Natalia Iaromenko, founding father of the Ukrainian beauty brand Lamel, is fresh off of showcasing her products at Cosmoprof North America in Las Vegas last month. Despite the war with Russia in her native country and the destruction of the brand’s warehouse, Iaromenko is optimistic as she eyes continued expansion within the U.S. —and globally, too.

Here, Iaromenko discusses her brand, the impetus behind launching her company, and the way she sees Lamel evolving.

WWD: What pushed you to launch your brand?

Natalia Iaromenko: I think that each one women have natural beauty. Makeup doesn’t exist to make them higher but to make them more confident and help them express themselves. After I refer to girls, I often hear that for them going out without makeup is like going out naked. When a lady does makeup along with her favorite products that encourage her, she feels more confident and expects more from life. Actually, I experienced it myself. After I got my first job, I worked with out a salary for the entire first yr. I used to be very insecure and believed that I used to be not price being hired in any respect. And it was makeup that helped me to beat this self-doubt.

A desire to assist women all over the world set greater goals, demand more from life, and be more confident is why I devoted my life to beauty.

WWD: What’s your distribution strategy? Retail and direct-to-consumer?

N.I.: Our distribution strategy relies on our mission — to give the chance to precise themselves to as many individuals as possible. We attempt to work with the largest retailers worldwide to be closer to our customers. We have the desire to make our products available to ladies and boys in every corner of the country, in every small town, in order that they can express themselves and boost their self-confidence. That’s why we construct our sales with the assistance of our retail partners: you may buy our products directly online on Amazon and other online stores.

We communicate directly with our followers and beloved customers, and now we’re launching Shopify, which is able to allow customers to purchase our products straight from the positioning.

WWD: How would you describe your goal customer? And what do they give the impression of being for in a beauty product?

N.I.: Our goal customers are girls or boys who want to precise themselves through makeup, like non-standard brilliant products, and like to experiment. Makeup helps boost their self-confidence. Our goal customer is a conscious one who understands that it isn’t price spending all the cash on makeup products. Our goal is to supply our customers with high-quality, modern, trendy products for as little money as possible so that individuals can spend the remainder of their money on other essential things: travel, self-development, education or charity.

The very first thing our customers expect from the products — is a caring attitude toward the environment. We don’t test our products on animals; we’re a cruelty-free PETA brand, most of our products are vegan, and lots of are multifunctional, which helps reduce the quantity of consumption and make it more reasonable.

People who find themselves trying to find such values while selecting beauty products are our customers. Additionally they expect from us a number of novelties, non-standard, brilliant products, and unexpected solutions in each colours and textures. We like to surprise our customers. We’d like to listen to “WOW” from them.

WWD: How has the war in Ukraine impacted your corporation?

N.I.: Lamel’s principal warehouse was positioned in Ukraine, in a small town near Kyiv. After a Russian tank hit the warehouse, we completely lost our products, and the warehouse burned down. We lost the market in Ukraine. But our production was positioned in other countries (China, Italy and Poland). We now have an excellent product, and, luckily, no problems with production now. And though there are some difficulties with the market, we’re resolving them quickly.

We at the moment are transferring stocks to Europe and established an organization in Poland. Just before the war, we began negotiations with a Polish distributor: this helped us start our partnership now. We’ve already made shipments to European distributors and can cooperate with Rossmann — one in every of Europe’s largest drugstore chains. We’re also opening an organization within the U.S. and in search of a warehouse to represent our products within the American market.

To proceed to assist our country, our army, and the charity fund we’re establishing now, and to be as useful as possible, we’re renewing our work aiming for a fair broader representation worldwide. It has been said persistently in Ukraine that those that can work and support the economy should do their best. And that is what we aim to do.

WWD: How would you describe your leadership style? And the way would you describe Lamel’s corporate culture?

N.I.: I might describe it as mentoring. I see self-development and the conclusion of massive ambitious dreams as the first goal of my business. I choose a team of individuals with the identical values for whom self-realization is crucial. I want to offer them maximum freedom of their actions in order that they reveal their talents. It results in the corporate’s fast growth, and I’m thankful to all of my team.

The Lamel team is a team of ambitious dreamers who know the best way to work madly for results. The important thing competence is product development. Only talented, ambitious, independent individuals can create incredible, creative products. These people make up our team; we search for human treasures in all places; résumés and dealing experience will not be the principal things we listen to when hiring a recent person. The principal thing is the extent of ambitions, non-standard pondering, and the need to vary this world for the higher.

The principal task of our corporate culture is to disclose each team member’s potential and create the utmost conditions for this. After all, the team has measurable goals, budgets, plans, etc., but more vital is the vision of every team member for ambitious, non-standard challenges and the need to attain big dreams. These goals charge the team with emotions, and the team fills all our actions and steps with energy. Due to the mentoring culture of support and development, the Lamel brand is growing quickly.

WWD: What’s next in your brand and company?

N.I.: I think in the good success of our company. My principal goal is to make Lamel the number-one beauty brand on this planet. I understand it will not occur in a yr or two, but we dream of becoming the undisputed leader in the sector of makeup on this planet in 10 years.

The Lamel brand is already quite well-known in European countries. Everyone who has tried our products a minimum of once becomes a Lamel ambassador. It doesn’t depend upon who it’s: a makeup beginner, knowledgeable makeup artist, or a beauty blogger. We appreciate this love very much and are sure that this story will repeat itself in a recent but very prospective U.S. market. We’re currently involved with the most important retailers within the U.S., equivalent to Ulta and Goal, Walmart, Sephora, CVS and others. All of them are delighted with the standard of our products.

A month ago, we participated in the most important cosmetic trade show, Cosmoprof North America, held in Las Vegas, and we were overwhelmed by the passion for our products there. We at all times heard “wow” reactions when visitors got here to our stand and tested the products. Some products gave the impression to be unique to the U.S. market, filling us with hope for nice results. There have been the identical reactions from large distributors who already knew about our cosmetic products and from bizarre visitors. All this enables us to set ambitious plans.

By the top of the yr, the brand might be well-represented in online retailers. Starting in 2023, the Lamel brand will already be represented in all major retail chains. Our next task is to turn out to be the favourite brand of all dreamers and makeup fans within the U.S.