RealHer: A Makeup Brand focusing on Inner Beauty First
“I think beauty first of all comes from the inside and with that comes loving yourself, practicing self care. This is something that I did not always do or practice myself. I think it’s a state of mind.”
When we think of makeup brands a lot of us assume their inceptions were created from the mind of a woman. It’s very rare, in fact, I haven’t heard of one yet, that a makeup brand is created by a father as a way to help empower his daughter.
I must admit it was this fact that made me want to do this collab with REALHER. Bill Xiang, the creator of REALHER, started this whole journey after finding out he was going to have a daughter. After researching the “best ways to raise a daughter” he quickly found out how much society can affect a woman’s upbringing and the power of simple affirmations as a way to build confidence. Already highly successful himself, he knew he wanted to do whatever he could to make a difference to help more women and to create a brand that would inspire others to be independent, successful, and fulfilled.
Combine Bill’s talents with 18 years of industry experience brought on by now Co-Founder and VP of Business Development, Megan Merid, it was a total dream team. Megan having a daughter herself and knowing all too well the pressures society places on women knew from the beginning she wanted to be a part of this brand.
Although REALHER is still a startup they are gaining traction in both the US and UK. Other than having a beautiful backstory there are several things that make REALHER a different type of makeup brand. So She Slays got to sit down with Megan to chat about what makes REALHER different, her own definition of beauty, and running a makeup company while raising a daughter in the social media, filter-filled era.
What sets RealHer apart from other makeup brands?
For us, it's so important that we stay true to who we are. It's not just like, “Oh, they're a cute brand. They have affirmations on their products.” Yes, on our products every single shade has a different affirmation. In doing that it’s our hope that anyone using our products, will feel encouraged, motivated, and empowered daily. It's something that I'm so passionate about, but it goes beyond that. It goes into creating products that are safe and non-toxic for people. We don't want, you to use something and questioning what does this has in it? Or was it tested on animals? We want our customers to know and feel confident that they're using a product that has quality ingredients. We are also aware of our footprints on society. For example, we often ask ourselves what are we doing in our community? And for us, we are huge on working with nonprofits. Right now we have a partnership with a nonprofit called GEANCO Foundation, which helps supply resources to women and girls in West Africa that have been sex trafficked or sold into marriage at a young age. A lot of them that are rescued go back to their villages, where they are turned away or not accepted. So GEANCO Foundation provides a safe house for them to go to and receive shelter, education, medical treatment, and therapy. It’s something that we're so passionate about, especially with my daughter, she's biracial and mixed with actual East African heritage. In California, we work with Girls Inc., they're a national nonprofit, and we work with our Orange County, Chapter.
I know RealHer promotes empowerment but how do you go about pushing the message “you are enough” and helping others build confidence?
Our shade names is one place that we start but it's also the content we create, it's also the micro-influencers we work and collaborate with. We hope that when people land on our Instagram or on our Facebook, that they are inspired. Whether it be a quote that they may see, or they may see someone that looks like them. Maybe she's Hispanic and a little bit thicker, and they say, “oh my god, she looks beautiful, and maybe I can try that shade too.” It's very important that what we talk about, celebrate, mention, or create, is all about empowering and celebrating each other as individuals.
As someone who runs a beauty company what does beauty mean to you?
I think beauty, first of all, comes from the inside, and with that comes loving yourself and practicing self-care. This is something that I did not always do or practice myself. I think it's a state of mind. You know, it's finding your own individuality and what is unique about you. For me, my story goes back to being a thicker woman, even as a child. I've never been thin and for so many years, that was my roadblock. I felt like I couldn't succeed unless I lost 25 pounds, or I couldn't be this unless I weighed this. To me now I look at that and it's such BS. I'm so thankful now that we are in the day and age where things are more accepted. But at the same time, we still have daunting social media with all the filters. I still don't even understand how to use most of them.
Beauty is really honing in on what's unique about you and that always starts from the inside. It's how you treat people. It's your smile. It's how you encourage others, and then it goes outward from there. For me, it's about enhancing your natural beauty. I feel like I am enough even if I don't have my makeup on, it's okay. It's being able to embrace and accept truly who you are.
Both you and Bill are raising daughters, how do you help them learn to deal with social pressures of “beauty?”
I put a dress on my daughter last week, and I said, Oh my gosh, she looks so beautiful. She's like, I don't feel beautiful in this and I was like, “Wait, what? Slow down, girl. I was like, get back in the mirror.” I think it's how we affirm our children, it's how we turn it around. I told her, “Don't ever say that, you're always beautiful, you're always smart.”
How do you spread that message to her and others young ones as they grow up and start using RealHer makeup and other products?
We do have another line called Love You First or LYS line. That line was featured in Target last year. We're now going to be in another big-box retailer, again clean and non-toxic and the whole focus behind that brand is to be young, fun, and clean but also encouraging. When I created this brand I took myself back to being 12 years old, you cannot pay me to be 12 to 16 again, like there's no money in the world, oh my god, no way!
Those years for girls especially, I think are just so tender…God I just remember hating myself. I think back now and I remember those things.
When I created this brand it was like you know what? I want to have a brand where my daughter can say, “Mom can I use this blush called, ‘loved’ rather than can I get this blush called, ‘orgasm’?” I just feel like some makeup brands are not necessarily age appropriate. Like let me have that talk with my daughter before we go there, you know. I think also having products that are more fun and whimsical with encouraging names on them like “secure,” “persevere,” and “beautiful” can be a great way to introduce young ones to makeup.
What other fun things are coming for RealHer?
Well, I think a big thing for us that's been long-awaited was complexion. We haven’t had a foundation or powder concealer, since we started and we are changing that. Our foundation is starting at a range of 20 different shades, which I know does not sound like enough but I hope that people keep in mind we are a startup and there are minimum order quantities for every shade that we order. And to keep the amount of foundation on hand and make sure we get through it before it goes bad is important. So our product development team, which consists of myself as well, has worked very hard trying to represent the lightest of skin, to the darkest of skin, and in between. Our hope is that it does very well. It's a foundation that has a natural finish. It's very lightweight, but full coverage. I myself struggle with a lot of sun damage from growing up in Southern California. So I deal with hyperpigmentation along with some redness and it just covers beautifully and completely flawless. We've got a Blurring Veil Powder, which is a powder that minimizes imperfections on the face, and another foundation called Probiotic Face Filter. For this foundation, we're using a lot of technology with blue light, as well as probiotics to help bring anti-aging to the skin as well as helping to minimize the exposure to the rays coming off of our phones and computers which is known to cause premature aging. So we've got a lot more technology innovation skin products coming, which I'm very excited about. We're also launching in the UK on QVC and you’ll start seeing our pop up in more and more retailers.
Describe your SLAY.
I think tomorrow is not promised to any of us. So it's what am I going to do today? How am I going to help create change for my daughter? She is the reason I get up every single day because I have a responsibility to help mentor and raise this child who I know will make a difference.
Dive deep into the story of REALHER and more by taking a listen to our podcast episode with Megan! Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcast and spotify.
Make sure to follow RealHer:
Website: RealHer
Instagram: @realhermakeup
YouTube: RealHerMakeup
Facebook: RealHerMakeup