Happy Saturday with Nomad Cosmetics!

Happy Saturday!!!

Hope you all are doing well! I have had the utmost honor to be able to interview Felicia, the co-founder of Nomad Cosmetics, for this Happy Saturday Segment! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge fan of indie brands that not only produce amazing products, but also originate from unique inspiration. I am positive that anyone who follows indie makeup has already heard the raving reviews about their "Tokyo Harajuku Palette". The palette was inspired by "the wild creativity of the trendy Tokyo youth". This palette along with the rest of their destination collections, showcase their inspiration and love for travel, along with their desire to produce products that highlight a multitude of cultures. Without further ado, I am extremely excited to present my Q&A to you!

1. What inspired you to create your own brand?

My husband and co-founder Antti and I decided to create our own brand in 2014 after finishing our second Around the World trip.  It is a trip where you go from destination to destination all the way around the world until you end up back where you started and this was our second one- the first we did in 2006.     While on this and other trips, and while living in many other countries, we were inspired by so many beautiful colors, stories, beauty practices of each destination that we wanted to take our passion for exploring new places with our expertise in makeup (together we have 25+ years in beauty) and build something meaningful that brings to life each destinations unique story.  5 years later this is still what Antti and I try to do with every launch.

2. What do you wish you knew when you were starting out?

We were lucky that we started when we were older & in business for a while so it gave us a good perspective on how business works.  What I wish I knew more of was the impact of social media in all its facets (advertising, sharing, WOM, brand building).    We were for sure doing social media but I don’t think we leveraged it to its fullest capacity.  Overtime though I realize social media becomes part of a bigger strategy - what are we doing long-term & more importantly what are we NOT doing & why.  For example in 2020,  I know I should be on TikTok but I choose not to given Antti and I deciding to focus on other aspects of the business.  So I get help from collaborators to showcase Nomad on TikTok.

3. What is the best piece of advice you have received while building your brand?

There are two best pieces of advice that I learned over the last 20 years of building brands like CoverGirl, Revlon, Valentino & Essence Cosmetics.  1) Consumer is boss- this comes from my time at P&G (CoverGirl) but the idea is that you should really listen to consumers, understand what they want - even though they may not be able to articulate it and deliver that.  If you are able to do that, then you will be successful in building your brand.  2) Brands are like humans - they evolve and grow - need to be developed and nurtured.  This was something that I learned over time so I can’t pinpoint a specific company that taught me this.  It is my favorite phrase to use as it sums up my belief in branding.   - It doesn’t happen overnight (so important for companies to realize),  - each decision the brand makes should be a step towards brand evolution & development - there needs to be a heart of your brand.  That heart can mature over time but it is why you exist.   For Nomad our "why" is we want to spread global love.  We know we still have super far to go in doing that but that is what is in our heart.   

4. What is the most important factor that comes into play when developing a new product?

The marriage between the story of the destination and the makeup - usually a color story.  What makes Nomad special is the story we tell of the destination via the makeup.  There is a ton of detail we spend on each palette (ingredients, designs, colors, finishes, embossing, packaging etc) to make it meaningful.  We want all of our products to be something that consumers can hold onto either because of the color story, the destination story or both. 

5. Who has inspired you the most in the beauty industry?

I have had so many wonderful mentors and friends within the industry - I have loved working,  leading, and learning from all of my teams including my last team of all women.  That was a lot of growth!   But for me, the best answer I can give is always the beauty consumer & community.  Everyday I see such inspiration from the community that makes me want to keep going and be a part of it.   When we launched Tokyo, I was so afraid that people wouldn’t understand the new multi-chrome formula we created but after sending it out to our close collaborators they loved it so much and used it in ways I didn’t even think about (as a highlighter on the cheek for instance) that it inspired me to launch a palette of only multi-chromes and multi-chrome highlighters.  This is what I love about being a part of such a passionate and vibrant consumer community.     

6. What is your proudest moment as a company so far?

Honestly getting started! I know that the first step can sometimes be the hardest and I am so proud that Antti said hey let’s do this and together we did.  I would not have imagined 10 years ago when I was turning 30 and just starting a Marketing Director role that I would be running my own (albeit super small) company.  

7. What is your favorite part about Nomad Cosmetics?

I get to combine two of my passions!  I love exploring other cultures and I love creating color stories in makeup.  I am so blessed to be doing both together and have my life partner doing it together with me. 

8. Can you share a little bit about the background of your company that you would want your followers to know?

Sure!  I am very close with the IG followers so I think most people know this, but Antti and I are a married couple who started Nomad with our first launch in 2015.  We met in Switzerland working on Max Factor cosmetics so our love of makeup and exploring new cultures is very dear to our hearts.   We have focused on slowly growing the brand just the two of us so we can be close to the community and we can make sure we are delivering unique products and awesome customer service.  By being smaller, we do things we consider unique & special like: 1) Write a quick thank you and wrap each order by hand to let each person know how much we appreciate their order.   2) Design and shoot our launches at each destination creating unique and authentic palettes & stories.  Studio 54 was the only one we couldn’t do this with for obvious reasons. 3) Spend time chatting on DM with people listening to their feedback, what they love & don’t,  and seeing how we can continue to get better.  I know it won’t be like this forever but for us the company will always have the personal touches and true passion or makeup & exploration in everything that we do.  

As a long time fan of Nomad’s “Berlin” Palette, I could not have been more excited to get this opportunity to learn more about Felicia’s company! I am so grateful that she took the time out of her busy schedule to work with me, and provide consumers with a little more information about her brand. Getting to know more about her and her company, has definitely inspired me to want to try more of Nomad’s products. I cannot wait to see what they do next! If you have tried out Nomad Cosmetics, I would love to know your recommendations! I will be posting some looks with the Berlin Palette this week, so make sure to check them out on my instagram @singleshadowstan  Or https://www.instagram.com/singleshadowstan/ Check out Nomad’s Website (non-affiliate!): https://nomadcosmetics.com