Location

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Founded

2012

Price range

$10 – $20

Shipping

USA

Catalogue

77 products

New arrivals

5 this month

The Lip Bar Beauty Brand Logo

The Lip Bar

Independent brand — verified
About

The Lip Bar is one of the most significant Black-owned beauty businesses in America, and its origin story has become genuinely well known. Founder and CEO Melissa Butler, a Wall Street expat and self-described Shark Tank reject, began making lipstick in her Brooklyn kitchen in 2012 because the shades she wanted did not exist. Today the brand is headquartered in Detroit with its own flagship store and is stocked in Target nationwide. The brand states its ownership plainly on its own site: Black Woman Owned, founded and owned by Women of Color, and the number one independent Black-owned beauty brand among all multicultural colour cosmetics. That is not marketing applied afterwards, it is the reason the company exists. The range spans lips, complexion, eyes and curated Fast Face routine kits, built on the principle of maximum impact with minimal effort. Products are one hundred percent vegan and cruelty-free, formulated with a blend of natural ingredients including shea butter, avocado oil, coconut oil and vitamin E. The brand is careful about what it does not claim, stating openly that its products are not certified organic. All products except one palette are talc-free, no product contains fragrance, and the positioning is unapologetically non-toxic beauty essentials for non-toxic people. Priced in the affordable tier, the brand keeps genuinely pigmented colour accessible. For shoppers searching for affordable, vegan, natural, cruelty-free American beauty from a women-owned and Black-owned business built for a full spectrum of skin tones, The Lip Bar is a landmark.

Shop The Lip Bar

Picked by the brand. Checkout happens on The Lip Bar’s own site.

Brand Details

Contract manufactured

China (and other countries)

Last reviewed
Oct 2026
Independent brand
Verified
M
Melissa Butler

Corrections

How we review brands

More like this

From other labels in the directory.

Frequently asked questions

Is The Lip Bar's quality actually good?
The Lip Bar's bullet lipsticks earn praise for comfortable, flattering pigment on deeper skin tones, though some liquid formulas apply patchy and need heavy layering to look even.
Who founded The Lip Bar?
Melissa Butler left a Wall Street job at Barclays to found The Lip Bar after growing frustrated by the lack of bold, affordable vegan lipstick shades for women of color.
When and where was The Lip Bar founded?
The Lip Bar launched in 2012 from a Brooklyn kitchen, and Melissa Butler relocated the growing company to her hometown of Detroit after quitting her job in 2014.
What makes The Lip Bar different?
The Lip Bar became Target's largest Black-owned makeup brand after a rejected 2015 Shark Tank pitch, where all five sharks passed before Butler cold-pitched retail buyers herself.
Is The Lip Bar cruelty free and vegan?
The Lip Bar markets its formulas as 100 percent vegan and cruelty free, avoiding markets that require animal testing, though it holds no formal third party certification.
What's the bigger story behind The Lip Bar?
The Lip Bar's sales grew about 40 percent in 2025 even as its Target-specific sales dipped during a boycott, after Butler diversified into Walmart, CVS, and Amazon.

Ready to shop?

Visit The Lip Bar

You May Also Like

Discover more brands you might be interested in

SIMIHAZE Beauty featured image

SIMIHAZE Beauty

United States · Est. 2021 · Mid-range

SIMIHAZE BEAUTY is an American makeup brand founded in 2021 by sisters Simi and Haze Khadra and based in Los Angeles, California. The brand brings a highly visual, fashion-aware perspective to beauty, but its identity goes beyond creative presentation through a strong clean and conscious formulation profile. SIMIHAZE is vegan and cruelty-free and is associated with paraben-free and sulfate-free beauty. These qualities make it relevant for customers who want luxury-leaning makeup while still paying attention to ingredient standards and animal welfare. Sensitive-skin-friendly positioning gives the brand another layer of practicality, helping balance its bold, design-led image with products that can still fit comfortably into everyday routines. Sustainability and eco-friendly practices are also part of its profile, giving customers more than one reason to consider the brand from a conscious beauty perspective. As a women-owned Los Angeles beauty brand, SIMIHAZE has a clear founder-led identity and a strong connection to contemporary American beauty culture. Its listed pricing sits closer to mid-range, but the brand is positioned within luxury beauty thanks to its presentation and aesthetic direction. For shoppers seeking modern makeup that combines clean beauty, vegan and cruelty-free values, sensitive-skin-friendly formulas, sustainability, and a strong creative identity, SIMIHAZE stands out as a more expressive alternative to conventional luxury cosmetics.

Iris&Romeo featured image

Iris&Romeo

United States · Est. 2019 · Mid-range

Iris&Romeo is an American beauty brand founded in 2019 by Michele Gough Baril and based in Northern California. The women-owned brand combines clean beauty with a streamlined approach to makeup and skincare, making it especially relevant for customers who want fewer products to do more within their everyday routines. Its formulation standards are a major part of the brand’s appeal. Iris&Romeo is vegan and cruelty-free and is associated with paraben-free and sulfate-free beauty. These choices support its clean beauty positioning and give ingredient-conscious shoppers a clearer reason to consider the brand beyond aesthetics. Sustainability is also built into its profile. The use of recycled materials adds a tangible environmental element, while the brand’s minimalist beauty positioning naturally supports the idea of buying more intentionally rather than building oversized routines. Although its listed price range is mid-range, the brand is positioned within luxury beauty, which reflects its more polished presentation and elevated experience. That combination gives Iris&Romeo an interesting place between accessible prestige and traditional luxury. For shoppers looking for American clean beauty that feels refined but still practical, Iris&Romeo offers a strong mix of vegan formulas, cruelty-free practices, recycled materials, sustainability, women-owned leadership, and minimalist everyday beauty.

Lion Pose featured image

Lion Pose

United States · Luxury

Lion Pose is an American skincare brand founded by Madhu Punjabi and Nisha Phatak, built around a focused approach to high-performance skincare without turning routines into a long list of steps. As a women-owned beauty brand, it sits in the luxury segment while keeping its identity closely tied to practical, everyday use. Its formulation profile is one of the clearest reasons shoppers may consider the brand. Lion Pose is vegan and cruelty-free, with dermatologist-tested products and a sensitive-skin-friendly approach that makes it relevant for customers who want elevated skincare but are still cautious about irritation or overly aggressive formulas. Minimalist beauty is another important part of its positioning. Rather than encouraging customers to layer many overlapping products, the brand works best for people who prefer a smaller set of targeted essentials that can be used consistently. Its American beauty identity is supported by locally made production, giving the brand a stronger sense of origin than many globally manufactured skincare labels. Lion Pose ultimately sits at the intersection of luxury skincare and simplified beauty. It is especially suited to shoppers looking for a women-owned beauty brand that combines vegan and cruelty-free values, dermatologist-tested formulas, sensitive-skin-friendly products, local production, and a minimalist routine that still feels premium and intentional.

From The Labels is not officially associated with the brands, designers, or individuals mentioned on this page. Information is curated from public sources, and brand owners can update or verify their listings by contacting support@fromthelabels.com.