Esōes’ new Liquid Lipstick would possibly resemble a James Bond gadget, nevertheless its glamorous look belies a further essential carry out. Each stick covertly holds two examine strips and a Bluetooth enabled button. With just one drop of any beverage (alcoholic or not), the examine strip will detect for the presence of Benzodiazepines – usually utilized in date rape drugs like Rohypnol, Ativan, Xanax, and Klonopin.
The Bluetooth enabled button on the underside of the lipstick tube moreover connects to an app with a customizable safety plan. When clients press the button as quickly as, it might ship a location to good friend. After they push it twice, it might ship a pre-saved message; thrice and it might identify 911, start recording, or activate one amongst 15 completely totally different safety choices.
The Esōes Liquid Lipstick is on the market in 5 completely totally different shades and is linked by the use of an app to a client’s cellphone [Image: Esōes]
Chatting with CosmeticsDesign-USA, Pleasure Hoover, the inventor of Esōes, talked about the idea for a lipstick with safety choices received right here out of a dialog collectively along with her two daughters.
“For 12 years I constructed a non-profit social enterprise providing sources for people who’ve been affected by intercourse trafficking. In July ultimate 12 months, I was chatting with my daughters about what we could do subsequent to help people. I on a regular basis be all ears to them because of they give you the proper ideas. My youngest, who was 4 on the time, talked about: ‘correctly, you need lipstick mom…can we do lipstick?’.
Hoover relayed how she researched what merchandise have been on the sweetness market for conserving women protected and was “shocked” to go looking on the market wasn’t one thing.
Date rape nail polish
All through her evaluation she did uncover a patent software program for a nail polish that enabled the wearer to dip a finger proper right into a drink to examine whether or not or not it contained a date rape drug. The product, however, had in no way come to fruition, she talked about.
“I reached out to the scientist who labored on that patent by the use of LinkedIn because of I decided that if I was going to do this, I wished the proper scientist inside the US,” talked about Hoover.
Hoover launched the idea of Esōes in her yard to household and pals once more in October 2021 and raised $25,000 by crowdfunding. This enabled the entrepreneur to create a pitch deck that secured $200,000 from angel merchants. With this funding, Hoover launched in engineers and scientists to develop the lipstick and laptop computer software program program specialists to develop the safety app.
The prototype and app launched six weeks previously, and the start-up was now searching for $500,000 of pre-seed funding to hold the product to market in Q1 2023, talked about Hoover.
“We’re going to start with D2C, nevertheless we’re moreover in contact with a few magnificence containers and marvel producers. Although getting our product in numerous retailers is a big intention, because of we take into consideration our product to be an eco-system of choices, we don’t merely want our product in any retailer.”
Merchandise, giving once more and education
Hoover talked about that there have been three elements to the enterprise: fashionable merchandise, responsive giving (reinvesting a proportion of every purchase in survivors) and education.
With regard to the third factor, she talked about: “We offer protected home certification teaching. We go into corporations and educate them regarding the nuances of sexual and residential violence, to supply them an understanding of how crime happens. They’re saying it happens in a triangle with a spot, a person and a perpetrator. We’ll’t stop every perpetrator, nevertheless we’re in a position to make a person and a spot safer.”
She talked about Esōes ultimately wished to certify the businesses carrying its lipstick to make them into “protected zones” for survivors nevertheless added that this system didn’t preclude the potential of licensing or white labeling preparations. The company merely had no plans of opening its private retailers, because of larger retailers have been “further covert for survivors within the occasion that they’re being adopted or tracked”, she talked about.
The company’s intention was to hit product sales of $10m in 2023, which could equate to 200,000 merchandise supplied, and worldwide progress would hopefully observe, talked about Hoover.
“To start with we’re specializing within the US nevertheless our patent is world, so as rapidly as doable we have to start rising all through the globe because of everyone knows that sexual and residential violence along with date rape drugs and women’s safety are a problem in every geography. Canada and Europe would almost certainly be our subsequent targets,” she talked about.
First 500 lipsticks on pre-sale
The Liquid Lipstick is at current obtainable to pre-order on-line for $49.95, in a different of 5 shades. The worth incorporates the gadget, one coloration and two examine strips along with the underside diploma of app entry.
‘Lipstick is a $90bn market and the safety commerce is worth $6bn, so we sit inside a $100bn commerce’ – Esōes founder Pleasure Hoover
“We’re pre-selling our first 500 lipsticks now and buying ideas from clients. We also have a four-tier promoting plan to get our title in the marketplace. It’s truly merely our plan to get it into as many people’s fingers as doable and help them actually really feel protected,” talked about Hoover.
Requested how the mannequin consider to stay away from being too space of curiosity, she talked about: “I’m okay with being space of curiosity nevertheless I don’t assume people actually really feel like we’re space of curiosity – they see us as an addition to at least one factor they already love – lipstick. Lipstick is a $90bn market and the safety commerce is worth $6bn, so we sit inside a $100bn commerce.”
Femtech attracts merchants
She continued: “Femtech effectively being & magnificence is our home and it’s a very fashionable funding house correct now. In 2020 there was $600m invested in femtech. In 2022, funding exceeded $3.3bn, so it’s moderately thrilling to be on this home correct now.”
With loads buzz spherical femtech, in Hoover’s view, the sweetness majors additionally must be contemplating alongside these strains. “I uncover it wild that we’re in 2022 and this invention is taken into consideration novel. I can’t think about that it doesn’t exist already and that there isn’t further in the marketplace to take care of us protected. I hope that an rising variety of corporations will affiliate with us to get it into the fingers of their clients and give you further choices for safety.”
However, she recognized that if the large magnificence producers wished to launch an identical product, they may, they often hadn’t.
“That’s worthwhile, nevertheless it’s not as worthwhile as lipstick because of it encompasses further elements that improve the value. Our passion isn’t income. Our passion is goal and safety. That’s truly what models us except for the first magnificence producers.”
Vital and lighthearted
Nonetheless Hoover was keen to emphasize that along with being a mannequin with a mission, Esōes had a lighter facet too.
Whereas Esōes stays a essential mannequin plugging an actual need, it has been designed to remain lighthearted too [Image: Esōes]
“Our mannequin is sensible, it’s pleasurable, it’s inclusive. We did that for a motive because of violence is a extremely essential topic. We’ll make a joke and chortle on a TikTok dance, nevertheless we’re in a position to moreover talk about precise tales.”
She continued: “We’re a workforce of survivors setting up this for survivors. You cannot do this work and sit inside the ache all day. The way in which through which we uncover hope is by setting up a bunch, having pleasurable, partaking the group and being real regarding the experiences of people in that group. By believing that we’re in a position to and may make a distinction. We don’t should reside in a world the place we actually really feel afraid. We’ll assemble a safer world and I is likely to be damned if I don’t for my daughters.”
