By Megan Moyer, corporate marketing manager, as seen in Inside Beauty for Drug Store News
Black Opal Beauty is not the type of company that stands still. In a recent interview with Desiree Rogers, CEO of Black Opal, she recounted the large number of initiatives currently underway at the company. It is nothing short of impressive.
Black Opal has offered affordable, high-quality, high-performance beauty and skin care products for women of color for over 25 years. Rogers, along with Black Opal president, Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, acquired the company in 2019. Their goal is to continue creating innovative products for women of color, and in 2021, they will launch over 40 new products across cosmetics and skin care.
In addition to the relaunch of its brightening skin care products, new eyeshadow palettes, pressed powders, and lip and eye pencils already this year, they are set to debut a new AR (augmented reality) experience on their revamped website this month.
The augmented reality experience will allow customers to match their foundations in three ways — they can find the equivalent to another brand’s shade by typing that information in, they can match their skin tone with a model pictured on the site, or they can upload a picture of themselves and virtually apply the foundation to one-half of their face to determine if the shade is the right one. “We posted on Instagram that a virtual experience would be debuting soon on our website and received over 1,800 views. There is already a lot of excitement about this new functionality,” commented Rogers.
Women of color will be able to choose from 23 different foundation shades, and if they would like more assistance before making a purchase, they can engage a Black Opal beauty consultant who will counsel them one-on-one to find the products that are the best for their skin type and desired look. “We’re creating an individualized experience for our customers. Cheryl and I want them to feel pampered and special. We are always looking for ways to enhance every shopping visit to delight and excite our customers,” Rogers said.
Rogers continued, “Meeting the needs of our range of customers — which span from millennials to generation X — is what drives us to develop more solutions and expand into new categories. It’s an exciting time for Black Opal because not only are we increasing the number and types of items we are offering our customers, at the same time our products will be added to 1,300 new stores starting in July, so it will be even easier to find us at a wider variety of retail outlets.”
Next, from a product standpoint, is the further expansion of the BLK/OPL Even True skin care line, which Rogers says they are hoping to place in the skin care department in addition to the cosmetics section. The new skin products include moisturizer with SPF, a clay mask, a men’s line, and more. The development of a full complement of skin care products means customers can get the full spectrum of beauty products from Black Opal, which plays to a popular shopping behavior — the desire for convenience.
As consumer confidence climbs in 2021, masks are abandoned, and people congregate at events and gatherings again, Black Opal is positioning itself to meet the reemerging demand to look and feel renewed after a year of interaction from afar and over screens. Rogers stated, “We are very excited regarding our ability to engage our consumers.”