Esmeralda Hernandez was not born into privilege and her road to becoming a successful entrepreneur was paved with hard work and determination, beginning at a very young age. Beauty Creations is the result of Hernandez’s vision to bring affordable beauty products to all women, and particularly, women of color. As a Latina woman, Hernandez exemplifies perseverance and the pursuit of dreams, making her a role model to all women who desire entrepreneurial success.
Born in Mexico, Hernandez moved to the U.S. with her single mother, and three siblings, when she was nine. They lived with Hernandez’s aunt, in a small apartment, and they slept in the living room. To make money, she accompanied her mother and other family members to garage sales, and later to “swap meets,” where people bought and resold a variety of products. The days were long, and Hernandez observed everything. Soon, she had the idea to buy and resell Barbie dolls. She noticed, however, that the dolls were naked, so she decided to make and sell Mexican clothes for them as well. The business became very lucrative and allowed her to go on to sell perfume and then hair products.
Eventually, Hernandez was able to raise enough money to start her own company selling hair stringers, which are colored beads used for hair extensions. In 2016, Hernandez visited China, where she explored the world of wholesale beauty products. There, Hernandez connected with manufacturers and was able to open a wholesale beauty products store. She then expanded to online sales providing high-quality, affordable cosmetics. Hernandez was determined to make cosmetics available to a wide range of women, because she realized that as a young girl, growing up with limited funds for beauty products, she still wanted to look beautiful. She knew that there was an untapped market catering to women like her, who wanted beauty products but could not afford most of what was sold in the stores.
During this time, Hernandez had young children of her own and somehow balanced her business career with motherhood. Throughout her path to entrepreneurship, Hernandez kept focused on the goal of maintaining cosmetics at affordable prices that catered to women of color. She also thought that it was important that the packaging was attractive. To this day, Hernandez has never wavered from these goals, maintaining a brand that is accessible to all women.
Beauty Creations now generates $40 million in sales and is sold in thirty-eight countries. The company recently acquired a new facility in California, that allows for in-house manufacturing and provides a headquarters for their operations. Beauty Creations has come a long way and even though Hernandez is at the pinnacle of her success she still has the drive she had as a young girl, always looking ahead to the next venture.
Beauty Creations recently launched a new skincare line, called Beauty Creations SKIN, and there are other exciting projects coming up. This year at New York Fashion Week, Hernandez, and Beauty Creations’ Master Makeup Artist, Hosway Martinez, created the make-up looks for the Bronx and Banco FW/2024 presentation. This was the first time that Beauty Creations was at NYFW, and it certainly will not be the last. Beauty Creations launched some exclusive new makeup lines that will be out this fall. Beginning 2024 with this entry into NYFW, shows that the sky is the limit for Hernandez and the Beauty Creations brand.
