For our 'MakeUp HerStory' series, we're spotlighting the beauty founder who is redefining clean makeup for melanin-rich, sensitive skin.
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00:00Hey Essies, I'm Akili King, Senior Beauty Editor at Essence Magazine, and I'm so excited
00:06to present Makeup Her Story, which is our Women's History Month beauty series highlighting
00:12incredible and inspiring black women in the beauty industry.
00:15Today, I'm so excited to be here with the Alicia Scott of Range Beauty, looking so beautiful.
00:22Thank you, so do you.
00:24You look good.
00:25Thanks, girl.
00:26Thanks for being here.
00:27Thank you for having me.
00:28Yeah, I'm more excited to be here with you, you know that.
00:32So Range Beauty is an amazing makeup brand dedicated to acne-prone and eczema-prone skin,
00:39basically speaking my love language as an eczema girlie, which I was telling you right
00:44before this.
00:45But I would love to start off with you just telling us about your journey and what inspired
00:51you to launch Range Beauty.
00:53Yes, so I actually didn't have any background in beauty.
00:56I started off in fashion.
00:59I moved to New York after college to begin my fashion career, and while working a lot
01:05of different roles, designer's assistants, fashion PR, sales, everything, I noticed a
01:11common thread of a lot of the MUAs on set not having makeup for the models that we would
01:16typically cast for who were brown or deeper skin toned.
01:20And that overlapped with my own skin journey of not having a relationship with beauty because
01:26I never saw my tone represented.
01:29And then also dealing with acne and eczema and not wanting to use anything that was going
01:33to further irritate my skin.
01:35And I just had this aha moment like, listen, it doesn't exist, who better than me to create
01:40it?
01:41So I took it into my own hands and that's how I started Range Beauty.
01:45I love it.
01:46I love it.
01:47And then, so you've done some amazing things, like you've been part of the Glossier Grant
01:52program, which is where we actually met and I was so inspired by your story that night.
01:57You've also been on Shark Tank as well.
02:00What were those experiences like for you?
02:04Those experiences were incredibly validating for me because it's one thing to start a brand
02:10in your living room and you're like, oh, maybe my friends and family might buy it.
02:14But to be able to go onto a larger stage and platform and really showcase the brand, really
02:20show off who we are and who I created this for was completely invaluable.
02:27And to reach new audiences as well who didn't know that we existed.
02:31And then to walk away from Shark Tank with an investor, to then go on and be able to
02:36launch at Sephora eventually, to win Glossier's first alumni grant.
02:43All of these things were just a culmination of, okay, I have something that's real.
02:47I have something that people believe is needed and needs to be seen.
02:51Absolutely.
02:52Couldn't agree more.
02:53Yes.
02:54Because, I mean, even just from my experience with eczema and hormonal acne, it is hard
03:00to find makeup products that don't break out your skin or enhance the problem.
03:04Right.
03:05So we appreciate you doing the Lord's work.
03:10I'm trying.
03:11I'm trying.
03:12Yes, absolutely.
03:13And then, so you launched in about 2018, correct?
03:15Yes.
03:17So I launched in August 2018 while still working my nine to five.
03:20Again, I thought this was just a side hustle, just, you know, something that I was going
03:25to use my family and friends may support.
03:28And it really took off.
03:30I feel like 2020 was absolutely our breakout year.
03:32It's where I took on range full time after getting the traction that we had over the
03:37last two years.
03:39And then we were featured on Beyonce.com and that's when it was just like, okay, girl,
03:44catch up, catch up.
03:46And it just seemed like things just kept on building and building and building from there.
03:49Incredible.
03:50And so as you look back, it's now 2025.
03:54You know, what were some challenges that you faced as a founder so far and what would you
03:58say has helped you overcome them?
04:00Yeah, I always speak to the biggest challenge being raising capital, especially as a black
04:05woman founder.
04:07The investment landscape is awful.
04:11Point zero zero three percent of us are receiving funding, even though we're the most founded,
04:16we're the least funded.
04:17And so fighting for that investment has been so difficult because you can only grow as
04:22much as you have, you know, and sometimes it stunts the growth.
04:26Sometimes as you've seen across these last two years, businesses unfortunately having
04:30to shut their doors because we just can't grow the way we need to without that infusion
04:35of capital.
04:36For me, I focused on partners who really understood that.
04:41So my first investor was Fearless Fund out of Atlanta.
04:45Second was Emma through Shark Tank, who sits on the board of the 15% Pledge and really
04:49believes in black women and what they're building.
04:52And then also paying attention to grants like the Glossier Award and other accelerators
04:56and awards that really pay attention to what we're building and believe that we need the
05:01investment from them.
05:02So doing that along with the help from my community who's supporting us and buying the
05:07products and amplifying our work is how we've been able to keep going.
05:10Absolutely.
05:11I love that.
05:12I feel like that's an important call out too for black women or just other, you know, upcoming
05:18entrepreneurs to hear like what roadblocks they might hit.
05:22So thank you for sharing.
05:25And then also, you know, you're so busy, you just mentioned that you're now in Sephora.
05:32So I'm sure you're super busy off of that.
05:35How are you practicing self-care these days?
05:37What does that look like?
05:38Oh, self-care is so important to me because when I took the business on full time, I definitely
05:45had the overlap of becoming the brand.
05:47There was no separation.
05:50And so I started doing therapy.
05:52I have a black woman therapist who's incredible.
05:55And yes, get a therapist, please, if you can.
05:58But she really taught me the importance in separating myself from the brand, that it's
06:03more about who I am and not what I do.
06:06And so that was more so tapping back into things I enjoyed, like even my childlike self.
06:10So puzzling, pottery, reading.
06:14We just had Black Women Rest Day on Monday and I took advantage of that.
06:19I was like, don't email me.
06:20I'm unplugged.
06:21You deserve it.
06:22I'm doing all the things I love.
06:23But I think it's important to make sure we have those type of moments and days repeatedly
06:29instead of waiting until we're approaching burnout or until we're hit with burnout.
06:33Because then I feel like it's hard to just get back to that.
06:36So I've definitely been able to incorporate that more and just, you know, some things
06:40are just out of my control and it's like I'm not going to just work myself up over it.
06:47And then also reflecting on how far I've made it.
06:49A lot of times I get down on things not going right in the business or hearing no's and
06:54getting the rejection.
06:55And I'm like, this started off in your living room and look at what you've done so far.
07:01It's going to be fine.
07:02So.
07:03Absolutely.
07:04I love all those tips and what your therapist shared too, that you're not your brand.
07:08Oh yes.
07:09You're not what you do.
07:10You're the person you are.
07:12Yeah.
07:13And also that's an essay that I love by Toni Morrison.
07:15Yes.
07:17She says something similar to that and that's really helped me as well.
07:20Just like not feel pigeonholed or boxed in and just it allows you to grow and realize
07:26you're bringing, you know, something special wherever you go and it's not necessarily what
07:31you're making.
07:32Exactly.
07:33I feel like as black women, sometimes we are so tied into like, how do we monetize this?
07:38Like, oh, it's a hobby.
07:39How do I start selling it?
07:41Or how do I tap into another stream of income?
07:43And sometimes we just need to let the hobby be a hobby and let that be how we stay grounded,
07:48how we unplug and have that part for just us.
07:53Absolutely.
07:54Love it all.
07:55Love it all.
07:56And then, yes.
07:57So as an eczema girlie, what are some tips and tricks that you've learned to kind of
08:03help calm any breakouts or anything like that?
08:06Best tip ever.
08:08I put everything in the refrigerator.
08:11So I put our primer in the refrigerator, any body lotion that I need to use for like flare-ups,
08:17the cooling effect, because typically with eczema, that's like the inflammation, so that's
08:21where that irritation and that itchiness and all of that burning is coming from.
08:26So anything to cool and soothe it, not just the ingredients, but also the actual cooling
08:32of something cold.
08:34That's my biggest thing.
08:35And it brings so much like immediate relief, same with like if you take an ice cube and
08:39a paper towel or something and apply it, or those like ice globes that they have that
08:43relieve.
08:44Oh my gosh.
08:45Yes.
08:46Yes.
08:47Okay.
08:48Noted.
08:49I'm going home and putting all my products in the refrigerator.
08:50Yes.
08:51Put it in the refrigerator.
08:52Noted.
08:53Amazing.
08:54And so, you know, you're here today on Makeup Herstory.
08:58What does it mean to you to be a Herstory maker?
09:01Oh my gosh.
09:02And what would you like your legacy to be?
09:05Ooh.
09:06Wait, two great ones.
09:08For me, it just, it means the world because I did it in a way that uplifts and promotes
09:15and represents black women in the black community.
09:18And making sure that I have a product, making sure that I have a brand that pushes that
09:23forward and getting the recognition for that is like so near and dear to my heart.
09:30And then with my legacy, I get, I think that's kind of the same where I just want to be remembered
09:34for making sure that I tapped into my community, not just with what we're selling, but even
09:40when I'm thinking about, you know, on campaign shoots, I make sure we have a black photographer,
09:44making sure we have the models there, black makeup artists, vendors that we work with
09:48trying to find local black owned businesses, just trying to really make sure that black
09:52dollar circulates in our community.
09:55And I feel like that's the best part of my legacy.
09:58I love that.
09:59And it's like, it's bigger than you.
10:01Absolutely.
10:02It's about your community.
10:03Yeah.
10:04Uplifting them.
10:05I love that.
10:07Speaking of that, obviously it's Women's History Month.
10:09What women or which women are inspiring you right now?
10:12Who would you like to give your flowers to?
10:14Oh my gosh.
10:15I am so inspired by Kiki Ballmer.
10:17Oh, me too.
10:18Oh my gosh.
10:19You know it's your girl.
10:20You know it's your girl.
10:22She is just doing it and she's doing it so boldly and unapologetically.
10:27I just love how she's truly herself and she finds comfort in being herself.
10:32And it just seems like her ground cannot be shaken, like it cannot be messed with.
10:37And I feel like that's so important because we get into a lot of these spaces where they
10:42try to shrink us or they try to say you're too loud, you're too much, you're too this
10:45and you're too that.
10:46And I think Kiki is the epitome of like, I really don't care what you have to say.
10:53This is how I'm showing up and you're going to accept it or you're not and I'm going to
10:56keep it moving.
10:57So she is top of mind for me right now.
10:59Yes, same.
11:00I saw a comment on TikTok about her that was like, confidence hates to see Kiki Ballmer
11:05come in.
11:06Oh, yes it is.
11:07I was like, seriously.
11:08It is.
11:09Yes.
11:10No, she's incredible.
11:11Love that.
11:12Yes.
11:13And then obviously you've done some amazing things already, but as you look forward, what
11:16are you looking forward to, what are you hoping for in this next season for Alicia and also
11:22Range Beauty?
11:24For Range, I'm excited to continue to expand our product line.
11:28We have a fun new product coming this year, which will be our first new product in like
11:33three years.
11:34So I'm very excited about that.
11:37Continuing the mission of amplifying that eczema and acne.
11:42It's not troubled skin.
11:43It's not problematic skin.
11:45It's real skin.
11:46And that real skin has range and making sure we continue to show that off.
11:50Okay, I love that.
11:51I see what you did there.
11:52You see what I did right there?
11:54And then for me personally, just continuing to evolve and grow.
11:58I feel like being a founder has taught me so much about myself.
12:01It's taught me about my strength.
12:03It's taught me about my resilience.
12:05It's shown me creativity has no bounds.
12:09And so I hope I continue to tap into that.
12:11Beautiful.
12:12I'm so inspired.
12:13You're killing it.
12:15I mean, again, I feel so seen just like, again, when I heard your story, when I met you and
12:20just your products are amazing.
12:23So we appreciate you.
12:24Thank you for being here.
12:25Thank you for having me.
12:26Happy Women's History Month.
12:27Happy Women's History Month.
12:28See y'all later.
12:29Bye.
12:30Thanks for tuning in.