Meet the Newest Name in Makeup

Photography by Danielle Barry

After two years of careful planning, goal setting and commitment to her craft, Indianapolis based makeup artist and fashionista Devonna Jones has launched her own cosmetic line Babydoll Beats Cosmetics.

It all started with an unpleasant customer service experience, motivating her to manifest her next business venture and fully committing to being her own boss.

“I had a bad experience doing makeup, where a client was really picky and it made me not want to do makeup anymore,” Jones says. “That’s when I realized it was time. I think I have more of a boss energy. I like being in charge of myself. I think that my ambition and having a bad experience while doing makeup challenged me to figure out how I can still be involved with something I love while supporting myself financially.”

A month ahead of what she originally planned, Jones took a leap of faith and launched her first three collections this past July, nearly selling out by week three. The three collections: Summer Time Fine, Glow Baby, and Deja Vu each had their own unique twist and various inspirations behind them.

Summer Time Fine consisted of vibrant lip colors and dramatic lashes to capture the hottest season of the year. As a queen of highlight, Jones ensured that the Glow Baby collection consisted of three popping highlighters and a simple gloss for creating those dewy, glowy looks. Lastly, Deja Vu was created in memory of her sister, who she lost due to a brain tumor (DIPG) in 2013. It consisted of varying shadow pigments, one of which was named softball, due to her sister’s involvement with the sport. The three collections proved successful and with the support of friends, family and the network she created as a makeup artist, Jones was able to meet all of her goals within the first month of the launch.

However, success did not happen overnight. It took two years of building a relationship with a quality vendor, goal setting and balancing a busy schedule for Jones’ cosmetic line to flourish. Keeping lines of communication open was vital in ensuring that the vision she had for her products would not fall short.

“You have to use the right words and ask the right questions when talking to vendors,” she says. “Ask them about the quality of their product and what is in their products. Some people just get into it not caring what ingredients are being used to make the product or the effect those ingredients might have on someone’s skin. I also try to be really nice to my vendors.”

For Jones, building a good relationship with vendors meant being patient.

“They have lives too, so no, sometimes they can’t respond back that same day and sometimes I can’t. Honestly, I think it’s just treating them like humans and recognizing that they don’t work for me. We’re all working together as a team so treat them accordingly.”

As a full time student, with a full time job, starting a business was a huge commitment that demanded focus and the ability to juggle a hectic schedule. Jones also had to ensure that these demands did not stifle her creativity or impede on her personal self care. Her most useful tool was the ten steps of gratitude. She wrote and spoke her success into existence and as a result, she was able to manifest it into a reality.

“I believe that if you are grateful for what you currently have that you will get where you need to be,” she says. “I also believe in speaking the goals into existing so I would write everything down. I would write down everyday, ‘I am grateful for my current job, because my current job is helping me get my next job.’ Just writing it down, speaking it, and really believing that I could do what I set out to do really made the difference. It’s really mind over matter.”

Jones’ next makeup launch was this past Saturday with two collections inspired by two types of powerful women: Sugar babies and Bosses. In an effort to empower women, this launch celebrates these two identities and how they overlap.

“This is not to compartmentalize women or put them in a box,” Jones says. “It’s all about feminism.”

Jones is looking forward to sharing her new products with the world and is currently setting goals for the future. She hopes to release another set of products next year.

You can keep up with Babydoll Beats Cosmetics on Instagram and Facebook and shop online.

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