We get to the bottom of this all-inclusive beauty brand’s success.
By Ashima Sethi
Live Tinted, a South Asian-owned beauty brand based on Los Angeles, California has raised an impressive $3 million in seed funding by a round led by Montage Ventures, which saw several other firms including Halogen Ventures, Fearless Fund, and Curate Capital participate.
Celebrated as an ‘all-inclusive’ beauty brand, Live Tinted was founded in 2018 by Deepica Mutyala and was originally created to act as a digital community and platform that discussed topics about diversity and multicultural beauty in order to promote an appreciation for all skin types. It was only after it gained notoriety that the decision was made to launch a Live Tinted product line.
Prior to the launch of Live Tinted’s products, Deepica shot to fame as a beauty influencer after a video of her demonstrating how she covered her dark under eye circles with red lipstick went viral on YouTube. She was then invited to speak on various television shows and was featured on the New York Times, Vogue, and other platforms.
Her cover-up method spurred the idea for one of Live Tinted’s most popular products, the Huestick: a four-in-one multistick that can be used to battle hyperpigmentation as a colour corrector, blush, eye shadow, and lipstick. The vegan, cruelty-free, carmine-free, and paraben-free product was a huge hit with consumers, so much so that Elle awarded it with the Future of Beauty Award for Innovation.
Since then, the brand has expanded to launch products like their line of serum-style highlighters called Hueglow; Hueguard, their mineral SPF sunscreen; their multi-purpose Balm gloss for your face, lips or cuticles; among others. Despite such a range, the one thing tying all their products together is their ethos of celebrating diversity in beauty and ensuring their product line offers items for ‘every shade in between.’
In 2019, Live Tinted raised a notable second round of investing from powerhouses like Bobbi Brown, Payal Kadakia the Founder of ClassPass, and Shilpa Shah who is the Co-founder and CXO of Cuyana. The company have since been vocal about what this latest round of funding means to them, and what they plan to do to expand their product line, team, and online presence.
Since the establishment of the brand, Deepica has also had her hands full with other ventures. Now an established influencer, she is recognised as an on-air beauty expert, as well as an activist for more inclusivity in the beauty market, having collaborated with brands such as LVMH and Estee Lauder to launch campaigns centered on minority representation in the industry.
With this new round of funding, we can be sure that Live Tinted will move forward as one of the biggest beauty brands to look out for when it comes to all-inclusive makeup products. You can keep tabs on their launches here.
