What inspired you to start Eadem? How did you get interested in ethical consumption and production?

MKA: In 2014, a well-known brand had just released a new foundation, and at the

time, a very famous Black actress was their spokesperson. The following weekend, I went to a department store in Paris to purchase the foundation for myself, noticing ads featuring the actress in the foundation campaign on full display. I was standing at the beauty counter basically saying, “Take all my money,” but when I ask the salesperson for my foundation shade, he told me, “Oh sorry no! We don’t have that shade here.” This was one of the most humiliating moments I can remember. I turned around and just exited the store. From there, I realized that more could be done for women of color in beauty and always had that experience in the back of my head.

ALG: I’ve always had severe cystic acne and eczema, so I grew up going to a slew of dermatologists, estheticians, and even traditional Chinese medicine healers. When I realized several products I was using contained hydroquinone, an ingredient that’s banned in the EU and several countries in Asia and Africa, I was really shocked. The more I dug into the research behind what’s in our beauty products, the more convinced I became that there was not just an opportunity but also a need to provide safe, targeted skincare products for women of color.

Most hyperpigmentation serums focus on dark spots caused by anti-aging and work by lightening your entire complexion. Our Milk Marvel Dark Spot Serum is the first of its kind to only target the dark spot itself, not your skin tone. Did you know that when clinical trials are done, they're normally done on a panel of lighter skin tones? What makes Eadem even more unique is that we built out a custom panel of women of color to understand the efficacy of our product for skin of color with hyperpigmentation. Eadem is not a marketing play on the clean-beauty trend or diversity for the sake of diversity—it’s about building solutions for the real needs and unique perspectives of women of color.