When it comes to backing business start-ups, L’Oreal certainly thinks genderless makeup brand Jecca is worth it.
Cardiff-based beauty brand, Jecca is one of the start-up successes of this year’s L’Oreal Open Innovation Programme.
Open Innovation provides start-ups with the expertise of industry leaders and hopes to change the way we use beauty products.
Jessica Blackler, founder of Jecca, says that the aim of the programme is for the two brands to collaborate towards “future global expansion”.
Jecca is certainly innovative. While makeup is usually considered the sole remit of cis-gendered women, Jecca is widening the market and encouraging people of all gender identities to paint their canvas. Its first product, the Correct & Conceal Palette, is ideal for not only covering blemishes, tattoos, and scars, but banishing the blue tones of beard stubble.
Jecca currently donates 5% of its profits to LGBTQ charity Stonewall and has strong links with the community which inspired its founding.
Jessica, then a makeup artist for film and television, was approached by many clients who needed help from someone they trusted. She says, “My clients came from wide and far, but one thing they all had in common was they loved the fact that I was an accepting, understanding makeup artist.”
It does not sound an unreasonable request, but as Jessica adds, “They didn’t find this anywhere. Bearing in mind I started [in] 2015, it was even different then. I created a brand with the same values as my studio: accepting, inclusive, and safe.”
Joseph Harwood, YouTuber and transgender artist, describes the brand in a video tutorial you can find here as “really exciting”.
Currently the concealer is the only product available in the Jecca line, but we can look forward to more inclusivity as there are plans to release three new lines next year. Jessica also adds that she will be diversifying further with more colours in the range of products.