Ring of Color lipstick offers new products after rebranding

Cosmetics company owner strives to provide representation for every skin tone.

There’s a lot of misconception of what beauty is supposed to look like in the makeup industry, according to Melissa Polanco, a 37-year-old Grand Rapidian of 20 years, who was raised in the Dominican Republic. The goal when she started her cosmetics company was simply to provide representation for not just women of color — women like herself — but everybody, for every skin tone.

“A lot of people don’t see faces that look like theirs when they are scrolling social media sites or looking at the ads that line the walls of national makeup retailers like Sephora and Ulta,” Polanco said. “You’re also not going to see a lot of brands owned by women and especially women of color. There are not a lot of Latina woman-owned makeup brands.”

So, Polanco has set out to change all that.

She started the makeup company in 2018 with her sister, Lissa Martinez, with no background in product development. Polanco had gone to Grand Rapids Community College and transferred to MSU where she received her degree in zoology.

She always had wanted to have her own brand, so she and her sister got together to research and Googled: “How to launch a business” and “How to form an LLC.” She researched makeup manufacturing companies and connected with a company in Canada to make her products. Soon the pair were selling their branded makeup at pop-up markets and even had a space in Studio Park before the pandemic. They named the brand by combining the names of their two daughters and came up with “Ella’s Eve.”

“I’d been trying to celebrate diversity and that name, Ella’s Eve, just wasn’t connecting with people,” Polanco said.

So, Polanco participated in a local pitching competition and won a prize of $10,000 in marketing services from Palco Brands marketing. The brand marketing company came up with a new name: Ring of Color.

“No pun intended,” said Polanco. “But it has a ring to it. It makes more sense because it’s all just a circle of celebrating everybody.”

Polanco has had no shortage of success in the competition category. She entered Start Garden’s “100 Ideas” competition and was selected two years in a row. She also won $5,000 from another Start Garden pitching competition.

On March 31, she rebranded. This time alone. Polanco is now marketing her Ring of Color products directly to consumers and is in talks with an undisclosed online marketplace. Her products can be purchased through her company’s website, ringofcolor.com, as well as at verishop.com.

Ring of Color lipsticks are cruelty free, paraben free and hypoallergenic. The shade range is limited and designed to look good in any skin tone

“The lipsticks are comfortable and non-drying. It’s very long lasting, and you can wear it for an entire day,” Polanco said.

The Ring of Color product line includes Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick, which “starts off as a creamy velvet and dries to a comfy and non-drying matte finish. It comes in three colors: Killara, a red, orange terracotta; and Power, which she describes as a “toasted rose medium nude.” The third is Valentina, a deep warm rose color. There’s also a Vinyl Lip Lacquer, a hybrid formula that provides the high shine of a lip gloss and the “complete color payoff” of a lipstick, Polanco said. Other colors include names like Fallen Roses, Sweet and Truffle.

“The new products that will be launching soon are vegan, cruelty free and just beautiful: The first is called, ‘Color Me Diamond Lip Gloss,’ a vegan sheer gloss formula infused with shimmers and glitters for luscious-looking lips. The product comes in two colors: Daria (baby pink) and Sierra (peach nude).”

Polanco said the second is “Creamy Crayon Liners,” lip liners that outline, define and fill lips with a smooth-as-butter creamy liner with emollients like coconut oil, fruit waxes and sunflower seed oil. The lip liners come in Rosa, a nude “old” rose color, and Berry, a mauve berry color.