“More Than One Token Latina”: Vive Cosmetics Is All About Real Latinx Representation

There are few cosmetic companies bold enough to emblazon the word “chingona” on a liquid lipstick. For Vive Cosmetics, though, the Spanish slang for “bad-ass woman” makes perfect sense. Founded by Latinas Leslie Valdivia and Joanna Rosario, the makeup brand is unabashedly for la cultura y comunidad of Latinx consumers. No matter if they’re first or fifth generation, are Black, brown or white, speak Spanish or not a lick, and prefer full-beat faces or subtler looks, Vive Cosmetics celebrates them and the range of Latinx existence. “Authentic inclusivity and diversity is not a trend nor a recent company initiative, it is in our brand DNA from day one,” says Joanna Rosario, who founded the Sacramento-based brand with Leslie Valdivia. Here, the co-founders discuss putting real representation into practice, the impact of the pandemic on their business and future retail goals. 

Vive Cosmetics co-founders Joanna Rosario and Leslie Valdivia

In 2016, we realized there was a problem in the beauty industry. We saw an immense disconnect between the cosmetics industry and Latina/Latinx women, who are among the country’s largest purchasers of cosmetics. A study conducted by Univision and Vital Findings in 2016 determined that Latinas spend twice as much on beauty products as all other women in the United States. The study also found that 75% of Latinas agree that beauty is an important part of their culture compared to only 56% of non-Hispanic women.

It is findings like these that help reinforce the unparalleled economic power of the Latina/Latinx community, yet big beauty companies continue to overlook or ignore the importance of Latina representation and the Latinx voice in product development and decision-making. Time and time again, we’ve seen offensive and tone-deaf campaigns that are meant to be inspired by us and other communities of color, but are problematic in their delivery because our community has not been present in any boardrooms, marketing departments or executive committees at the world’s largest conglomerate cosmetics brands.

We launched Vive Cosmetics in 2017 as a way of recognizing our importance as consumers and the economic power of our community. We’ve created a brand where Latinas and people of diverse backgrounds are present in decision-making and all over our marketing campaigns. We strive to celebrate the diversity that exists in the Latinx experience and authentically represent our community. Through our mission, we’ve created an emotionally resonant brand with our target audience, with organic growth and a trustworthy message.

“We strive to celebrate the diversity that exists in the Latinx experience and authentically represent our community.”

In the three years since launching our brand, we’ve grown our social media presence to almost 45,000 followers with almost zero marketing budget or major influencer endorsement. Our company has been featured in dozens of media articles such as O Magazine, BuzzFeed, Teen Vogue, CNBC, HuffPost and many more, all without a single pitch or PR agency. Our company has grown organically and has received national media attention mainly through word of mouth and online discovery. This has been a direct result of us understanding the community intimately and speaking to what moves them.

We have worked hard to create trust with our consumers and foster relationships with influencers outside of the beauty space that advocate for our brand. Understanding the problem, belonging to the community, understanding community trends and knowing who the trendsetters with authentic voices gives us an advantage above other brands forcefully trying to reach the Latina/Latinx consumer.

The biggest challenge to our company’s growth is access to capital. As a small, indie, women of color-owned and self-funded brand, we’re always in need of extra capital to expand our existing product categories and create new products more frequently. Our product launches are slow, but intentional.

Vive Cosmetics’ assortment includes liquid and matte lipsticks, and highlighters. It also includes accessories such as a mirror and cosmetic bag.

We are also challenged in that we lack the social capital to create the types of relationships that help launch brands into national retailers or receive venture capital funding. Such relationships include knowledgeable, strategic mentors, and people in the beauty industry and e-commerce spaces that can provide us with guidance to grow our business.

Although we have had some success since founding our company, we have done this without any beauty industry connections and limited industry knowledge. As founders, we have absolutely no prior e-commerce, cosmetics or retail experience, and we understand our growth potential with our limited knowledge. We would love the opportunity to partake in mentorship opportunities in this industry to further help grow our brand.

Most recently, COVID-19 has greatly impacted our business. As a self-funded small brand, we fulfill our orders as needed and manufacture in small batches. Most of our products are made in the United States, so the sudden closures of our contract manufacturer in March created a shock to our inventory flow and, therefore, our revenue. Our manufacturer was closed for months starting in March. We then sold out of most of our inventory. We have been operating for three months with only two products available out of the normal 25 products. Additionally, due to the lab being closed, that also impacted our summer launch plans, which we then decided to postpone it until the following year, and just move forward with our fall and holiday releases only.

“COVID-19 taught us to expect the unexpected, but to also surrender to the present.”

Despite all of these setbacks, we believe the worst has passed for now. Our manufacturer reopened in June, and our sales have spiked. Our loyal supporters have really showed up for us. We’re up over 50% in online sales compared to last year despite being sold out for months and in the middle of a pandemic. COVID-19 taught us to expect the unexpected, but to also surrender to the present. We’ve also discovered new ways to engage with our community that have resulted in sales through many of the live video events we’ve done since the start of the pandemic.

We just hope to end the year strong and continue with our sales growth. It’s scary because anything can happen, but we are hopeful. We will be focusing on growing our online community and expanding our product categories in the next year. We also hope to eventually see our products on the shelves at Ulta or Target in the next year or two.

We are proud to have created a company where we are very intentional about the way we run our business and use our money. As mentioned, our mission is to create a brand with meaningful representation from top down and all levels of business. We do this by mainly working and hiring with only BIPOC, WOC and queer creatives, companies and local businesses to fulfill the needs of our business. This includes makeup artists, photographers, local printing vendors, graphic designers and much more. By reinvesting in our WOC-/BIPOC-/queer-led community and businesses, we strive to create a system of equity where we can all thrive and benefit from each other’s success.

Although makeup brands have suffered during the pandemic, Vive Cosmetics’ online sales are up 50% over last year.

The knowledge of our community and creating an emotionally resonant brand has value and can’t be bought from a marketing agency. Big beauty brands are after our community’s dollars as the Latinx buying power is $1.7 trillion, but reaching our community’s pockets requires a lot more than one token Latina in the ad campaign or Spanish copy. Navigating a diverse community requires awareness of nuances, the right messaging at the right time and authentic community trust. This is why our brand is so important and needs to exist.