When Florence Adepoju, 24, couldn’t find bright bold lipstick shades to suit her complexion, she decided to try her hand at making her own. The young Londoner, who later obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in cosmetic science from London School of Fashion, combined her love of beauty, color and chemistry to begin her now coveted beauty line, MDM Flow, in her parent’s garden shed.
While earning a degree in Cosmetic Science, Adepoju completed her dissertation on the topic of color’s impact on the perception of lipstick where she studied different shades of black and blue lipsticks. She admits that her desire to produce a cosmetic line was birthed out of necessity. As a student, she worked part-time at the Benefit Cosmetics make-up counter of a major department store and realized that the market for women of color was being overlooked. It was then that she took to her parent’s makeup shed and began mixing oils and pigments to develop her own formula.
As her studies came to a close, Adepoju applied for a grant from her school and used the money, she built her own cosmetics lab—still in her parent’s garden shed— to further her line. Today, MDM Flow is available in Topshop’s flagship store in London’s Oxford Circus as well as French-retailer, Colette and actress Lena Dunham is a fan. The line features a range of bold lipsticks in black, oranges, pinks, and blues, that are each inspired by 90’s hip-hop culture. Think: All of those classic bold lip Lil Kim rocked in the 90s.
The cruelty-free range of 8 bold bullet lippies retail for £18, about $24 each, and are sold online at mdmflow.com.
