After attending Toronto’s top professional makeup artistry school, and then working in the film and movie industry, #beautyboss, Giovanna Minenna felt a void and decided to start her own business. She eventually launched her own brow line: browluxe®. The intent behind browluxe® came from a lack of shade-focused products in the brow space. Read on more to find out about Giovanna and her brand:
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and why you decided to start browluxe®?
I’ve been a lover of makeup and the creativity behind it from a very young age. I was the one in our group that was always giving friends makeovers and I was intrigued with how you could shape and alter the perception of a face through the use of products.
In my early 20s I tried my hand at university, and when it wasn’t a good fit, packed up my life in a suitcase and went east to go to school at Toronto’s top professional makeup artistry school. For a couple years after, I worked in the film and movie industry, putting in long hours and feeling a lack of inspiration and motivation for the job. Returning to Winnipeg, I was looking for an outlet for my creative juices, but one that I could continue to work with people and fill a void in the market that currently existed. This brought me to brows.
After building my business from a one-chair set up in my condo, to a two-studio business and nationally-renowned training program over 2 short years, I wanted to offer my clients a product that I would want to use as an MUA, and brow expert… and so the adventure began.
Through the years of running my studios and experimenting with at-home options for our clients, I found that leaders in the brow space were offering dozens of shades in their lines, but clients were still coming into their appointments concerned with the shades that were available to them when they were shopping because it “didn’t look natural”.
The intent behind browluxe® came from a lack of shade-focused products in the brow space. Brands are doing a fantastic job of taking the time to make sure their foundations and concealers come in a vast array of tones that are designed to perfectly match every skin tone out there. So, I thought, why not take the same approach for brows?
Can you tell us a bit more about your famous brow pencil and how to use it?
It would be my pleasure! The browluxe® Precision Brow Pencil is a professional-grade certified cruelty-free and vegan product that was designed with our daily users in mind.
The shade range is curated to provide a perfect match shade for every consumer and the formula has been created to provide a life-proof, buildable application that won’t budge throughout the day. Our formula is stiffer than most, which allows users to apply hair-like strokes with the angled triangle tip, or buff in color for a more shaded look.
All of our pencils are dual-ended with a luxe spoolie; it’s an all-in-one product! I even use it as eyeliner or for a faux-freckle look 😉
We have some great resources on our YouTube page for application tips for those babes that are new to the brow game, or simply might need a refresher:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UscFJhtoYk&t=292s
As a growing beauty brand, how do you find ways to connect/educate your customers?
Our approach to connecting with our community is extremely personal, and not unlike that of other indie brands in the beauty space! I think there’s something so special about indie brand owners and teams, and we collectively treat our clients and community as family, rather than customers.
Our team is extremely interactive in our Instagram DMs and over our info email; providing custom shade matches for each and every customer who needs help determining their shade.
Of course, the introduction of Instagram Stories and Lives to our toolbox has been invaluable in this day and age. We are constantly adding to our list of brands and teams that we idolize and we approach our communication plan with their inspiration in mind. I’m excited to see what other outlets come out of the woodwork given the changes we’ve experienced in the communication world in 2020.
What does it mean to you to be a #beautyboss?
Being a leader in my space, an educator, and a colleague to others in the industry; it’s not about competition and who is better than who. There’s space for all of us to succeed and I think championing others that are getting their hands just as dirty as I am are worth recognizing. It’s also important to realize that as a CEO/owner, at the end of the day the success of your team falls on you. If something goes wrong, you have to look at your processes and where the breakdown is happening and take responsibility for it. Often when you reflect on this, you will see it ultimately starts with you and what areas you need to grow in. Never see this as a failure but as an opportunity to become better. This isn’t an easy path to take, but let me tell you, is it ever worth it 🙂
