This National Lipstick Day, We Are Celebrating the Latina Brands That Built Something Real
It’s National Lipstick Day 2026. Before you shop the sale, meet the nine Latina founders who built their own lipstick empires from scratch.
Every July 29, the beauty and media industries observe National Lipstick Day as a massive sales opp. Brands like Ulta are extending the promotion through August 1 on select lip products. And while the deals are real, we thought, “What about the brands Latinas have been building for over two decades? Oftentimes without the backing of a major conglomerate or a mainstream moment to launch them.
That’s why we are celebrating these nine founders who did it on their own.
The Latina Lipstick Brands You Should Already Know
Bésame Cosmetics
Gabriela Hernandez founded Bésame Cosmetics in Burbank, California, in 2004, with a single shade, Bésame Red, and the conviction that the beauty industry had abandoned something important when it stopped honoring vintage formulas. Born in Buenos Aires and trained at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Hernandez approached her brand as a makeup historian, reconstructing shades and packaging from the 1920s through the 1970s. She had spent years collecting vintage compacts from estate sales. Today, her Victory Red is the brand’s icon. Two decades later, Bésame supplies makeup for Hollywood period productions and remains the standard for vintage-inspired lip color in the United States.
Melt Cosmetics
Mexican makeup artist Lora Arellano co-founded Melt Cosmetics in 2012 after identifying a specific gap in the market: no one was making bold, ultra-matte, deeply pigmented shades for the women who actually wanted them. She and co-founder Dana Bomar invested their life savings, developed five colors, and launched in May 2013. And the shades sold out immediately. Sephora and Nordstrom carry Melt today, and the brand is one of the largest independent makeup brands. Hola even named Arellano one of its Top 100 Latina Powerhouses of 2022.
Reina Rebelde
Regina Merson grew up in Mexico, where wearing bold makeup is simply the standard, and she left a career in Big Law to found Reina Rebelde, the first prestige makeup brand built around Latina culture. The name translates to “rebel queen.” Her lipstick shades carry names like Brava, a word for a woman on fire, and La Jefa, a nod to the rising tide of Latina entrepreneurs. Forbes covered Merson’s work, and the brand is one of the few luxury makeup lines where the cultural reference is the foundation.
Vive Cosmetics
First-generation Latinas Leslie Valdivia and Joanna Rosario-Rocha founded Vive Cosmetics in Northern California in 2016, after watching the beauty industry default to a narrow view of what Latinas looked like and wanted. Their response was both practical and pointed: lipsticks named “Mija” and “Dímelo,” products developed in partnership with Latina- and POC-owned vendors, and a brand identity that does not translate itself for anyone.
The Ones Worth Adding to Your Rotation Now
Luna Magic
Afro-Latina sisters Mabel and Shaira Frías launched Luna Magic in Los Angeles in 2019, building a brand around the vibrancy of Afro-Latinidad and the specificity of Caribbean culture without softening either for the mainstream. Their red bullet lipstick line delivers four highly pigmented shades at $13 each. They appeared on Shark Tank and landed distribution with Target and Walmart, per Forbes. The sisters remain at the head of the company.
Valdé Beauty
Margarita Arriagada spent more than a decade as Chief Merchant of Sephora USA, earning the nickname “The Godmother of Beauty,” before launching her own brand. In 2020, at 67, the first-generation Peruvian American introduced Valdé Beauty: a luxury, sustainable, refillable lipstick line built around the Armor, a sculptural case designed to be kept and refilled. She launched it because of her mother’s lifelong love of lipstick, which is as good a reason as any to build something that lasts. The brand also runs the Latinx Beauty Entrepreneur Grant, investing directly in the next generation of Latin creatives.
Axiology Beauty
Ericka Rodriguez founded Axiology Beauty in 2014 after learning about the prevalence of animal testing in the cosmetics industry. She spent two years working through 200 formula combinations in her kitchen before landing on a 10-ingredient cruelty-free lipstick made with candelilla wax, avocado butter, and elderberry extract, per Beauty Heroes. The brand name comes from the philosophical study of beauty and ethics. In 2022, Axiology eliminated all plastic from its packaging.
PDL Cosmetics
Panamanian actress and activist Patricia de León spent two years developing PDL Cosmetics alongside a Los Angeles cosmetics chemist, building a vegan, cruelty-free matte lipstick line whose shade names say everything: Panama Paradise, Azucar Morena, Fearless, Senorita. She built the collection to deliver intense pigment and a transfer-proof finish, and named the brand’s butterfly icon after what she describes as “You, Unlimited.”
Necromancy Cosmetica
And then there is Necromancy Cosmetica, founded by Des and Zal in Puerto Rico: an indie cult favorite offering highly pigmented vegan matte lipsticks in gothic and unconventional shades that go where most brands won’t, per HipLatina. The brand circulates among people who know, which is exactly the kind of reputation that outlasts a trend.