Pucker up with KNC Beauty

After a quick trip to Tokyo, revealed an abundance and a hypervisibility of lip masks. But what Kristen Noel Crawley — Founder of KNC Beauty and Creator of the KNC School of Beauty — found was a barren niche in this particular industry for clean beauty.

From there, Kristen launched her highly favored brand rid of harsh chemicals, fragrance, and artificial dyes in 2016, and the rest of her empire built up through natural evolution. For the beauty brand owner, touching the masses in a highly impactful way doesn't stop there. As a Black woman it's only deemed natural to want to be a part of a more extensive social and cultural movement, thus prompting the launch of  KNC’s School of Beauty. As a direct response to the Black Lives Movement, Kristens says "I really felt this sense of despair as I wrestled with how to be of support to my community during that difficult time. I truly wanted to find a way to give back and uplift the younger version of myself who wanted so badly to make it as a young Black woman in America." The School of Beauty mentorship program is for Black female beauty founders looking to take a step in a similar direction as Kristen and contribute to an iconic industry where Black women have dominated in the past. 

So, masks are such a niche category of beauty, and even then you mostly focus on your lips. I feel like as Black women we have such a strong history around our lips and the upkeep and maintenance of them. What inspired you to focus on the maintenance of lips instead of the dressing of them?

Growing up in the Midwest, I struggled with chronically chapped lips for a long time, to the point where I had tried every balm on the market and nothing was working. I desperately wanted to find a remedy that would revive my dry lips and provide relief in a healthier, more balanced manner. The petroleum and added chemicals in some of our favorite drugstore brands were not working for me, and it was time I found a new method. I wanted to develop a hero product when I launched KNC Beauty that could withstand the test of time and actually spoke to the process of self-care. As Black women, we absolutely must prioritize our skin and the journey we each take toward finding comfort in our natural self. Lipsticks and glosses are a lot of fun and can make or break even the best beauty look, but the process of actually showing yourself love and patience is what I wanted to hone in on. Sometimes when I put my KNC masks on it’s the first time in the day I’m actually able to take a moment and reflect on everything. Even just 15 to 20 minutes of meditation or relaxation every day is important.

You were in Tokyo when you first saw and fell in love with a wall full of masks, I feel like Asian beauty is such a phenomenon. What else did you learn about Asian beauty and how has it translated into what you make now?

Apart from our All-Natural Lip Mask, Asian beauty trends have had a major impact on both the design and aesthetic behind KNC Beauty. When it comes to developing our product packaging and marketing materials I’m consistently inspired by their unique approach to design. I’ve always loved the fun and colorful nature of advertising in Asia, and I feel the reason they’ve been so successful within the beauty market is because this sense of creativity translates especially well amongst consumers. Their attention to detail and level of artistry is unmatched, and I think it’s led to some incredibly eye-catching product design. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a young female illustrator from the Philippines who has helped to curate some of my favorite KNC motifs. I really am impressed by her vision as an artist, and I hope to have more collaborative opportunities like this in the future.

Why do you think there weren't any natural lip masks on the market, and what made you want to be the first?  Are you a health-conscious person in general, or was it a certain reaction you had to the non-natural masks?
 

I’ve always had an adverse reaction to the fan-favorite lip products everyone knows and loves. For a long time now, I’ve known that my skin craves the clean beauty approach and typically doesn’t react well to some of the more synthetic ingredients these brands use. When I was in Tokyo and discovered the lip mask phenomenon, I was so struck by how unique the concept was, but I simply could not find one version with a complete list of all-natural ingredients. I personally am hyper-aware about what I’m using on my face, so I was surprised that the Asian market had not capitalized on the clean beauty & skincare trend. When I got back to the U.S. I made it my mission to create a product that would be sensitive to all skin types and didn’t use any of those chemicals we can barely even pronounce! I think it’s important to have the option of clean beauty products when building out your skincare regimen.

What were some obstacles you faced when first making your products and what would you tell your younger self now about the trial and error process?

I think the biggest obstacle I faced, in the beginning, was that I had very little prior experience and knowledge of the beauty industry. When I decided to launch KNC Beauty I had quite a small understanding of supply chains and the production process, so it really was on me to build my skills and expertise from the ground up. I’ve had amazing mentors along the way such as Barbara Sturm and Cassandra Grey who have helped me to better understand the market and the needs of beauty consumers out there. With this guidance, I was able to identify the true KNC customer who in turn I built my brand aesthetic around.

There were definitely a lot of starts and stops when I first got going, but I’ve always told myself to just do it and keep the engine running. I think I would tell my younger self that I shouldn’t be so hard on myself always and to afford a bit of self-care and patience as I try to get my business off the ground. These days I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor, but I think it’s important to do that along the way as well.

Being a Black entrepreneur, can you tell me about KNC School of Beauty?

We were inspired to build the KNC School of Beauty as a direct response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which came to such a head in 2020. I personally was at home with my kids due to the pandemic, and I really felt this sense of despair as I wrestled with how to be of support to my community during that difficult time. I truly wanted to find a way to give back and uplift the younger version of myself who wanted so badly to make it as a young Black woman in America. This sparked my idea to develop a safe space for ambitious, entrepreneurial young women to connect and share their experiences of triumph & failure within the beauty industry. We wanted a panel of successful Black women to join us every session to further impart wisdom on the conversation, and we were also able to secure my longtime brand partner Revlon as an exclusive sponsor for each seminar. They so graciously have donated $10K each time to a winning participant of the school as they kick start their dreams and begin building a business. Now after five sessions, we’ve gone on to include fashion as a topic of discussion as well and are looking forward to expanding this enterprise even more as we take it into the new year.

What is something so complex about the beauty world that people are blind to, and something so easy about the world that more people should know about?

I think most people don’t understand the complexities of actually designing a product from start to finish and the countless steps you go through to finally get it right at the end. It can be a painstaking process throughout but the reward is absolutely worth it. I also think people make their skincare regimens a lot more difficult than they need to. Hero products actually work nowadays and we have the opportunity to limit our excess here by narrowing our routine to just a few key items. Less is more and that’s where I’ve always found success in my skincare journey.

The packaging and beauty direction behind the brand is so whimsical and pink. Is the brand direction something you were so sure of when you first started or kind of an afterthought?

I definitely had a strong brand vision in mind when I started to build out the world of KNC Beauty. I wanted it to be playful and fun with a level of appeal for all age groups. I always say that our products are for everyone, ages 8 to 80, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I first started to develop the artwork that would embellish our packaging designs, I was inspired by a retro, 70s style font that I felt spoke to the cute and whimsical nature of the brand. The colors I use are some of my favorites, both in my beauty cabinet and throughout my wardrobe. I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection between fashion and beauty, which I think has helped to inform the chic and elevated manner with which I present the KNC product line. It’s important that our products be both effective and visually appealing at the same time.

You collaborated with Bape which is iconic, what is your history with them and how did the process of pairing a streetwear brand with a beauty brand come along.

Our collaboration with BAPE really was one for the books as we were the first skincare brand to partner on a major capsule collection within the streetwear space. I’ve long been a "Bape-head," supporting the brand and repping their iconic camo print since the days I first fell in love with street style. I think Nigo is an absolute genius, and I was completely floored when they reached out about collaborating on something together. It was such a pivotal moment for me and my brand; that feeling that you’re truly being recognized by your peers for all the hard work you’ve put in.

Overall, the process took two years in total from the ideation phase all the way to launch. I really learned so much during that time as we were not only working with such an established brand, but we were also doing so under the guise of the pandemic. This of course slowed everything down, but once we finally dropped the collection it was such a perfect moment to watch our customers and the amount of excitement they showed this drop.

You have a close-knit list of products, what can we see for the future of KNC Beauty?

We definitely want to keep increasing our mask game by expanding the line of KNC masks to fit other needs. I’ve been so lucky to play with this self-care concept for over 5 years now, and I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface! We have a few other collaborative projects coming down the pipeline that we’ll have to keep secret for now, but I’m so excited to be working with partners that believe in the brand and want to watch it grow. We’ve got a lot of exciting things in store!