Brand Story

Hi, I’m Anifa, the founder of IRL Makeup.

The idea for IRL started during my time working at BareMinerals in Central London, where I spent most of my shifts helping people find their foundation shades.

I shade-matched hundreds of women during that time. Everyone came in with something different: different skin tones, undertones, skin concerns, preferences, and experiences with buying complexion products.

I genuinely love helping people find a match that works for them. There is something so rewarding about seeing someone look at their reflection and realize, this is my shade.

But working in beauty retail showed me how complicated foundation shopping could be.

I saw women come in looking for a foundation they had loved for years, only to find out it had been reformulated or discontinued, and now they had to start the process of finding their shade all over again. I saw strange gaps between shades, where the shade someone needed was available online but couldn't be tested in store.

And one of the things I found most challenging was helping people with specific ingredients or allergies they needed to avoid. I knew

some of the more common ones, but there were plenty of times when someone would ask me about a specific ingredient and I simply didn't have the answer. I would watch them go from brand to brand, trying to figure out what they could actually use. Even as a beauty advisor, I felt limited in how much I could help them.

I experienced some of these frustrations as a shopper, too.

I remember going into beauty stores looking for something very specific, like a matte, full-coverage foundation, and realizing that the recommendations I received could sometimes be limited by what the beauty advisor knew best. As a Black woman, that could sometimes mean being pointed toward Black-owned brands simply because they were considered a natural fit for my complexion. I love and support Black-owned beauty brands, but I also wanted to understand all of my options. And I think those same assumptions can affect them and other POC-founded brands in different ways, too, where people can be directed toward or away from certain brands based on what they think they already know about them.

I wanted to be able to say, these are the things I need from my foundation; now show me what actually fits those needs. That is part of what I want IRL to create: a space where everyone can discover foundations and brands based on what they are actually looking for.

My experience working in both beauty retail and corporate beauty, including with brands like Laura Mercier Cosmetics and Clinique, gave me a unique perspective on both sides of the complexion shopping experience. I saw the challenges people faced firsthand, while also gaining insight into the conversations behind foundation launches, shade assortments, and the products that ultimately make it to the shelf.

That's why I created IRL Makeup.

Think of IRL as your personal digital beauty advisor, helping you navigate complexion shopping across different brands based on what you are actually looking for. IRL helps you narrow down your options, find your matches, and explore products with more confidence.

Welcome to IRL.