When we first discussed creating Teak, we asked ourselves, “Would it be weird if we created a beauty brand just for South Asians?” We’d seen South Asian-led brands before, but one exclusive to this ethnic group? That was certainly new. To most people, the term “South Asian” evokes an image of a person in a single shade of medium brown. In reality, South Asians come in an unquantifiable number of skin and lip tone combinations – ranging from milky white to deep brown skin to lips in pinks, purples, and browns. With so many different complexions, South Asians rarely, if ever, see models who actually look like them modeling makeup that actually works for them.

We decided to create Teak to give South Asians a beauty experience they've never been afforded before, and the way to do it was to cater exclusively to the physical & cultural characteristics of this global majority (with 1.9 billion South Asians worldwide). So we got to work. While living across the Pond, with Pooja in Brooklyn and Nupoora in London, we started to develop our first collection of lipsticks.

We believe our brand will pave a new way for the beauty industry to think about supporting beauty needs. Yes, inclusivity matters; but in some cases, the way to be most inclusive is actually to be exclusive. We believe it’s more than okay to serve the beauty needs of specific types of people really, really well, rather than trying to serve the beauty needs of everyone, all at once, not as well. We hope to see a future of beauty brands that are highly focused – whether that be for freckled gingers struggling to find foundation, East Asians searching for that perfect yellow-based concealer, or those with mixed-race skin looking for blush. For us, we are starting by helping South Asians find that perfect lipstick. 

-Nupoora Reddy & Pooja Reddy