ELLE.IN 1 25 JULY
the right way if I had any clue!
The feedback was overwhelmingly
positive and it was the first moment
I realised that hyperpigmentation
and dark circles were something
that didn’t discriminate by gender
or race.ELLE: What were your goals when
creating Huestick?
DM: It had to be inclusive, that’s
the core of Live Tinted. I also
wanted it to be a clean product, so
the ingredients and formula were
thoroughly researched.ELLE: What are your favourite ways
to wear Huestick?
DM: Oh man, so many different
ways! I love the unexpected
versatility of Rise (orange), I turn
to it as a lipstick time and again. I
love using Origin (red) as a colour
corrector and on the eyes. My
favourite use for Perk is as a pretty
pink blush. That’s the best part
about these products—they are
versatile and fun.ELLE: What are your upcoming plans
for the Live Tinted community?
DM: Live Tinted is a movement first,
and our business decisions stem from
our vision to progress the beauty space.
In order to do that, I see international
expansion, new products, and
partnerships in our future. I’m excited
to take our community along on this
journey with us.
—MAMTA MODY
Photograph: Pooja Rudra; Make-up: Clarissa Luna; Hair: Valerie VanessaThe multi-use HuestickDeepica MutyalaI
f you ever felt rejected when
the ‘universal’ concealer shade
made you look ashy instead of
well-rested, you’ll find hope on
influencer Deepica Mutyala’s
Instagram feed Live Tinted. The
online community is dedicated to
inclusivity and features skin tones
that are often underrepresented
in popular media and make-
up aisles. 29-year-old Mutyala
unintentionally started her beauty
revolution with a YouTube tutorial,
(where she used a red lipstick to
colour correct her dark circles) that
kicked off a conversation on lack of
diversity in make-up. Four years and
10.7 million views later, she created
the Live Tinted community and her
first product, Huestick. Inspired
by the conversations
on the community’s
forum and her personal
experiences with make-
up, the multi-purpose
Huestick can be used
as a lipstick, blush,
eyeshadow, and as a
colour corrector.
Here, she tells us
about her mission to
change the beauty
business.
ELLE: How did Live Tinted
inspire Huestick?
Deepica Mutyala: I’ve
always dreamt of creating
my own beauty brand
because I rarely saw
COLOUR
THERAPY
Deepica Mutyala
shows what it takes
to create an inclusive
beauty brandone that felt catered to me. The
overwhelming feedback to the Live
Tinted community let me know that
I wasn’t alone in feeling left out of
the beauty narrative. We made our
first product based
on our community’s
needs—a majority
mentioned their
struggle with dark spots,
hyperpigmentation and
dark circles. Huestick
is a manifestation of
everything I’ve wanted,
and I’ve also been able to
address the very beauty
concern that surfaced
from my video that went
viral four years ago.ELLE: Did you ever imagine
your dark circles video
would blow up like this?
DM: Not at all, I would
have held the cameraLive Tinted is
a movement
first, and our
business
decisions
stem from
our vision to
progress the
beauty space
BEAUTY