Megan Dugan of Lemonhead LA: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry

Authority Magazine Editorial Staff
Authority Magazine
Published in
9 min readFeb 26, 2023

Take tips from other brand owners — Be active on social media and don’t copy what other people are doing. Be genuine. Some of our most viral video moments have literally just been from me posting what I was doing behind the scenes and people really connected with it. Some of the most expensive and time consuming things I’ve ever shot have had basically zero views.

As a part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Megan Dugan. Megan, founder of Lemonhead LA, was originally a makeup artist who craved high-impact, avant-garde makeup products that would inspire creativity, not complacency. When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She began cocktailing good-for-skin ingredients with ultra-reflective glitter blends to create the first LHLA luxe glitter pastes.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

When I look back on how my career has grown, it is truly a puzzle. The smallest experiences I had when I was a young adult had profound impacts on me, although they were unknown at the time. Every little job I had before creating my company taught me something that I needed in order to succeed. Because of this, everything feels very serendipitous. I planned on working as an advertising art director, but I graduated in 2008 just before the huge crash. I still remember the day I was interning, and everyone was laid off. It was terrifying. I had to get creative and began freelance makeup artistry in order to pay bills. I fell in love with every bit of the beauty industry. I took on different marketing projects for small businesses around St. Louis while doing make up on the side. Wearing many different hats definitely helped me prepare for this life for sure. I committed to the beauty industry and worked for many different large makeup companies, eventually landing my biggest role as a Regional Manager for a major clean beauty company. the corporate side of cosmetics made me really miss the creative side and wall rebuilding my portfolio, I begin creating my own formulas of make-up that usually intimidated me, the most being, of course, glitter. As it turns out, I accidentally created the world’s most perfect formula of glitter. Completely controllable and zero mess with an “adult fingerpaint” vibe. I began bringing my creations to different photo shoots and sharing them with other industry heavyweights. When my products began to grow via word of mouth, I built a website (I happened to have experience from doing this for some small businesses in the past). I’ll never forget the day I received my 500th order. I was out celebrating at lunch and by the end of my lunch I received my 1500th. I never really had an adjustment. I just had to dive right in and say yes to things and figure it out later. The rest of my brand story is still being written, but it’s been over 6 years now and every day continues to be an amazing adventure.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I have had the absolute most amazing and weird things happen to me since beginning my career. I’m not actually sure I’m not on some hidden camera TV show. Probably one of the weirdest experiences I had was a major beauty brand attempted to knock off my products, then felt guilty about it, and ended up telling me that they wanted to hire me to help them copy my products. They were going to do it anyway, so I ended up agreeing to oversee the process which was literally so uncomfortable and felt like blackmail or something. in the end they just couldn’t do it on a mass scale the right way and ended up selling my actual products on their website as a limited edition “collaboration”. It was so incredibly awkward but now I can look back and laugh because it was just so strange and to be honest, kind of flattering. I definitely would not do that again LOL.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

When we no longer could sustain filling/packing/and shipping ourselves due to the number of orders we started receiving. We used our resources and got as much information as we could from other small business owners on how to expand quickly while still maintaining quality.

Trust your gut and stay genuine. What works for another company may not work for your business. I learned this great advice from Sahara at Lashify!

Stay true to your DNA and know why you do what you do- it’s not just about the profits — it’s about producing high quality products that make people extremely happy.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

When I was just starting my career in beauty, I always idolized celebrity and editorial make-up artists. I am so humbled that my products have ended up in the hands of the most talented and creative people in the world. The fact my idols have helped spread word of my products from their own mouths whether by talking to one another, or by spilling the tea in editorial interviews, I owe the success of this brand to everyone who’s ever used our products and shared their love of it with others. I also would not be where I’m at without the help of my amazing team that has stood by my side and encouraged me for the last six years.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half a trillion dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?

  • We have created a high-quality product that previously wasn’t offered before. Glitter was messy, intimidating and a b*tch to work with. We reinvented the game with our mess-free and easily removable products.
  • We have made it a point to educate our customers not only on application but also removal
  • We made it easy for non-makeup artists to feel like PRO’s
  • One of the most interesting side effects of our product is that our customers have told us it gives them extreme confidence and makes them feel like they have an alter ego to play with.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?

  • The use and addition of active skincare ingredients in beauty products. Makeup that’s actually beneficial to your skin and will improve your skin with use
  • The end of gatekeeping — In previous years makeup artists kept their tips and tricks secret and now everyone has opened up — sharing all the best ways to achieve looks and with what tools
  • How much brands are listening to customers and adapting and innovating formulas to cater to specific needs.
  • Inclusive ranges — brands opening up to make sure they cater to all skin types and tones and making it easy for customers to find what they are looking for. Previously, you had to be a pro or really educate yourself to achieve certain shades. Readily available options were limited and or non-existent. I am thrilled to see that’s no longer the case.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to improve the industry, what would you suggest?

The over saturation of the market. Brands are just churning out products to fit trends without concern for the quality or originality.

IP theft of indie beauty brands. Major brands steal from us all the time and most small brands don’t have the money for litigation. It’s actually infuriating because they have all the money and power to have teams innovate, but I personally have met several people that work for major brands whose job it is to sit and scour social media to find things to copy from other brands..

Lack of resources when it comes to finding packaging and the logistics of bringing concepts to market. I probably have 300 amazing and innovative products floating around in my head right now and I just don’t know where to begin sometimes.

  • Scaling it back. Putting thought and time into creating quality products that will help people
  • Congress is way overdue on making better laws and protections for artists.
  • More influencers using their platforms to promote transparency and education and less cancel culture.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share a few ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?

  • It doesn’t take an arsenal of high-end beauty products to feel beautiful daily. I think sleep, hydrating and treating your body right by getting some form of movement in each day make anyone feel their best.
  • Learning what you love about yourself and honoring that relationship
  • Creating a routine that you’re excited about doing before your day starts — taking the time for yourself before you face the world
  • Find a product (or simply a look) that feels a little bit dangerous and outside your comfort zone and rock it a few times a month. Maybe it’s a red lip, or it might just be a little bit of glitter…

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, Can you please share “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”. Please share a story or an example, for each.

  • Take tips from other brand owners — Be active on social media and don’t copy what other people are doing. Be genuine. Some of our most viral video moments have literally just been from me posting what I was doing behind the scenes and people really connected with it. Some of the most expensive and time consuming things I’ve ever shot have had basically zero views.
  • Ask yourself “Does the world need this product?” If not, don’t make it because you’re not gonna be passionate about it and it’s going to be hard to sell.
  • Invest in the best people. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket either. Finding the right team is the hardest part about running a business whether it’s in the beauty industry or any other.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
  • Spend time on TikTok. Get inspired. Whether this specific app lives forever, the format is the future

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Our brand was created to make people feel more confident and creative. Tearing people down is the opposite of what we stand for. We just want people to feel like the best versions of themselves, or maybe even a completely new and undiscovered version of themselves when they wear a little glitter.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I used to volunteer at a nursing home in high school. One of the residents told me that no matter what happens in life people won’t really remember specific details about you- They’ll only remember your energy and the way that you made them feel. This was extremely powerful to me and I think about it every day, especially when I meet new people. Maybe it was fate that I ended up creating a product that makes people feel happy, courageous, and a little bad ass :)

How can our readers follow you online?

www.getlemonhead.com

INSTA/TT: @lemonhead.la

Instagram and TikTok:

@LEMONHEAD.LA

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

--

--