At a time when authenticity has been questioned more and more, Chica Beauty is helping Latin women feel confident and beautiful in their own skin. That was the core mission of sisters and San Antonio natives Mei-Lon and Toni Lee Jimenez when launching the cosmetic lifestyle brand in 2019.
“When you put on our makeup, we want you to feel confident, we want you to feel beautiful, we want you to go out there and conquer your day,” explained Mei-Lon. “‘Get it chica!’ is what we say.’”
That message of authenticity will soon spread to Mexico and eventually Europe as part of the sisterpreneurs’ plans to go international. Chica Beauty has built a loyal following throughout the United States, and a recent partnership with a subscription box company in Mexico proved their products were in demand beyond U.S. borders.
“With this growing interest in Mexico and more followers and consumers asking for our products there, we’re excited to continue that and be able to deliver fast,” said Mei-Lon.
Chica Beauty has been selling its products in the Amazon store since 2021 and will now tap into Amazon’s Global Selling program to expand internationally. The program enables US-based sellers to reach customers across 22 international country websites with Amazon handling compliance requirements, product listing translations, global fulfillment services, and customer service support in multiple languages.
“Amazon has really thought of everything end to end for small businesses, which is great because we don’t have a lot of time to become experts in those areas,” Mei-Lon said.
Chica Beauty, which initially sold its products direct-to-consumer on its website, increased their customer base during the pandemic when people flocked online to buy beauty products and try new brands. After expanding to Amazon, Chica Beauty’s sales took off, matching their website sales in the first year. That momentum continued post-pandemic with double-digit annual growth and 15-fold total sales growth since their initial launch in the Amazon store.
“It was exciting to see that Amazon sales matched our direct-to-consumer sales in the first year,” Mei-Lon explained. “We knew we were going in the right direction, and we wanted to partner with Amazon and utilize all the tools they had to continue to grow and to make it successful.”
Chica Beauty tapped into Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which took over the brand’s picking, packing and shipping when the volume of orders became too much for the sisters to handle. Chica Beauty also uses Amazon’s brand and content tools to help communicate their unique story, which is vital in such a competitive industry. They recently used Amazon’s A+ Content tool to relaunch their Brand Store, bringing their new product detail pages to life with rich text, engaging images, and videos.
“With beauty brands, you’re not able to try things on yourself, so these videos are ways to showcase what the color looks like and makes it easier for the customer to shop online,” said Mei-Lon. “It’s been great to use Amazon’s tools and combine them with Amazon Ads, which has really allowed us to spread our message even further.”
Their message, woven throughout their products, is inspired by their hometown and Mexican-American heritage. Many of the colors of their lipsticks and eye shadows come from San Antonio’s vibrant culture. But even bigger inspiration came from their grandmother, who always wore her signature red lipstick. She helped develop the lipstick shade that would become Mija Red.
“It’s one of the most sentimental products that we have to date,” Toni Lee explained. “What’s so special about it is that when we share the story of why we called it Mija Red, others share their stories too and say, ‘Oh my gosh, my grandmother wore red lipstick all the time too!’”
Another part of Chica Beauty’s mission, also inspired by their family, is “Chica Gives,” which donates 5% of their sales to educational nonprofits. “Our parents instilled these values within us and we knew we always wanted to give back to the community,” said Mei-Lon.
They also mentor young girls and women, particularly aspiring Latina female entrepreneurs who are underrepresented as founders in the beauty and cosmetics industry even though Latinas have 37% higher purchasing power than other demographic groups, according to Latinas in Beauty.
"’Get it Chica’ is being spread throughout San Antonio and now nationally because of Amazon, where we’re able to expand our audience, expand our community,” Mei-Lon said. “It’s been amazing.”