TIME Chooses Indian American Beauty Influencer Deepica Mutyala for its ‘Next Generation Leaders’

Indian American beauty influencer Deepica Mutyala is among TIME’s Next Generation Leaders for creating better cosmetics for people of color. The magazine’s annual list chooses “young people from across fields and around the globe who are working to build a better world.” 

Mutyala launched Live Tinted in 2018 as an online community, centering conversations around identity and culture. The 32-year-old entrepreneur just partnered with Mattel to launch the first-ever South Asian CEO Barbie doll which pairs a “power red” pantsuit with bangles and jhumkas and has darker skin “to make people feel more seen,” according to TIME. 

Mutyala came into the beauty scene in 2015 when she went viral with a YouTube video showing how to use red lipstick to color-correct hyperpigmentation on darker skin tones. Within days, Mutyala was featured on The Today Show and The Dr. Oz Show. The video racked up nearly 11 million views and highlighted the fact that beauty products are not developed with people of color in mind and often do not meet their needs. 

Live Tinted was established to reach this market and give voices and tell the story of underrepresented individuals and feature their personal journeys with beauty, culture and identity. A year after their launch, she began developing the innovative Huestick, an all-in-one color corrector, lipstick, eye shadow, and blush developed with people of color in mind. She raised $3 million from investors, including beauty mogul Bobbi Brown.

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Live Tinted now plans to introduce a foundation product “by us, for us, created with intentionality,” she told TIME. She says she isn’t deterred by the fact she’s up against much bigger industry players. “I really feel like this community is rooting for me,” she says. “So I just keep going.”