Hidden Gems: Meet Stephanie Mazumdar of Lip Lūffa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Mazumdar.

Stephanie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The journey of Lip Lūffa began in 2015. I am a professional makeup artist, and one day I was on set of a car commercial when our director yelled, “Her lips look like a desert, and we need to change the color!” I quickly stepped in and did my best to hydrate while changing the lip color from a deep wine shade to the model’s natural tone.

This is not an easy task, plus we had very limited time, I’m talking 2 minutes. I used some makeup wipes to try and swipe the lipstick off and then a sugar scrub to exfoliate in hopes of taking off the remaining lip color. I managed to make the change happen but between the thin wipe I bunched together and fallout from the sugar granules, it was a complete mess. I had to fix the foundation around the mouth as well as remove the oil from the lips before re-applying the new color. This experience got me thinking there must be a better way to do clean, efficient, and better yet, non-toxic lip changes…but there wasn’t! I decided I needed to create this product for myself, other artists, and all beauty enthusiasts! I spend the next five years researching, sketching, formulating, and finally manufacturing Lip Lūffa, my dream lippy eraser that easily removes lip products and gently exfoliates without any mess. Arguably the best part being vegan, cruelty-free, and non-toxic! As of today, we are sold in four countries including the top 2 professional makeup stores here in Los Angeles, 1 professional store in London, England, 1 professional store in the Netherlands, two professional stores in Canada, 1 professional store in Nashville, and we are currently carried in various salons or shoppes in ten states.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of the recent challenges I have encountered mainly have to do with a work-life balance. You see, I am a freelance professional makeup artist as well as a business owner. Some weeks or months are just a whirlwind. I’m up before the sun and drive to set where I’ll have a 10+ hour day, then drive to my office where I print, pack, and fulfill orders for shipping the following day. I’ll also reply to emails, update both my makeup and business websites, file paperwork, update the calendar, manage social media, and oversee other maintenance issues. After this, I make the late drive home to my husband (I’m a very happy newlywed) and dog. After a quick catch-up and if we are lucky, a meal, it is off to bed to do a version of the same thing the following day. With this being the norm, burnout sets in, and I try to schedule time off but then the entrepreneur guilt sets in! It is tough. I am constantly striving for balance and some days seem like there simply aren’t enough hours to accomplish my goals both personally and professionally. All I can do is my best.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Lip Lūffa is a one-of-a-kind lippy eraser. Each lūffa is pre-moistened with our unique, non-toxic solution that quickly removes lip products like lipsticks, liquid lip colors, and even glitter. Leaving your lips clean, exfoliated, and hydrated. The dual-sided lūffa is shaped like a fingertip for precise removal of lippies so it won’t disturb your foundation if you, for example, want to take your look from day to night. We are known in the professional artist community as a quick fix for lipstick changes. Our formula is non-oily, so an artist on a time crunch can remove lip color and immediately re-apply without any downtime. Most recently, artists have been sharing how men and people of all genders are requesting lūffas as prep because they love the way it makes their lips look even before makeup. Creating a non-toxic, vegan, and cruelty-free product that works so well for other professional artists has been extremely rewarding. We are very proud to be of service to our artist community as this product was made with them in mind and to have artists share how they use a lūffa is beyond my wildest dreams.

What are your plans for the future?
We are entering another round of manufacturing and are even testing out a new product we hope to introduce in the new year! Lip Lūffa has some big plans for 2023! We also hope to gain new vendors so we can bring our lippy eraser to even more artists and beauty lovers across the country and world.

Pricing:

• $17.99

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lipluffa.com
• Instagram: @lipluffa
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lipluffa
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LipLuffa
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lipluffa