Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2018)
edition CAREERS special June 20, 2018 Mississippi Alberta North Portland Page 9 Vancouver East County Beaverton Portland native makes splash in beauty industry with environmentally friendly, cruelty free, nail polish. Bringing Science to Business Portland native Kalauna Carter is making a splash in the beauty industry with her environmentally friendly, cruelty-free line of nail polish, the first of its kind operated by a woman of color. Portland native makes splash in beauty industry by D anny p eterson t he p ortlanD o bserver Portland native Kalauna Carter is mak- ing waves in cosmetics by helming an envi- ronmentally, cruelty free, nail polish busi- ness called Kolors by K that has already garnered some high profile customers. As an African American woman, Carter was motivated by the lack of representa- tion of women in the beauty industry. “We see the products, we see the mod- els, but how many of them are truly wear- ing products made by women of color? Not many,” she said. Now Based in Tallahassee, Fla., Carter attained a bachelor’s degree in Environ- mental Science, concentrating in plant and soil science from Tuskegee University. In May, she graduated with a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from the same historically black college. Carter took her love of nail polish and knowledge of chemical components to entrepreneurial ends when she discov- ered how dangerous the chemicals in many mainstream commercial beauty products were. “If I can figure this out without all these chemicals, I could be on to something,” she recalled saying to herself at the time. With the advice of a cousin, Teresa Scott, she went to work and that’s when Kolors by K was born, launching in sum- mer of 2016. Now, she sells her nail polish online at kolorsbyk.com, as well as to retail stores in growing numbers. Carter’s products boast numerous certi- fications, including being “10-free,” which means it is free of a plethora of non-envi- ronmentally friendly chemical compounds that have often been linked to cancers in women ranging from ovarian to breast: camphor, toluene, formaldehyde, fluoride resins, xylene, ethyl tosylamide, parabens, phthalates and fragrances are among them. The polishes are also FDA approved, vegan, and internationally certified as not tested on animals. Carter is the first woman C ontinueD on p age 14