10 years ago, life looked a lot different for Melissa Butler. In 2012, the Detroit native worked long hours as a Wall Street financial analyst. After clocking out, she'd go home to concoct lipsticks in her kitchen and lay the foundation for what we know today as TLB (The Lip Bar). Butler's desire to create lipstick wasn't born out of a fiery passion for makeup but for her discontent with the beauty industry.

"I've always been frustrated with beauty because of its lack of diversity," Butler says. "The media and the beauty industry have perpetuated this singular idea of beauty. The older I got, the more I realized how that impacted people's self-esteem."

By creating inclusive, vegan lipsticks, Butler saw an opportunity to dismantle antiquated beauty standards. When she began developing her collection of products, she intentionally went to market with unexpected shades. "When I looked at makeup, in particular, in the lipstick category, I saw the same reds and nudes," she explains. "When I launched the Lip Bar, I created lipsticks in colors like blue, green, purple, and yellow to make the statement beauty doesn't look like one thing."