Key Takeaways:
With so many beauty brands vying for consumers' shrinking attention span, online chatter can be deafening. Alexis Androulakis and Christina Basias Androulakis, Ph.D., also known as The Lipstick Lesbians, break through the noise with a fresh take on content in the space, playing the role of translators between the beauty industry and consumers.
Earlier this year, BeautyMatter named the duo as its People of the Year, a decision that BeautyMatter founder and CEO Kelly Kovack said “just felt right.”
“Your love for the industry is palpable—it reminds all of us why we do what we do,” she said.
That love, infectious energy, and authenticity are what turned The Lipstick Lesbians from a behind-the-scenes experiment into one of beauty’s most trusted cultural translators, bridging brands, founders, and consumers with equal parts humor and heart.
At BeautyMatter’s NEXT50 Summit, Kovack sat down with The Lipstick Lesbians to unpack how they break through creator noise and the playbook behind their momentum.
From Founder to Creator
The story of the Lipstick Lesbians began not with content creation but with entrepreneurship. Before they became a viral phenomenon, Androulakis and Basias Androulakis co-founded Fempower Beauty, a lipstick line that aimed to reshape beauty standards and history with a feminist, queer, and inclusive lens.
“We believed in ourselves so hard—maybe too hard—that we almost went bankrupt,” Basias Androulakis said, laughing. “But the moment we let go of that one vision, a totally new opportunity opened up.”
That opportunity came the day after they filmed a casual video at Sephora that hit a million views overnight.
“She woke me up screaming, we’re viral!” Androulakis recalled. “I didn’t even understand what was happening. But that’s when everything changed.”
Originally meant to show life as indie founders, The Lipstick Lesbians’ TikTok content resonated far beyond their circle. Within six months, the duo posted a video each week that reached over a million views.
“When you’re in it, you don’t realize what’s happening,” Androulakis said. “But when we sat down and realized we’d hit those numbers every week for half a year, I thought—oh, this is real. This is a service to the community.”
What followed was a relentless year of creation: three videos a day for 365 days, a strategy rooted in Basias Androulakis’ background in education technology.
“I studied how people learn digitally,” she explained. “TikTok is the global classroom. Once we went viral, I knew we had to keep teaching. There was urgency … how do we hold attention once we’ve captured it?”
Building the LLAB: A Digital Masterclass in Beauty Literacy
Out of that urgency came Let’s Learn About Beauty (LLAB), the duo’s digital masterclass platform designed to educate anyone on the fundamentals of beauty, which launched earlier this year.
“The one comment we kept getting was: I want to learn more,” said Basias Androulakis. “So we built a place for people to go deeper.”
Developed quietly over a year and a half, the platform features ten hours of educational content, 195 product evaluations, and interactive mind maps that break down ingredients and product formulations.
“We partnered with a chemist to build ingredient glossaries and evaluation frameworks,” Androulakis said. “It literally teaches you how my brain works when I’m standing in front of a gondola at Sephora.”
The result is part media venture, part beauty boot camp—a digital extension of the brand’s mission to promote beauty literacy.
Kovack noted that The Lipstick Lesbians’ influence had already reached beauty students. “At SCAD [Savannah College of Art and Design], half of the senior class used you as a reference in their social-media strategies,” she said. “You’re impacting the next generation of beauty thinkers.”
Industry Insights
What sets The Lipstick Lesbians apart isn’t just their massive online following (1.1 million followers on TikTok and 515,000 followers on Instagram) but their ability to move fluidly between every level of the industry. They’re as comfortable interviewing icons like Pat McGrath, Bobbi Brown, and Mario Dedivanovic as they are chatting with sales associates on the floor at Ulta Beauty. Androulakis emphasized the importance of retail employees in the beauty retail ecosystem. Their expertise in product knowledge and ability to provide personalized, in-person service are crucial for both customer retention and business growth.
“The associates are the heartbeat of the industry,” Androulakis said. “They’re the ones directly impacting a customer’s experience. And right now, they’re seeing more confusion, more fatigue. Shoppers are overwhelmed [with] too many products, too many blushes.”
The duo regularly folds those insights into their content, amplifying what they call “peak confusion” in the market.
“That’s where our translation comes in,” Basias Androulakis explained. “We help people make sense of the chaos. What’s the difference between a setting powder versus a finishing powder? Why are there ten kinds of lip oil? When you translate that confusion, you build trust.”
Kovack agreed, adding that too many founders underestimate the power of the sales floor.
“If you really want to move your brand, go stand on the floor,” she said. “Those associates are your brand in that moment. They close the sale.”
As creators who also sit at the table with legacy icons and indie founders alike, The Lipstick Lesbians have a unique vantage point on the creative tension shaping beauty today. The opposing forces of creativity and commerce are familiar to anyone running a brand in today’s oversaturated market.
“There’s fear,” Androulakis continued. “Fear of missing sales goals, fear of taking risks. But we all need to remember why we started. Consumers feel when you’re playing it safe.”
Basias Androulakis added that the duo sees their work as advocacy as much as entertainment. “We owe it to founders to be honest about what’s happening,” she said. “And we owe it to consumers to give them better choices.”
The Future of Beauty Retail
In a world where digital retail reigns, both Basias Androulakis and Androulakis insist that brick-and-mortar is not only surviving but thriving—just in a different way than people may be used to.
“Stores aren’t going anywhere,” Basias Androulakis said. “People watch our videos in Sephora. They’re scanning shelves while replaying clips to figure out what to buy.”
“Discovery might happen online,” Androulakis added, “but you still have to go to the petting zoo. You’ve got to touch the product, feel it, swatch it. That’s the magic of beauty.”
For them, content fuels in-store curiosity rather than replacing it. Content creators like the Lipstick Lesbians build consumers' appetite to shop by showing them their favorite creators' shop. “It’s the sport of discovery,” Androulakis said.
They also see an opportunity to elevate the in-store experience by improving “beauty literacy” among associates.
“Imagine training a thousand people who love beauty the way we do,” Androulakis said. “The more informed the staff, the more inspired the shopper.”
When asked about new product launches, Androulakis didn’t hold back. Rather than chasing trends, she urged brands to slow down and prioritize education and differentiation.
“We’re seeing more repetition than ever,” she said. “Everyone’s launching the same lip balm because it’s safe. But we’re at a tipping point of excess. It’s scary, but we need to let our innovative wings fly again. Consumers are smart. They can tell when something’s new versus when it’s another copy-paste launch.”
That fatigue also extends to content creators who Androulakis said are tired of the same products. “They don’t know what to say anymore, and their audiences feel it,” she added. “It’s a ripple effect that starts at the top.”
Her advice for 2026 and beyond: “Dare to be bold.”
What Consumers Want Now
When an audience member asked what “more” consumers are craving, Androulakis’ answer was immediate: “More education. More transparency. More of your story. They want your why.”
In an age of infinite scrolling and dwindling loyalty, authenticity has become non-negotiable.
“They’ve been conditioned to be insatiable,” she said. “You can tell your story a hundred times—they’ll still want to hear it again.”
Basias Androulakis added that founders themselves have become the new face of beauty. Kovack agreed, noting that there’s room for both founder-led, passion-driven brands and operationally driven, “business-guy” ventures. Androulakis chimed in with a characteristic blend of wit and strategy: “If the content is good, I’d watch three bros in a factory making microdramas about how they outsmarted everyone else. Because good content is just a portal to expansion.”
By the end of the fireside chat, the room was filled with a palpable sense of energy, passion, and purpose. The conversation served as a much-needed reminder that in a crowded industry, authenticity, and education are vital for success.
The Lipstick Lesbian’s mission is both simple and radical: Make beauty smarter, more transparent, and more human.
“Our mission is beauty literacy,” Androulakis said. “Because when people understand beauty better, everyone wins—the brands, the founders, the sales teams, and most importantly, the consumers.”
