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NAPA, CALIFORNIA – In launching Fara Homidi Beauty, celebrity makeup artist and founder Fara Homidi wanted to create products that are as efficacious to use as they are beautiful to look at.
“As a makeup artist, I have access to everything … I noticed that a lot of the industry standard best products out there weren’t clean,” she said, adding that those that did perform on clean standards were often lacking in shade range.
Fara Homidi Beauty, which was announced as the winner of the Creative Execution Award at the inaugural Business of Beauty Global Awards on Jun. 4 in Napa, California, brings a creative approach to designing professional-grade clean cosmetics. With products housed in sleek sky blue and deep orange packaging, featuring ergonomic shapes and luxurious touches, Fara Homidi Beauty also offers a makeup pochette made from vegan leather that looks more like a designer purse than a wash bag.
Beauty as Art
The idea of the beauty product as an objet d’art is commonplace, with no shortage of stylishly designed compacts, lipsticks and other cosmetics available for shoppers. However, many choose form over function, something that Homidi wanted to change.
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“There’s a lot of great products out there…but I [am] maniacal about making sure the textures and ingredients were best in class,” said Homidi.
In her work as a makeup artist, Homidi has painted the faces of Hailey Bieber, Paloma Elsesser and Alexa Demie. Yet she was unable to find products that combined the long wear, colour payoff, shade diversity and superior textures she desired, alongside the clean credentials, such as being paraben, talc and sulphate-free, that she found important.
It took Homidi some years to find formulators and laboratories who could deliver to her exacting standards, while also being able to sustain the volume she needed. Saying she had to “push” to get the textures she wanted, Homidi said many of her requests seemed paradoxical.
“[I would hear] ‘you can’t have something that has glide and bounce that’s also velvety and powdery’. Those two things don’t make sense,” said Homidi. Her persistence paid off. The range, which includes lip liner, a complexion compact and a lip compact, is stocked in cult global retailers like Violet Grey in Los Angeles and Dover Street Parfums Market in Paris, whilst also being available in Mexico and Italy, and in Goop stores.
What’s Next
Fara Homidi Beauty may have begun its retail rollout with insider-favourite shops, but this month, it’s taking a major step into mass retail. On June 1, the brand became available to shop on Sephora’s e-commerce site, with a brick-and-mortar launch slated for 2025.
It’s a natural next step for Homidi, who was also accepted into Sephora’s Accelerate programme in 2022, which she described as “a six month crash course in all things business beauty.” The brand founder, who came to the U.S as an Afghani refugee as a child, believes that the time is right as the beauty world — and its customers — are ready for higher standards.
“I just felt like the time was now,” she said. “I’m someone who really follows my gut instinct.”
Next on her agenda is wider global expansion, including Australia, Canada and the UK once the brand is ready. New products that blend skincare and makeup are also in development.
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The brand is open to all, says Homidi.
“That could be men or women … however you see your gender,” she said. “It’s for anyone who wants something that feels special that they can still use every day.
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