For decades, paving your way in the beauty industry meant having either connections or money (and in many cases, both). That privilege, nine times out of ten, was afforded strictly to white businessmen. Now, as more products are being marketed to a generation that essentially grew up on the internet, all you need is a solid social media following.
Battle had already acquired a massive amount of support for KingCurls before launching in October thanks to his dedicated community of TikTok followers (he currently has over one million). Before introducing his products in October, his plan was to garner even more support for the brand by going viral on Twitter. It worked, and his tweet showing off his initial brand images garnered nearly 75,000 retweets and 174,000 likes.
"I was manifesting that it would go viral so that we can have a large rollout," he said. "When we finally did launch, I woke up that morning and the tweet was at 10,000 likes, and then it was at 20,000, and kept going, and celebrities were retweeting."
That tweet speaks to the larger role that social media and storytelling play in building a name for yourself in beauty. Claudia Teng and Olamide Olowo, both 24, launched their brand, Topicals, last year. With just two products on their roster so far, the duo has been able to use social media as a tool to win over younger consumers thanks to their unfiltered, inclusive approach to skin-care.
"When you grow up feeling like an outsider because of your skin, it gives you a unique perspective on the beauty industry."
"When you grow up feeling like an outsider because of your skin, it gives you a unique perspective on the beauty industry," Olowe told POPSUGAR. "Younger generations, especially our target audience, gen Z, spend a lot of their time on social media platforms. It plays a huge role in how people feel about themselves. That's why it's important to create a brand that doesn't focus on perfection or unattainable beauty standards. We want to transform the way people feel about skin and we do that on social media by showcasing people with visible skin conditions living life in full colour."