Melissa Butler Was Told Her Lipsticks Would Never Sell. Then She Did This!

“I can see a massive market share for your lipsticks in the clown market. Aren’t you worried if you walked into a bar with that color lip, somebody would try to resuscitate you?” 

That’s what Kevin O’Leary told Melissa Butler, CEO of The Lip Bar, when she pitched her business on Shark Tank in 2015. The “Sharks,” supposedly business giants, brutally dismissed her idea and told her that no one would buy them.

But Melissa… She stood her ground, undeterred, and walked away without any investment. 

Fast forward to 2025. The Lip Bar is now TLB: an award-winning beauty brand offering vibrant vegan lipstick for all skin tones, without conforming to what the traditional beauty industry wanted.

In fact, the brand’s products have been worn by celebrities like Taraji P. Henson and Michelle Obama.

Growing up in Detroit, Melissa’s journey, like any real entrepreneur’s, has been a crazy mix of big wins and tough losses.

But no matter the challenge, she never broke. She kept going, and because of that, she’s inspired tons of young women worldwide.

Curious how she built this beauty empire from nothing? Read on.

The Lip Bar Went From Kitchen Experiments To Big-Box Shelves

Melissa Butler had what looked like a dream job on Wall Street. She worked as a financial analyst at Barclays. 

But in reality, she felt trapped by the strict corporate rules, especially concerning her appearance. 

There were unwritten rules. She was often told, sometimes directly and sometimes subtly, that she needed to look a certain way to be “acceptable” or taken seriously.

This meant:

• Keeping her makeup understated.

• Wearing “neutral” lipstick because of her skin tone

• Conforming to Eurocentric beauty ideals that didn’t allow for bold colors, strong personalities, and especially excluded Black women.

As she later put it in an interview:

“I hated Wall Street. I couldn’t be myself. People were judging my hair. People were judging my skin. People were judging just the way I speak.”

The dissonance didn’t stay at the office. It followed her into everyday life. Some days, she’d walk through the makeup aisle at the cosmetic store and feel invisible.

Nothing really spoke to her. The shades didn’t complement deeper skin tones. To Melissa, it felt like beauty standards were still being set by a narrow group of people… catering to an even narrower idea of beauty.

But Melissa wasn’t built to blend in. And she definitely wasn’t going to shrink herself to fit into someone else’s outdated definition of beauty.

So, she did what disruptors do. She made her own rules. She rebelled, but with lipstick.

She started mixing up bold, vibrant colors right in her kitchen using vegan ingredients. Purple, yellow, electric blue, green, shades the beauty aisle had never offered her. 

Melissa didn’t have a beauty background. She didn’t come from money. 

But she had grit. And a point to prove:

“Beauty shouldn’t be linear, and it damn sure shouldn’t be exclusive.”

That’s how The Lip Bar came to life.  Not from some perfectly laid-out startup plan, but from pure frustration. And from the conviction that beauty shouldn’t come with rules or make anyone feel erased.

Your bold beauty biz deserves a legit start! Form an LLC for your beauty brand now

What Founders Can Learn From Melissa’s Rejection Going Viral

Here’s a clip of Melissa Butler and Rosco Spears’ viral rejection on Shark Tank:

It’s quite clear from the start that Melissa Butler and Rosco Spears were not taken seriously.

Despite Spears confidently explaining how bold lip colors drive conversations and sales, Kevin O’Leary fired back with this gem:

“The chances that this is a business are practically zero, because you can’t get share.”

He went on to say that if other companies thought these hues would sell, they’d “crush you like the colorful cockroaches you are.”

Brutal? Very much. But people across the globe stood behind Melissa and Rosco, two women working hard relentlessly to shake up outdated beauty standards.

Founders, beauty lovers, and everyday consumers rallied behind them, showing up in full support of The Lip Bar.

By 2016, just a year after Shark Tank, TLB products were live on Target’s website. Today, they’re in 750+ Target stores nationwide. And also, stocked in  other major retailers like Walmart, and Meijer. 

 And how did that deal happen?

Melissa made the deal through cold emails and messaging contacts she found on LinkedIn. 

“I didn’t know how to pitch to them, but I knew that my product would work there, and I knew that they needed my consumer,” Melissa told CNBC.

“We are the first [black-owned] makeup company to take up this much space,” Melissa wrote on her Instagram page, celebrating The Lip Bar’s six feet of wall space in Target stores.

What It Takes to Build a Bold Beauty Brand Online

The Lip Bar is valued at over $15 million (as of 2024) and has grown from lip products to an entire collection of easy-to-use, time-saving makeup for all complexions. 

The online beauty market is booming, largely thanks to Gen Z, who are completely shaking up the industry. This generation values self-expression and consciousness, and their beauty choices reflect that. 

They’re careful about where they buy from and what they put on their bodies, taking the time to research brands and willing to invest in products they truly believe in.

Meanwhile, Millennials are leading the pack in online beauty spending, with the highest order frequency rate and annual spend online. They’re big on natural and organic ingredients, and their strong environmental conscience influences their purchasing decisions more than any other age group.

Interestingly, Baby Boomers apart from the fact that they love sustainability and are willing to pay a big price on beauty products.  In fact, a growing number of baby boomer men are also embracing beauty products.

This opens up exciting opportunities for bold beauty brands ready to explore beyond traditional markets.

However, building a thriving, bold, sustainable, and cruelty-free beauty brand is no easy feat.

Let’s understand what it takes to build a successful beauty brand online. 

Start With A Strong Foundation. Your ‘Why’ Matters

Before the product or packaging, what really matters is clarity. Without that foundation, your marketing becomes noise.

So, if you’re building a brand, especially in beauty, ask yourself:

What gap am I filling? What does my product stand for?

For Melissa Butler, it was personal. The Lip Bar wasn’t just about lipsticks, it was about challenging a beauty industry that didn’t reflect women like her.

That purpose gave her brand direction and resilience, especially when others doubted her.

Build A Brand Voice That’s Distinct, And Consistent

You’re not just selling a product. You’re selling a perspective.

The Lip Bar’s unapologetic, bold voice was its moat. From naming to visuals to captions, everything spoke to a specific woman who didn’t want to fit in. That perspective doesn’t just attract customers, it helps in building a strong community of like-minded people. 

Whether it’s your website, Instagram, or a retail shelf, your voice should feel unmistakably yours. 

Embrace Both DTC And Retail, But Stay Lean

Melissa started The Lip Bar selling direct-to-consumer, online, at pop-ups, and through her own network. But she didn’t stop there. She cold-emailed her way into Target.

That’s the new e-commerce playbook now:

Start lean online, prove traction, and then scale into retail once you’ve earned leverage.

Focus On Building Community, Not Just Driving Sales

Melissa Butler’s journey with The Lip Bar proves that being real and relatable can make a huge difference in a crowded market. She didn’t have celebrity backing or a massive marketing budget to get her brand noticed.

Instead, her success came from truly connecting with her audience.

Melissa’s strategy was simple but powerful: she just showed up as herself. 

This meant more than just a slick brand image; she shared the raw, unfiltered, behind-the-scenes reality of building a business. She let her audience into her world, showing them the struggles, wins, and daily life that shaped The Lip Bar. 

This honesty created a strong connection, making people feel not just interested, but truly seen.

This deep relatability is key to building loyalty, and loyalty is a brand’s strongest unique selling proposition and its ultimate power. When consumers are constantly hit with messages, a brand that creates real connections stands out. 

It’s not just about selling something; it’s about building a community where customers feel valued and understood.

So, for today’s founders, the message is clear: focus on community not just to get sales, but as an advantage that grows over time.

A strong community leads to organic engagement, word-of-mouth marketing, and a loyal customer base that isn’t swayed by passing trends. 

Here are 3 specific, no-nonsense tips for beauty e-commerce founders building their first e-commerce store.

🎯 Form your LLC before your first sale

If you’re building a beauty brand, especially one that involves skin contact (lipsticks, serums, etc.), liability protection isn’t optional. An LLC shields your personal assets if anything goes wrong.

We’ll get your LLC formed and bank-ready in days, no paperwork stress.

🎯 Set up proper sales tax collection

Selling beauty products online? Many states require sales tax, and marketplaces like Amazon or Target Plus will check for compliance.

We register you for state sales tax and file returns, so you don’t run into penalties later.

🎯 Track your ad spend and returns, campaign by campaign

Beauty brands spend a lot on Meta/TikTok. But most founders can’t tell which campaigns actually drive sales.

Our new Ad Metrics feature shows you spend, ROAS, and real revenue by campaign, so you can scale what works and cut what bleeds.

Sign up with us (for free!) to know more.

Be a Do’er With doola, Not Just a Dreamer

In 2024, Estée Lauder, the legacy beauty giant, launched its flagship brand on Amazon’s Premium Beauty store. This wasn’t just a new product drop. It was a strategic shift: a decades-old powerhouse embracing e-commerce head-on to meet shoppers where they are.

And it sends a loud message to new beauty founders:

If the Goliaths are going all-in online, the playing field just got more competitive.

To thrive, you need more than great packaging or pigment. You need a solid business foundation, because without it, every ad campaign, every sale, every launch eventually will crack under pressure.

That’s where doola comes in.

We help you set up your beauty brand the right way:

• LLC formation: Start your U.S. business from anywhere in the world

• E-commerce tax compliance: Stay tax and compliance ready in every state

• Bookkeeping + business banking: Clean books = clear decisions

• Ad tracking + analytics: See which campaigns are actually driving revenue

Join a generation of doers building bold brands! Start your business with doola today.

Ready to Go Deeper?

If you’re serious about growing your brand like Melissa did, with clarity, edge, and zero backend chaos, dig into some of our blogs, e-books and case studies.

• What Is the Reality of Starting an Ecommerce Business?

• Inventory Accounting for E‑Commerce Business Owners

• How to 5× Your Revenue as a Bootstrapped Founder

• A Step‑by‑Step Master Guide for Non‑U.S. Entrepreneurs