Meet the Lip Care and Body Care Maker Kiki Quesada
From Candles to Body Butter, at Bulk Apothecary, we take immense pride in supporting and showcasing the brilliant makers who trust us to supply ingredients for their skincare and candle creations. Every month, we spotlight a business owner, sharing their inspiring journey with the world.
This month, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Kiki Quesada, owner of Kikiz Cosmeticz , an extraordinary talent in the maker community. Kiki’s passion for creating high-quality lip products and skincare caught our eye, and we can’t wait to share her story with you!
Thank you for taking the time today to share with us more about you and your business. Can you introduce yourself and your business to our viewers?
Hello, my name is Kiki Quesada and I own Kikiz Cosmeticz which is a handmade lip care and body care small business. I started my journey in August of 2020 as a senior in highschool with the inspiration of pre-existing TikTok small businesses such as sticker brands, soap brands, and body care brands! I originally planned to only sell lip gloss but I grew to love making body butters, body scrubs, soaps, etc. Now I currently sell a huge variety of products including lip gloss, lip balm, lip scrub, body butter, body scrub, body lotion, facial oil, cream blush, and more! We are about to hit our 4th anniversary and I can’t wait to show you more of this crazy journey!
As a creator, where did your journey begin and grow to what it is today?
I started creating handmade lip balms in August of 2020 but was not very intrigued by the process so with a little research, I found out I can make lip gloss. I watched hundreds of YouTube videos and finally perfected my formula through trial and error by the end of October! From there, I knew I needed to market my products somehow which is when I began creating TikTok videos and ended up going viral a week after I started posting. I took a different approach by showing how I create my handmade products instead of just skipping to the end result. Viewers love seeing the behind-the-scenes or “how it’s made” which got me to where I am today with my brand.
What do you love most about creating products and educating others who want to create?
The thing I love most about creating handmade products is the creativity involved. It allows me to be an artist and express myself through handmade products. I love showing aspiring entrepreneurs/artists that this route is also possible for them because at the end of the day, anyone can create!
What is your favorite product you have created?
My favorite product I have created is definitely my body butter. I formulated it from scratch and I can seriously say it’s one of the best body butters on the market!
What is your favorite part of teaching others?
My favorite part of teaching others is seeing them succeed. My goal is to inspire. I lost my journey because I want others to be motivated to create and succeed.
What is one piece of advice that has helped you in your business?
The biggest advice that’s helped my business is “celebrate the small wins”. For example, celebrate the 100 followers, celebrate a post going viral, celebrate getting an order.
What is the most frequently asked question you get and your solution?
My most asked question is “how do you stay motivated?”. I believe motivation is 50% discipline and 50% motivation. Some things that have helped me are having a schedule, giving myself days off, and remembering why I started and how blessed I am to have this as my job.
What are some of the biggest challenges you and your business face?
What is your favorite Bulk Apothecary product and how do you use it in your business?
My favorite Bulk Apothecary product is the shea butter. It’s one of the main ingredients in my body butters along with coconut oil. Both are very reasonably priced which is everything a small business owner can ask for!
What was your inspiration behind the name of your company?
My company is named Kikiz Cosmeticz and it came from my nickname “Kiki” which my family and my closest friends called me growing up. It’s a very special name to me because it reminds me of my loved ones.
What is your favorite part of the creative process? Least favorite?
My favorite part of the creative process is experimenting with new colors and new color combos that you would not expect to see together in my skincare products. My least favorite part of the creative process is having creative blocks. Sometimes there is just too much going on that I can’t be fully creative but when that happens I like to look on Pinterest for the ideas that i’m envisioning.
Besides Pinterest where do you draw your inspiration?
What values does your business embody?
My business is all about self love, self empowerment, self care, and self confidence. Makeup and skincare should never be about “looking good” it should always be about making yourself feel good and feel loved.
Do you have any words of wisdom to offer any aspiring makers?
For the aspiring makers, always remember that you never know if you’ll succeed if you don’t try. One of my favorite quotes is “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”
What do you feel is the best place to start when opening a skincare business selling homemade products?
The best place to start is definitely with research and knowing exactly what you want to sell. I also recommend getting on social media as soon as you’re ready because viewers would love to see you build your brand from the ground up.
Thank you so much, Kiki for sharing your lip and skincare making journey with us. Before we go, can you share, how others can best check out more of you and your work?
You can follow along through Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, and Facebook @kikizcosmeticz
If you want to learn more about how to make your own skincare products like body butter check out our blog, Whipped Body Butter Recipe
