According to reports, the beauty industry in the United States is worth $60 billion. Moreover, despite the fact that Blacks account for 11.1 percent ($6.6 billion) of total beauty spending, the industry is less diverse. It is largely dominated by products that are not appropriate for Black people.
As a result, many people of color who are passionate about the industry are compelled to create innovative brands that not only cater to their needs but also to those who look like them. Keyshia Ka’oir is one such person.
She wanted to wear blue lipstick to match her shoes and dress in 2009. However, she was unable to locate one from any of the major cosmetics companies. “My friends told me that you shouldn’t wear blue lipstick because people will mock you. “I ignored them because I’m always a one-of-a-kind person who wants to be on the edge,” she told The Cut.
She continued: “No one knew my name, no one knew who I was, but everyone wanted to be the girl with the mohawk and the blue lipstick.”
Because she wouldn’t take no for an answer, she founded Ka’oir Cosmetics after an unsuccessful search for blue lipstick. According to her, she made her first million dollars in the first six months of her company’s existence. She even rewarded her hard work with a Rolls-Royce.
Ka’oir stated that her connections in the modeling and music industries aided her business. She made a neon-pink lipstick for a rapper best friend and a baby pink lipstick for a Jersey Shore fan.
“If you see someone back in 2010 with blue, yellow, green lipstick, I knew it was my brand,” she recalled. “It was successful because it was different. You couldn’t get it from anywhere else.”
She runs Ka’oir Fitness, a business she started to lose weight, in addition to her cosmetic business. Her fitness line includes a line of waist trainers called Waist Erasers. According to The Cut, she also has Ka’oir Slimming Tea, Thigh Erasers, a Body Burner slimming cream, a full-body sweat suit, and a 14-day weight loss plan.
Ka’oir also has a third business called Ka’oir Hair. Why the hair business? The serial entrepreneur explained: “I find myself in a brand-new wig every day, and wigs are a billion-dollar business.”
Ka’oir grew up in an entrepreneurial family in Jamaica. Her father ran several businesses in Jamaica. Her family and she lived in Jamaica until she was ten years old. She moved to South Beach in 2009 to pursue modeling under the name Keyshia Dior after graduating from college. Ka’oir, who is married to rapper Gucci Mane, studied nursing but dropped out after realizing it wasn’t her dream job. She also dabbled in cosmetology.
