We recently connected with Temi Alebiosu and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Temi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

. ST Essentials was founded by both Sheena and Temi.

We founded the brand in Cuba specifically in Havana.
This was truly an inspirational trip which influenced the birth of ST Essentials and the ethos behind it . To start off our ethos is we are a judgement free makeup formulated for underrepresented babes to feel seen and essential.
This ethos came about on our trip in Cuba as we truly were inspired by the Afro Latina women who through the adversities, feeling alienated , not accepted or understood they stood boldly and confidently through their express and colourful aesthetic, being woc ourselves we could relate to the idea of being in spaces where you feel alienated based on skintone alone as we shift towards an era where we now see 40+ shades of foundation, we understand that still ethnic minorities tend to be expressed in a monolithic tone which is truly problematic.

We wanted to create a brand that truly provides a space for those from underrepresented ethnic makeup can truly express and represent themselves through any aesthetic that allows them to show how creatively unique , different and be as weirdly bold as they can be. Providing a judgement free zone to show up however you please and ST Essentials is the beauty brand to provide that space to not feel alienated but to have a voice and be seen and appreciated.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Temi tapped into the beauty industry through doing makeup for Black women and DIY makeup at a time when there was limited makeup of choice through this she saw an issue that why is it that colours don’t show up on woc as boldly as they do on white women and that was due to the lack of products being made for woc and so she used that to start mixing and looking for products to add to her kit to show up as boldly as they could on women of colour , with this on her travels to Cuba with Sheena they was discussing the lack of representation and seeing the representation of blackness being shown in one way which was always negative and with Sheena having a Down syndrome black sister who was very bold and loved to play in colour and enjoyed playing with what we now know as an alternative aesthetic yet we don’t see that and so we wanted to be able to provide representation for all woc who self express themselves through different aesthetic. What sets us apart is we truly are being more than just a brand that says hey guys here is 40+ foundations just so we can meet the diversity standard now , know we provide the voice and pour back into underrepresented creatives giving them a space and opportunity to be seen and to the point we created an edit which will highlight underrepresented communities in a non monolithic way . We want to set the tone to not just be about it when you need to be but truly be the voice and stand by mission until we see change.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Me and Sheena who is my business partner have been friends for over 19years , we met in secondary school and since then have been friend since now business partners .. it’s super crazy as through our passion towards diversity and representation we truly are committed to the idea of showing representation of black women in a positive light and us coming together shows that even from the view of dismantling the idea that Black women can not work together they don’t like each other.. our 19 years of friendship through both hardships combined with entrepreneurship can show that we as black woman can work and empower one another .

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

We launched our brand through the toughest times in history to date ..the pandemic and through it all with our manufacturers being based abroad and us as a new brand we instantly felt like this is it we are over but vivid ended up being a testimonial year as it gave us the opportunity to highlight our brand ST Essentials even further as people were more so than ever had the time to pause and stop and want to help support small businesses and support black owned brands .. before Covid we was also due to be part of one of the biggest subscription box companies and we had been dropped due to covid and budgets with that being said it all seemed to feel like we could never catch a break but through it all we gained a following , we got coverage from the media , influencers sharing and supporting our brand it was truly a turn over and we are still here fighting for our mission as that is the main purpose for us.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stessentials.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/stessentials
• Other: TikTok follow us on @stessentials

Image Credits
1st image – Caili Shea Photography 3rd image – FW FILM 4th image – Kathrin Werner Photography