“That’s when I realized that I had fallen in love with not just makeup, but making people feel good about themselves. I was good at my job.”
LAMIK CEO kim Roxie , 2022
Kim Roxie, founder of LAMIK Beauty, has always been passionate about revealing the inner beauty in everyone. Through founding a successful business that takes an empowering approach to beauty, she has made it her mission to encourage self-love and natural confidence within her customers. Hear Kim’s story of how she built her business rooted in revealing true beauty.
LAMIK, (Love and Makeup in Kindness), is exactly what Houston native Roxie achieved through the beauty brand.
On Dec. 28, the entrepreneur will see the company’s debut on the Home Shopping Network. Not bad for the Clark Atlanta University graduate who discovered her God-given ability at a mall makeup counter,
“When I applied for jobs, the only place that called me back was a makeup counter. I had never done makeup before, but they were my only offer, so I had to show up. This is really where I got my first experience in the beauty industry.”
It’s not impossible to encounter colorism in the country especially in particular areas such as the south where lighter skin still maintains its moments of taboo, debates and a metric of acceptance. Roxie saw her surroundings in the early stages of the beauty industry and in the world around her. She sought change to not allow select narratives dictate her own career interests,
“I grew up in Houston, and as a child, I was surrounded by a culture in which colorism was evident. Attitudes regarding beauty in music, pop culture, and just around where I grew up, were very much skewed towards the idea that lighter skin was just prettier.”
The development of lamik’s ‘love and makeup in kindness’
The businesswoman admits that she wasn’t necessarily moved by what “makeup allowed” for her to do, but because of the conversations she got to have helping others tap into their beauty. In addition to those she was helping through dialogue while perfecting the craft, Roxie developed her own influences of fortitude including her mother’s earthly departure, seeing women unable to find their foundation match with major brands and even her own personal journey.
After watching her own success in Atlanta, the idea of opening her own makeup counter in Houston became a natural go-to. Afterall, Roxie had gotten a glimpse of her efforts and business savvy made a difference in the Black Hollywood capital of the world. Once she made her way back to H-Town, it was her mother who gave that seed creating roots in LAMSIK’s existence.
With a $500 offering from her mother prior to passing, the LAMIK CEO admitted that while dealing with her grievance period, she was battling low-self-esteem. To pull herself up, Roxie had placed her doubts on the backburner,
“My mother believed in herself like no other. She would put on a full face of makeup to go to work at the post office. When I thought about her and the confidence that she possessed, I knew I could get over my fears about the process and make my own cosmetics line.”
She added,
“The legacy of my mother is why it was important for me to have a clean beauty line in particular. When she died of breast cancer, I started looking into beauty products and started seeing so many chemicals and other ingredients that were linked to health issues.”
LAMIK became a brick-and-mortar makeup shop in Houston when Roxie had turned 21. She provided women of color an all-natural paraben free makeup option for their day-to-day makeup routine.
The growing adult became the youngest African American woman to have her products carried in Macy’s after showcasing 14 years of business stability to satisfactory results.
With added purpose through circumstances, Roxie used her own bouts with Alopecia as a catalyst for service expansion,
“I started Lamik because I suffered from Alopecia, and I couldn’t find anything on the market that catered to my needs. My clients are women like me who share similar stories of not feeling seen by the cosmetics industry.”
She added,
“This is a win for not just me but for every other small black owned business, because it tells major corporations and retailers that we have buying power.”
Roxie emphasized that while she “worked really hard over the last decade” creating the business module for LAMIK, the brand is more than just a brand,
“I’m always blown away by who the makeup is touching and knows about it. A brand isn’t just a brand anymore, it’s a movement and I’m so honored and extremely humbled and excited to be able to share the LAMIK movement on such a huge platform.”
As of now, LAMIK has been featured in Forbes, Essence, Allure, Cosmopolitan, and Martha Stewart.com and was recently featured on CNBC for being named among Jay-Z’s “Top Black-owned Business to Know.”
Check out the beauty that is Ms. Kim on HSN at 4PM CST and 5PM EST as she shares her latest collection, Shades of Beautiful, with host Marlo Smith.
