Catherine Millen worked as a cosmetician for four years, all the while dreaming of one day creating her own makeup line. In spring of last year, she realized the inspiration she needed was right in front of her.
“I started to notice that women were looking more to social media and their friends to set beauty trends for them, rather than looking to celebrities or magazines,” says Millen, who is based in Pictou.
She launched Foxbrook Lipstick—its namesake the street where she grew up—in hopes of collaborating with some of those influential women. Some of them were people Millen already knew, while others reached out or were recommended to her.
“They’re all Canadian women and they’re all doing something that I find admirable or something that they are proud of,” says Millen. “Whether that’s with their career or their lifestyle—or even some of them have such a huge social media following because of their fashion sense.”
The colour Luna, for instance, was created with Torontonian style blogger Luna Lindsay.
Each lip colour is designed with the individual woman’s input to make sure it’s something she would wear on a regular basis. It’s also named after her.
For Millen, it was important to find a Canadian manufacturer for the lipstick, so it’s being made in Ontario and is then sent to Millen and she packages it herself. It’s available at a few retail locations across the province as well as online.
“I don’t want people to think that I feel like you need makeup to be beautiful,” she says. “I just think it’s like, a fun way to express yourself.”
