Indigenous entrepreneur heads growing line of sustainable beauty products

Jenn Harper is creating a sustainable beauty brand based on Indigenous teachings that aims to represent and uplift other Indigenous women.

The founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty was one of the presenters at the She is Wise conference put on by the Ontario Native Women's Association last week. 

"People love the social impact of our brand; they absolutely love it. But we did have to figure out how to make a product that was really different from what existed," said Harper. "Four years after starting the business, we chose to launch our sustainable line. And I'm so proud that we went down that path because it certainly wasn't how we started."

It might not be how Cheekbone Beauty started but the sustainable line is what sets them apart from other beauty brands, she said. 

Indigenous people are 'the true OGs of sustainability' 

"If you think of our ancestors, they've always paid attention to protecting the planet," said Harper, who called Indigenous people "the true OGs of sustainability."

"The concepts [are] of being regenerative versus extractive. And so if we're taking things from the land, how do we ensure that we didn't take it all, and we're putting things back," explained Harper. "And really looking holistically and through this Indigenous lens at the creation of products."

Everything the company makes is at least 98 per cent natural, said the Cheekbone Beauty founder. 

At first, she was buying products and selling them but didn't know how to answer customers' questions about where she got her ingredients, she added.  

She ended up deciding to change suppliers because she wasn't satisfied with the answers she was getting – something she considered "a huge red flag."  

"How we made [sustainable products] possible was, like, really taking this deep dive into understanding ingredients, how they're made, where they come from, and then also incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing and being into how we make products," Harper said.

"It takes a lot of courage sometimes to stand up for what we believe in as a brand in the face of big retail partners that we have."

Cheekbone Beauty found a public face for its products in singer Natasha Fisher, who they discovered on Tik Tok.

Thunder Bay singer signs on to model for company

Fisher is a singer and songwriter from Thunder Bay, but her home community is Long Lac 58 First Nation.

She has been following Cheekbone Beauty on social media for a long time and always wanted to work with them as a brand, she said.

"Cheekbone Beauty was the first Indigenous beauty company that I had ever seen, she said. "So I really looked up to that brand."

Fisher feels the company's values align with her own, so the decision to work with Cheekbone Beauty was an easy one, she added.

In addition to adopting a sustainable product line, Harper has been a mentor to women starting their own businesses.

Deanne Hupfield of Regalia Making Inc. is one of these women. She got a business loan from Futurpreneur Canada and had to get a business mentor, she said. And that mentor was Harper. .

"Jenn was a super big support, helping me with my marketing plan. She donated her lipsticks so I could give them as gifts to the people that I interviewed during market research with my clients," said Hupfield.

Harper wanted to create a product that is safe and eco-friendly. And she wanted to be able to sell a product that she was willing to stand beside.

"I am proud of so many things," said Harper.  "But I am most proud of the way we are legitimately changing the way people wear makeup."