Zoe Ukemenam has combined over a decade of scientific expertise with experience as a celebrity makeup artist and a passion for science-led beauty, to create Kutivz Kollection, a clean, vegan and paraben-free cosmetics line specifically formulated for darker skin tones.
With a range that includes complexion, eye and lip products, as well as brushes, Kutivz Kollection offers a full revamp of your makeup bag. Not only that, but the brand is skin type-inclusive, suitable for dry, oily and combination skin.
Below, Zoe tells us about her career background in pharmaceutics, why clean beauty is extra important for Black skin, and her own struggles with finding the ideal skincare for her.
Can you tell us about your career background and how it steered you towards science-led beauty?
My background is pharmaceutics, more specifically the pharmacy sector. Both are related to how chemicals interact with one another as well as on the human body. However, pharmacy is more holistic, as it not only focuses on what a substance or product can do to the body, it looks at daily behaviour, root causes, environmental factors, ethnicity, lifestyle choice and routine. Hence, I derive a similar approach when it comes to my brand in the beauty industry.
The question I always ask is how can our product or service offer you the best well-rounded care and wholesome results?
I was always fascinated by make-up, fashion and hair from a young age. The impact of a makeover transformation still gives me that euphoric feeling today. What is most inspiring and motivating is the confidence change in an individual following a change in their appearance. It is as if the person has been reborn just by a few added features. I loved watching this effect the beauty industry had and I knew from then I wanted to be a part of it, giving that feeling to as many people as I could.
In all honesty, I didn’t plan my route into beauty and fashion the way it happened, but God’s will always prevails in my life. I used to draw outfits in my spare time, buy makeup or use my mum’s and practice with it – the same with hair. I can’t tell you how many dolls have suffered under my care. However, coming from an African household in the 90s, nothing like beauty or fashion was going to be a legitimate career. So, I chose subjects I liked and was good at such as biology, chemistry and business; these brought me to pharmacy, then ironically led me right back to beauty.
What are the personal challenges you have faced finding the right makeup or skincare?
When I was old enough to buy my own makeup, I struggled to find a shade that wouldn’t alter my skin colour. There were basically two shades available: either you were cocoa or cappuccino – and that was that. I even worked in Superdrug for a while and had the pleasure of trying different brands and shades as part of our “customer service” remit. Yet none of the products appealed to me in terms of quality or gave me the effect I needed. I started off looking slightly red-toned flawless, ending my shift with oily, patchy makeup. It was a struggle to get a product that not only blended with my shade but also blended with my skin type.
Kutivz Kollection is the UK’s first clean beauty brand scientifically formulated with Black skin needs in mind – why, in 2024, is this such a huge deal?
As buyers we are much more conscious about what we consume and as Black women our choices are linked to our values on health, wellness, sustainability and equity. Brands are becoming more proactive in promoting these values and offering transparency through their product lines; as a result, we have many available choices now compared to the 90s, this also applies to smaller brands – the theme for consumers now is the choice you make today affects your tomorrow.
With diseases like cancer becoming more prevalent in society (it will now affect one in two people in their lifetime), we have to take control of our health journey, what we put in our bodies and on our skin. 10 years ago, we didn’t have as much choice in terms of what we purchased and so what we applied to our faces, on our skin, put into our bodies, or even what we breathed in. The range of choice now and the transparency is now there to make better decisions for your body, and as a brand we fully support a cleaner, healthier you, not just for the masses, but for Black women too who are often forgotten when it comes to change.
Why is Black skin statistically more prone to eczema, acne, and hyperpigmentation than other skin tones?
Science tells us in a number of studies that Black skin is more prone to conditions like eczema because we have a higher transepidemal water lost and therefore are more exposed to chemicals and environmental factors. Studies will also claim that because Black people tend to be found in lower socioeconomic housing conditions, this could be responsible for the high number of eczema cases.
Whilst some of that might be true, it is also a fact that Black skin has variable blood vessel reactivity which determines how we absorb product into the skin and body, enabling a higher chance of reactions and side effects. We have a decreased skin surface pH, which will contribute to how we react differently to products. We have more melanin as a pigment, therefore hyper (meaning ‘more’) pigmentation is likely. We also have larger mast cell granules, responsible for fighting infections, which can appear as acne.
Kutivz Kollection is paraben-free. What’s the effect of parabens in cosmetics on our hormones?
Parabens are chemicals used as preservatives in many cosmetics, beauty products and food. They stop the growth of microorganisms, such as bacteria, allowing a longer shelf life. However, nearly everyone is exposed to parabens. They are easily absorbed by the human body and are classified scientifically as a group of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Anything impacting the endocrine system is impacting on the hormones. Parabens have weak oestrogen properties that can act like oestrogen in the body. The problem is that research has linked this effect to decreased fertility and damage to reproductive development in animal studies.
The levels of parabens in your body are usually linked to your use of cosmetics and beauty products containing these chemicals. Reducing your use of these products has been shown as an effective way to reduce exposure.
The US has taken a stance that there is no conclusive evidence against parabens. However, due to the adverse effects of parabens on the body, other countries are much stricter with their use. The European Commission on Endocrine Disruption has found evidence of paraben endocrine disruption, especially in babies. The European Union has banned isopropyl and isobutylparaben. And ASEAN, a group of 10 Southeast Asian Countries, has banned five parabens.
The clean beauty industry is worth billions, but there are companies who use the word ‘clean’ to incorrectly define their products. In your opinion, what are the non-negotiables for a beauty product to be called ‘clean’?
There are a few chemicals that I would consider non-negotiables in a clean beauty product. One of them is Phthalates or Plasticizers, which is effectively a group of chemicals used to make plastics more durable. It is in many personal-care products such as soaps, shampoos and hair sprays.
Another big red flag for me is Parabens, as previously mentioned; it is commonly found in cosmetics but should be avoided in clean products.
The other ingredient which has been more widely acknowledged as a product to avoid is Formaldehyde. It is a colourless, strong-smelling, flammable chemical that is produced industrially and used in building materials such as particleboards and plywood and used in skincare and cosmetics for preservation purposes.
However, studies have revealed that it can have dangerous side effects. For example the ingredient is also known as an irritant and is easily absorbed through the skin and eyes and it can cause severe irritation and burns in skin and eve loss of vision in the eyes.
As a makeup artist, can you walk us through your approach to creating a flawless look on a hyperpigmented complexion?
Make up is mostly about a good foundation and a great execution based on that order. I would decide what pigment you are looking to achieve and then depending on the reach of the pigmentation, I would recommend your most natural skin tone and that of your body.
Once you have applied the foundation, you are most likely going to need to perfect the look or correct the tone of the colour. You can do this with a good concealer and then you can then blend this into your foundation.
You can then contour your favourite features such as your eyebrows, lips or cheeks. The next step would be to highlight areas that you would like to emphasise, which could be either of the same. Complete the look with a flawless/blur finishing powder. To summarise, the three main steps are; correcting, contouring and highlighting, which will all provide steps to full coverage and a finished, polished look.
What are your top tips to help prevent hyperpigmentation?
Whilst it may not be possible to completely eradicate the risk of hyperpigmentation you can certainly reduce it with a number of small changes. Firstly, we need to understand that increased sun exposure will ultimately damage our dermis if we don’t protect it. There still remains a misconception that Black skin does not suffer negatively from the sun, but this is false and a dangerous myth.
We need to protect our skin from the sun as much as possible and that should be by using an SPF Factor of at least 30, which should help reduce the risk of hyperpigmentation.
I would also recommend that we increase your vitamin D and Vitamin C intake either as a supplement or as part of your beauty regime. Another great tip is to minimise any skin contact with your hands as much as possible which carries bacteria that can interact with the skin pH levels.
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