As a young girl in Colorado, Lu Camarena Meshulam always dreamed of becoming a makeup artist. When she moved to New York and started to live her dream, Meshulam had an epiphany: There wasn’t a lot of makeup on the market suited for the wide array of skin tones she saw everyday, including her own. In 2008, she launched LuMesh, a collection of five lip glosses with undertones designed to suit any skin tone. “[The industry] was oversaturated, yet there was huge open space for products that were multifunctional and versatile for women,” says Meshulam, who briefly stepped away from the business, but is now back with a revamped line consisting of Hydrating Lip Gloss and Blendable Lip/Cheek Tint and the same philosophy targeted to a multicultural consumer. This fall, the brand will launch on Birchbox.com and on Meshulam’s own Web site, and this time, she’s thinking big. “My aspiration is to become a prestige global brand which offers products that are practical, minimal yet not typical,” says Meshulam. Here, in the first of an ongoing series in WWD Beauty Inc, we asked three industry veterans to weigh in on the issues confronting Meshulam as she paves the way for growth.
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“LuMesh brings order to the complexity of beauty through a focused assortment of products. Our growth will be through launching complementary products across lip, face, eye, nail, skin and hair care, as part of a five-year innovation pipeline. What categories and sequence of introduction for those categories would you recommend to maximize growth?”
Mentor: Sonia Kashuk, founder, Sonia Kashuk Beauty
“If you’re positioning yourself as a makeup artist and a color brand, that should be your initial focus, especially lip. It’s an easy pick-up and people are willing to try it. As you go into the next phase,
I would talk about face. This is the most difficult customer to get because it is a loyalist. It took me a few years to really own a foundation guest at Target, but once you do, you watch that business explode. That’s when you go into other categories, be it bath and body or skin and hair. Get your customers believing in your expert advice and then guide them into different aspects with your expertise. It takes time. I introduced bath and body 14 years after I had established my brand.”
“A big part of my vision is to grow LuMesh in a way that it will be an attractive acquisition target for a large-scale beauty company. What do you recommend we do to differentiate my company from others?”
Mentor: Claudia Poccia, president and chief executive officer, Gurwitch Products
“What impresses me about your business model is that you developed it with a specific consumer in mind, and it was born out of an understanding of this consumer’s needs. You have a clear and distinct point of view that is now an integral part of the LuMesh brand DNA. Remember that both consumers and brands evolve over time, so the key to long-term success is staying true to your brand’s DNA and ensuring that your innovations always map back to your original vision.”
“The brand is designed to resonate with all women since it works with the undertones of the skin. Still, it’s a fine line to walk between being a brand that works on women of all ethnicities versus an ethnic brand. What do you recommend to maintain our appeal to all women?”
Mentor: Ying Chu, executive beauty director, Glamour
“You have a great vision for your brand in creating makeup that works for tricky-to-match skin tones. Now don’t dilute that vision by trying to be everything to everyone. Instead, focus on making your brand’s point of difference absolutely clear. Your personal story and client base feel relatable and genuine to ethnic women—start here. As an editor, I’ve seen hundreds of beauty lines come and go. The ones that thrive are focused and stay true to brand DNA. I look for that sharp identity when I’m editing for Glamour.”