Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amiya Foster. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Amiya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?
Some of the biggest trend in seeing in the beauty industry is an obsession with the “clean and natural” beauty products and ingredients. While I agree that natural or carefully derived ingredients are best for your skin, the fear of the word “chemical’ has honestly stopped a lot of people from properly taking care of their skin and using the correct products to treat common issues. The rise, however, of beauty brands taking this so called “clean” approach while also educating people on the benefits of chemical ingredients such as AHAs and BHAs and even enzymes, is near. Brands such as Naturium, Topicals, Sweet chef, Glow recipe and more have been incorporating this into their brand to create effective products that get rid of the fear mongering that chemicals are bad for you. And this part of the industry has been a huge influence on the formulation and creation of my own skincare brand.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Believe it or not I got into this by accident, I had a close friend that was interested and encouraged me to come along with her. I honestly realized it wasn’t my thing, and quickly lol. Not the skincare but I hated doing other peoples makeup, or facials. It wasn’t satisfying to me. When I got licensed I decided to try waxing instead and it was really fun. Not anything I pictured doing forever but definitely fun. At the time I had just dropped out of school for engineering and was dipping into other things like this and metalsmithing actually. Which is a fancy word for a jeweler pretty much. I worked with a major waxing company and on the weekends I would go and make jewelry. When Covid hit and I stopped working I just stayed home and made customs. Soon after when the world started opening back up I was at a crossroad really, travel an hour+ for work in the middle of a pandemic or just start my own waxing business. I decided the latter. It really was on a whim, I’ve always been the type of person who would never let myself fail and I just couldn’t see myself giving up on everything I’ve been trying to do just because of the pandemic. The business took off the first day and I was honestly shocked, scared, freaking out, nervous, crying inside a little, but definitely shocked. 2 years and 5000+ appointments later, my business has grossed over half a million dollars. I offer full body waxing, popular body treatments such as vajacials, and brow services such as brow laminations. My main goal is to give my guests skin that they’re proud of and not afraid to show off. I want them to know that everything they think they don’t love is NORMAL and nothing to be ashamed of especially as black women. The last year I’ve spent a lot of money and time working with a chemist to create body products people can use at home to help them get closer to their skin goals. I’ve created 3 products based on the ideas I’ve came up with from some of my favorite brands, ingredients that I’ve researched that work the best with each other, and listening to my guests In the studio that tell me what they need. This year I’ll be launching my very own body line consisting of an exfoliating body wash, a brightening body wash, and an ingrown hair serum. My goal is to make it easy, not just another long and drawn out step in your skin routine but make it apart of what you were going to do anyway. Ingredients that work great with all skin and hair types, but is especially beneficial to those with courser hair and darker complexions. I’m really excited for people to start using my products and see a difference in their skin. I feel like a lot of brands focus on the face and not enough on the rest of the body which is where I want to come in! Also making sure my products can be used in conjunction with some of peoples favorites and not work against them.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Yes I’ve had my products custom formulated and manufactured. It took so so much research and even more money. I didn’t know where to begin when i first had the idea and I’m not aware of other skin care brands in my area that have gone through this process before so I was really starting from scratch. My first step was finding a trusted chemist, one that specialized in skincare products. Once I did that the process to start took a few months. It cost me over $6000 per product for custom formulation. Thankfully because of the vetting system I didn’t have to go through more than 3 different samples. I was pretty specific in what I wanted my products to do and how I wanted them to perform as well as what I DIDNT want in them. I’ve learned a lot about products, ingredients, manufacturing, marketing, the true cost of creating and selling products, the behind the scenes of how to get them in stores and etc. If there’s anything I can tell someone who may be looking to do the same, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to take. Your. Time. It’s an investment, like buying a house. Formulation changes cost extra, packaging changes cost as well, so you want to make sure that you do it as right as you can the first time!
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
One word. Unemployment lol, unemployment and the money i made from jewelry sales was the deposit for my suite space and allowed me to buy all of my products. I had a little over $3k in my account before my first day of business. The first week I made $2800. It all went back into the business but it really showed me that I could do this, and if I kept at it eventually I wouldn’t be recycling the same money I started with! People assume you need so so much to start a business and I really don’t think you do. If you have the mindset you can do it.
Contact Info:
- Website: Amiohmy.com
- Instagram: The4th.studio / mybodycosmetics
- Other: My waxing business is @the4th.studio My skincare line is @mybodycosmetics
Image Credits
@lachell_a_photography