Thevi Cosmetics news: free Lush Black mascara with purchase of 2 Thevi products (excluding foundation samples)- until Oct 3rd only.
www.thevicosmetics.com

Hi - everyone!
I'm finally getting a start on blogging about launching Thevi Cosmetics and the entrepreneural journey to get this brand out to the public. After many years working in the beauty industry and consumer product industry, my heart always had this idea (since 22 yrs old (now 33!)) urging me to try to launch it. Throughout my large & small company work experience, I never seemed find the right fit - always feeling either creatively hindered or firms not providing real career development. As I reflect back, my heart was always yearning for me to launch this ethnic cosmetic line, but my mind had be ready. So its taken 10 years to get the guts to move forward.

So after meeting my husband Dan

and realized I was pregnant with twins in fall of 2006 - I decided to really start the company. Using my limited savings, I decided to create a small line with excellent formulations. During my pregnancy I focused on finding USA based manufacturer who would work with a small entrepreneur with budget constraints.
As a small company, the biggest obstacle is finding firms who will create small volume to get started. Also finding the right formulations and colors that work with dark tones was another challenge. After testing hundreds & hundreds of colors & formulations, I wanted to find a core set of colors and products which would be simple for women to use everyday yet have strong pigment for good color complementary to their skintone.

About 1 month before giving birth to my twin girls -I finalized the first small run of the product line. After the birth ...the next 4 months were a blur. I could only have enough energy & sleep to focus on my girls. After surviving 8 x day feedings (per child) and two-three hour gaps of sleep the first 4 months, I seemed to start feeling ready to tackle the cosmetic line again. But I knew I couldn't do it simultateously while caring for the twins. I was able to find a great daytime babysitter who would be able to play and watch the girls in our apartment while I diligently worked alongside. So it gave me about 6 hours of day to try to start to further develop the cosmetic line.

I guess this is when I really started the entrepreneurial journey. More about the journey in the next blog...

All I can say is if you don't feel passion toward your idea and purely thinking about making millions right away...don't launch a business - you will soon realize its not so easy.

Coming from an Ivy degree (go Cornell!!) and large Cosmetic company business experience, I truly thought it would be a faster and easier process as a small business. I was totally wrong! The process has tested me in every aspect of my life - marriage, kids, my soul. But I stand here today still feeling the passion toward providing a line of cosmetics to the ethnic community which I have always felt have been ignored. I know it will take a longtime to be successful, but I truly feel that this line is to recognize and celebrate a group that isn't really focused on by the fashion & beauty world - why lump all of in one category "women of color" which defines us only in skintone but create a brand and cosmetic line that recognizes and celebrates that we have different cultures, skintones, and lifestyles. Thats why THEVI was created!

In every blog - I want to share you why this line is my passion, more about myself, indepth product details, and my journey trying to get a cosmetic line in the market successfully. I really want to express to everyone reading this that I need your help to support this line to gain not just product awareness but to truely create an amazing brand which you can identify with and truely meets your needs. I hope to hear from your comments regarding specific needs, ideas, and lives which provide a huge source of support and creative insight.

Here are some pictures of the twins when they were first born (in May 2007) (MEERA left, MEENA, right)


and when they were 5 months old - the point I've left off in my story (Oct 2007) (MEERA left, MEENA, right).

Thevi Cosmetics news: free Lush Black mascara with purchase of 2 Thevi products (excluding foundation samples)- until Oct 3rd only.