Brand Name
Jean-Luc Cosmetics.
Name and Position
My name is Jean-Luc, and I am the founder and owner of Jean-Luc Cosmetics!
About Us!
My name is Jean-Luc, and I’m a 28 year-old queer, male-identifying person living in Toronto, Canada. I currently work full time as a community Social Worker at a major hospital downtown Toronto, and have a wonderful fiancé who I’ve been with for 10 years! We have an amazing 3-year old boxer named Simon, and we absolutely love going on weekend adventures together. I’ve been exploring my passion for beauty and cosmetics since 2018, and haven’t looked back since! I found my passion for cosmetics when I stumbled upon Nikkietutorial’s “Power Of Makeup” video back in 2017, and immediately fell down the rabbit hole of her channel. Before I knew it, I had drawers full of makeup, and would hurry home from school to practice techniques to master my craft!
Journey of JL-Cosmetics
Jean-Luc Cosmetics came to be in many ways! Prior to the pandemic, I was feeling a little burnt out from my 9-5. When the pandemic hit, it completely changed the way I viewed healthcare, and I wanted to explore alternatives that left me feeling fulfilled and motivated. Since 2018, my passion has ALWAYS been makeup, and I felt it was time to invest my time and energy into creating a business. Specifically, a business that focusses on queer beauty. There’s no denying the gap in the market when it comes to queer inclusivity in beauty, and I’ve made it my mission to create space for all artists regardless of gender, body type, ethnicity, etc.
How did JL-Cosmetic come to be?
Honestly, it’s been a JOURNEY. My first thought was, “how the heck do you even manufacture products?”. I literally had no idea where to start and was completely overwhelmed. But then, I found Tik Tok! I was able to network with SO many amazing business owners, and they were gracious enough to mentor me through the process of starting a brand. I spent SO many sleepless nights scrolling the internet doing research to make sure I was doing everything properly. Not only did I learn about creating/launching a business, but I learned so much about myself! I never knew I had this passion for creating and launching products, but it’s been such a rewarding journey so far. The biggest lesson I learned is that no dream is too big.
How long have you been working on this?
I remember going for a walk with my fiancé in the summer of 2020, and I told him “I want to start my own business”, and we both laughed at the thought of it. At the time, we didn’t realize how accessible knowledge and resources were when it came to starting a business. Having said that, it took me about 5/6 months of toying with the idea until I really wanted to do it. It wasn’t until about January of 2021 that I finally took it seriously, and we launched on March 20th! Which is coincidentally 4/20, and we didn’t realize until a couple days prior to launching. Now we laugh at how iconic it is that our brand’s anniversary is on that day.
What do you do besides the Cosmetics line?
Although I would love to work on my brand full time, I am currently still working my 9-5. I work as a community Social Worker at a major hospital in the heart of downtown Toronto in Canada. More specifically, I work with the homeless & mental health population.
How many people are there involved?
As of right now, it’s just my fiancé and me. I take on the creative/operations role, and he handles all of our finances.
Why did you do the cosmetics line?
I really wanted a creative outlet and a way to connect with consumers in the beauty industry. Having a queer-owned brand is something I’m incredibly proud of, especially in a market that often over-looks queer people. Creating a safe space with the branding and accessibility has always been priority to me. With the product names and models used in campaigns, I want everything to be inspired by queer culture, and those who have created it.
The Lipsticks
My lipsticks are the OGs of my brand. The first product that came to mind was liquid lipstick when I decided to launch my brand. My lipsticks are all vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, and fragrance-free. Pretty much free of all the bad stuff you don’t want in your makeup! These lipsticks are transfer-proof, matte, and incredibly opaque. One swipe, and you’re good to go, bestie!
The Everything Palette
The Everything Palette was such a passion product of mine. I love my products being super campy, and “in-your-face”, and I think we did the damn thing! Since it was our first palette, I wanted to create a colour story that made it a very usable palette for any occasion. The palette includes 15 shades, 11 being matte, and 4 shimmers. With the mattes, there’s every shade you need for a neutral, bronzy eye, and pops of colour to inspire you to explore outside of your makeup comfort zone. The shimmers speak for themselves! They’re iridescent, blinding, and will brighten up any eye look!