Picture this: you create a Texan Magazine about empowering women, showcasing the feminine struggles at all ages, then it leads you to enter the beauty world, an industry driven by idealistic beauty norms. This is all a hard task, one that not many would achieve. Beauty is objective, but in today’s society, it is run by celebrities and big beauty brands telling us what they think beauty really is. It is hard to come across a brand that truly cares about their customer’s inner beauty and confidence, let alone a company run by family values and a sisterhood bond. Enter ChicaGirl.
Through inspirational words in a magazine, to creating a lipgloss that makes any woman feel like a Jefa, Toni and Mei-lon, two sisters from San Antonio, had this vision of change and tackled it head-on. With years of experience it has become not only a local brand but a well recognized name. ChicaGirl Magazine and Chica Beauty are here to make you feel beautiful and confident every day. Here’s what they had to say.
Toni and Mei-lon Jimenez, Founders of ChicaGirl Magazine and Chica Beauty
SLTV: Let’s start off with ChicaGirl Magazine! What was your inspiration for creating it and did you envision that Chica Beauty would grow from it? Tell us about your growth process.
CB: ChicaGirl Magazine began over 12 years ago as both a motivational and inspirational magazine that featured real girls on our covers. It was about real girls who had real and honest stories to share with our readers, we wanted to keep that positivity. It wasn’t a celebrity-focused magazine even though we did have some celebrity interviews with Selena Gomez and Jessica Alba. They understood that they would not be on the cover because we wanted our mission of being a magazine about real girls to stay at the frontlines. Then came Chica Beauty. We wanted to implement these same values we carried on throughout our 12 years of ChicaGirl Magazine into the beauty industry. We want women and girls to feel empowered. When they put on their boss set, their play set, their hustle set, etc. we want them to feel ready to tackle their day with confidence. We don’t want you to cover yourself up, we want you to be proud of who you are. We are more of a generational brand for all ages, full of simplistic essentials to add to your beauty routine.
SLTV: We love your brand’s mission! What is your creative process like when coming up with a new beauty product?
CB: We speak to women in focus groups to find out what is essential to them in their beauty routine. We want to provide what they need and want. With our creative process we try to tell a story, we are a brand that colors in your everyday life so our main focus is to always listen to what is needed and we provide it with our best quality that we can.
SLTV: What is beauty to you?
CB: Inner beauty is super important. We are here to accentuate the beauty you already have. We want you to feel confident in putting on our products, even if it’s simply by putting on a lipstick. If that is what makes you ready to tackle your day, then that is the most beautiful thing we can provide to our customers.
SLTV: In your opinion, what is one beauty product everyone must have!
CB: This is funny, because when we went out there and did focus groups with 300+ women it all came down to a nice natural gloss. I think we can all agree that our ‘Gloss Boss’ is a must-have. In high school/college I remember we always had our glosses on hand and it hasn’t changed!
SLTV: What is something that you want all your customers to take away from what Chica Beauty stands for?
CB: I think what separates our brand from others is that we are sisters so we hold the same beliefs and values. We value community above all else. Giving back is who we are as individuals, and as a company. We do it by partnering with different non-profits such as Incarnate Word High School, Girls Inc., Dress for Success, SJRC Texas, and most recently Girl Scouts of South West Texas. It is important to note that we are more than just a beauty brand. Yes, we are here to provide your beauty essentials because they are great quality but we also want you to know that by purchasing our products you are a part of this greater story of helping the community. You are a part of the bigger picture. Another thing is that we care about our environment as well, which is why we chose to highlight only the essentials in beauty to not overwhelm you with loads of products. Our packaging is biodegradable, our shipping boxes are recyclable. Our products are all cruelty free and paraben-free. This is all very important to us as a brand. Along with this a huge factor we want customers to take away is that age does not define your beauty. We are a generational brand so daughters can use Chica Beauty as a starter brand, moms on the go can find their essentials, and grandmothers can find their beauty in our products as well. We are two Latinas in the beauty industry trying to make a difference. We want to create a sisterhood, we want people to feel apart of our brand. This is just the beginning and can’t wait for people to hear and try out our products. We put our heart and soul into everything we do and it shows! Get it chica!
SLTV: Thank you for sharing your heart and your mission through ChicaGirl Magazine and Chica Beauty, we are excited to watch you grow!