Today we’d like to introduce you to Mabel and Shaira Frias.
Mabel & Shaira Frias are Latina sisters who were raised in NYC and now live in LA. As Caribbean Latinas (family from the Dominican Republic), beauty and music have always been on the forefront of their identities and experiences. The rhythms of the music, the food, the rich colors, the energy and infectious spirit of Latin culture (and their mutual love for beauty) is what inspired them to launch LUNA MAGIC BEAUTY as a way to celebrate and share their culture.
With Mabel’s corporate background in retail & e-commerce digital strategy for beauty and home decor retailers (companies include Macy’s, One Kings Lane and Nordstrom), and Shaira’s broadcast journalism experience and beauty school training, the Frias sisters joined forces to introduce an elevated approach to the beauty industry by introducing curated collections that are designed with luxurious packaging, and highly pigmented formulas to complement diverse skin tones.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Mabel: Everyone will tell you that starting a business is not easy, and they are right! There are so many layers and things that we are responsible for. What makes it all worth it is for us, is how much we learn on a daily basis. As a new beauty startup, we’ve had to wear many hats and quickly learn about marketing, operations, managing retailer relationships, employees, and most importantly having a clear creative direction.
Shaira: People also say “Don’t go into business with family,” which at the early stages of launching our company we quickly understood why. This is our first time working together as business partners and although we are only 15 months apart, we are both so different in every sense of the word. We had to sit down and see what complimentary skills we each brought to the table and be honest about what our strengths and weaknesses. We learned to be committed to listening to each other and focus on find solutions when we hit roadblocks. We’ve learned that having multiple ways of thinking about something is actually a competitive advantage; as they say two heads are better than one.
Luna Magic – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our company, LUNA MAGIC BEAUTY, is a new indie beauty brand that celebrates our mutual love for our multicultural heritage, culture and music—in living color. We’re inspired by the rich cultures of the Caribbean & Latin America, the hustle and bustle of NYC and glamour of Los Angeles. We know from industry data that the multicultural customer (especially Latinas & African-Americans) spend a sizable amount of money on makeup and beauty products, but there needs to be a better way for beauty companies to speak to this consumer base in an authentic way, and that is where our company comes in. Our company promise is to serve customers like us by offering great quality products, that compliments a range of complexions, at prices that are accessible to all. We are most proud of how far we’ve come to bring this vision to life. We are most excited when we interact with our customers in real life and when they engage with us on social media to tell us how much they love our message and how much they love the quality of our products.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Our proudest moment was landing a video interview on People En Español. We grew up reading the publication along with our parents so it was nice for them to stand behind our mission and share with the world the magic we are making. We were also proud that within a few months of launching, we got in touch with celebrity makeup Erika La Pearl who created a stunning makeup look on artist Cardi B for this year’s BeautyCon NY. It was such a vote of confidence to have two women (the artist and her muse) play with our products on such a major conference in our hometown of NYC.
Pricing:
- UNO Eyeshadow Palette – $26: https://lunamagic.com/products/uno-shadow-palett
- Matte Liquid Lipsticks in Red & Pink – $12: https://lunamagic.com/collections/uno-matte-lipsticks
- 100% Luxury Mink Lashes – 2 styles – $16: https://lunamagic.com/collections/100-mink-lashes
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lunamagic.com
- Instagram: lunamagicbeauty
- Facebook: lunamagicbeauty
Image Credit:
For the image of the swatched arm: @pink4passions.
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