

Arshad says, “Every step is designed to create emotional resonance and sustained momentum.”

Before launching Samreen’s Vanity in 2020 with eyeliners, Arshad worked as a makeup artist and beauty influencer, racking up 40,000 followers and landing shoutouts in publications like Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour. She’s invested around $300,000 from her personal savings into the brand over the years. She appeared on QVC in 2022 and was approached by ABC’s business pitch competition show “Shark Tank” and Costco shortly thereafter. She turned both down.

Arshad explains, “My vision for the brand was always a different positioning, and I really don’t want it to be a mass brand, so I thought starting off with Costco was not the best fit for us.”

She identifies Nordstrom and Harrods as being on Citarë’s dream list of retailers and says the brand has begun discussions with them. She has global ambitions for the brand and aims to expand its distribution to Europe and the Middle East following North America. She’s raising a pre-seed funding round to fuel worldwide growth.

“We’re navigating a fundraising environment where external factors, including the current political and economic climate, do shape how certain founders and narratives are received,” says Arshad. “We’re staying focused on building something lasting and are being intentional about bringing on mission-aligned partners.”