Uoma Beauty is a make-up brand founded by Nigerian born, Sharon Chuter. Chuter, a former Beauty Executive currently resides in Los Angeles and London. The name Uoma means beautiful in Igbo, an ethnic group in Nigeria. Prior to launching her make -up brand, Chuter worked with big multi-national beauty and consumer brands such as Revlon, L’Oréal, Pepsi Co among others. Currently, she doubles up as the Founder and Creative Director at Uoma Beauty.

Origins and Growth

Uoma Beauty Founder and Creative Director, Sharon Chuter. Photo courtesy of the subject.

Chuter grew up in Nigeria. Furthermore, she confesses to encountering beauty standards that were unrealistic in her country of origin from an early age. Indeed, finding make-up that suits your skin color as a black woman is often difficult in Africa. Eventually, she would end up working in the beauty industry overseas for over a decade.

It was then that she made a conscious decision to provide room that would better cater to Black women while telling their stories. Uoma Beauty was hence born out of what she terms as her personal experiences and frustrations in the beauty industry.

Products

In keeping true to her roots, Chuter ensured that the eyeshadow palettes were heavily influenced by Afro-inspired Art. In addition, she named different shades after African goddesses such as Yemoja and Oya. Her Badass Iconic Lipstick Collection features 16 hues aptly named after iconic black women. On the other hand, the Brow-Fro Collection features 4 products inspired by the 70s soul train and disco culture.

Not only does Chuter focus on black women with her Uoma Beauty brand but equally a diversity of skin tones across racial lines. This fueled her initial decision to work with experts in coming up with quality products that blended and responded well to a variety of tones. Moreover, Uoma’s first campaign video was deliberately shot in Lagos, Nigeria in celebration of Chuter’s roots.

Achievements and Activism

In 2019, the make-up brand was picked as the key beauty brand used for the Laquan Smith’s New York City Presentation. Chuter would then go on to launch the Pull Up or Shut Up campaign in the wake of the George Floyd Protests in the US.

This is a campaign with the help of consumers that requires brands to provide the total number of black employees at their respective companies. These companies are also expected to identify the levels at which these employees work. So far, quite a number of top brands have already complied.

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