Lady LUX

Nicole Marett was living the dream in New York City attending college and working for a fashion house on Fifth Avenue. Her life finally seemed perfect but something was missing. She felt like she needed more of a purpose and wanted to make a difference. After graduating college, Marett left her fashion job to go overseas and complete missionary work on a year-long adventure. After learning the reality of human trafficking and befriending a female prostitute in Thailand, she wanted to help others in the same predicament. Marett felt empowered to begin her new dream by founding her own cosmetics company to help fight human trafficking. Since 2011, Radiant Cosmetics has created awareness and funds to end trafficking with a beautiful line of makeup.

“Despite loving my job, I felt like I needed some purpose. I love fashion and beauty, but at the end of the day it often felt meaningless […] I wondered what it would be like if we channeled some of our time, energy and resources into creating change,” said Marett. “As I began to meet the ‘statistics’ of human trafficking, I felt so overwhelmed by the vastness of modern day slavery, yet compelled to do something […] I was just an ordinary woman who wanted to make a difference; my skills, passions and background were in beauty and fashion. I wondered what it could look like to use what I knew and was good at to do something.”

Based in Austin, Texas, Radiant Cosmetics has partnered with Redeemed Ministries, an anti-trafficking organization, to garner awareness and raise money to provide resources for victims. Redeemed is an all-volunteer, faith-based nonprofit also based in Texas that works to liberate those affected, threatened or exploited by trafficking. Twenty percent of every Radiant cosmetic purchase is donated to their efforts.

According to Marett, the cosmetics industry generates $170 billion annually, which is dominated by women. Eighty percent of the two million people enslaved by trafficking are women and girls. By creating a model of women helping women simply by buying products they already love, Marrett has made it that much easier to create change.

“As a company, Radiant is committed to do our part to end human trafficking. The easiest way is education and awareness. I can’t tell you how many people don’t know that slavery still exists. Our company and products have been an open door to tell people all about this injustice,” Marett revealed.

Radiant offers high-quality makeup in current and chic shades. The cosmetics include foundation, powder, concealer, blush, lip gloss, moisturizing lipstick, matte lipstick, eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, brow color and even makeup primer. The cosmetics line has been featured on models in runways shows such as the Freedom and Fashion show to promote the cause.

The Radiant brand is gaining more momentum and recognition along the way. Radiant has primarily focused on aiding trafficking victims in the U.S. and is expanding on a global scale through their Country Collections. They have already unleashed the India Collection back in May.

“On a global scale, we’ve been working on what we call ‘Country Collections,’ where we work with at-risk women overseas who create makeup bags featuring native fabrics to tell their story and pay the women a fair wage to help their families. We will be releasing our second Country Collection for the holidays,” Marett said.

Marett and her company radiate hope and continue to put forth their best efforts to raise awareness and set captives free, one lipstick at a time.

To learn more about Radiant Cosmetics and to support the cause, visit www.RadiantCosmetics.org.

Tagged in: charity, causes, beauty, makeup, cosmetics, philanthropy, awareness, human trafficking, redeemed ministries, radiant, radiant cosmetics,