Ask content creator, mompreneur, and Board Executive Director of Detroit Fashion Community Lauren Mari Woodson what words best describe her beauty influencer journey, and she’ll say: “by design, strategic, and possible.” As founder of Lauren Mari Cosmetics, and working mother of three, strategic thinking rings true when you note how true-to-life Lauren Mari keeps her channels.
Behind the camera, it’s not all makeup and skin serums, especially when you’re a co-parenting mother with a growing beauty brand to build. Her website, TikTok, and Instagram channels provide an interesting view into what it takes to balance the roles of beauty influencer, entrepreneur, community leader, and, of course, mom.
She spoke to Reflect Beauty about her own experience, what she learned, and how others might follow in her path—valuable advice no matter what your career goals. Plus, don’t miss her beauty tips below.
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Don’t be afraid to take the first step.
When Youtube first got popular, I was a huge fan. I’d watch Carli Bybel, a huge multimillion dollar influencer, and she’d open up all of these beautiful and expensive makeup boxes. I would dream that I could be that person one day. Her advice would be to ‘just start doing it as if you’re already an influencer.’ I would invest in beauty products that I loved and do reviews. Before you knew it, there were brands writing to me and asking if they could send me products to try. From there, it continued to grow.
Put yourself out there, and the right partnerships will find you.
Social media really changed everything. Before, there were agencies that represented a makeup brand and you had to go through them. Now, you can reach out to the brand that you like directly. Plus, thanks to Google, when a brand is searching for a beauty influencer, my name and videos pop up. Next thing you know, I’ll get an email or a DM, asking, ‘hey, how would you like to be put on my PR list.’ I’ve never had to reach out to anyone; they’ve always reached out to me. Now it’s getting to the point where I have to turn people down because I require a certain fee to provide a review.
Understand your client’s goals.
The responsibilities of an influencer are interpreting what the client is really looking for, and then creating content in an authentic way. You want to show your honest opinion or your personal take on their products. And also just sharing things that you genuinely like and stand behind. Other than honesty and [turning in] deliverables in a reasonable time, brands just want you to create quality content.
Her Beauty Must-Have & Self-Care Routine
Favorite Full Coverage Foundation
Tarte Cosmetics makes my favorite full coverage foundation. It’s made out of Amazonian clay and I feel like it’s skin care as well. So many of these foundations have unwanted chemicals, but this one’s very natural. It feels like you’re going to the amazon and rubbing mud on your face.
Self-Care Routine
As a mom of three I have a beauty routine that I stick to pretty religiously because I believe that it is 100% necessary to treat yourself. If I’m not all the way in my zone, I can’t be the best mom I can be. My kids understand that, and I have my time to myself. My routine has a few different components: the face, the hands, and the feet. I do all of the things simultaneously while watching a movie. I put my feet in these masks, where you tie your feet up, and it’s heated. Then I do an exfoliation process to my face with a scrub and a [face] mask and an under eye mask, followed by serums and nighttime moisturizer. After all that, I put my hands inside of these gloves for 20 mins. And then, it’s good night.
