Cheekbone Beauty is Canadian, Indigenous-owned and sustainable — and these celebrities are 'adamant' about using it

Yahoo

4 days ago

From the do-it-all product she is "not living without" to her favourite Canadian beauty products, here are five things Jenn Harper is Adding to Cart.
Sustainability requires "intentful action," Jenn Harper, the founder of Cheekbone Beauty, told Yahoo Canada. "It has to become a practice. Sustainability isn't something you can say you are but not do."
Cheekbone Beauty is one of Canada's first Indigenous-owned and founded cosmetics companies. It focuses on what Harper — an Anishinaabe Ojibwe entrepreneur from St. Catharines, Ont. — says is "missing" in the beauty industry: true sustainability.
"We know that [clean beauty] is safe for humans, but what about the planet? What about the environment?" she said.
There are so many ingredients that are considered clean, they're checked off as safe, but are known to impact the environment and ecosystems negatively, she explained. "We really want to look at the whole picture."
Is the packaging sustainable? Is it biodegradable? What does the raw material formulation look like?
"That's where we take our Indigenous roots very seriously."
Have you ever wondered what the world's most interesting, successful and talented people are adding to their shopping carts? Yahoo Canada's new series, Add to Cart, is exploring just that. From the supplement regimen of professional athletes to supermodel-approved skincare, this is what celebrities actually spend their money on.
Harper and her team at Cheekbone Beauty care deeply about sustainability and how Indigenous people are represented in the beauty space. At the time of our call, the founder had recently teamed up with Nice Cans and chef Charlotte Langley to launch a limited-edition lipstick, Haki, with 100 per cent of proceeds going directly to Indigenous student scholarships.
The reason why Cheekbone Beauty has gone viral, however, isn't solely because of its social do-gooding. For starters, the Canadian brand became a fast, homegrown favourite when U.S. President Donald Trump instigated a tariff war — and a buy Canadian movement — earlier this year. Many of the brand's lip products are manufactured in Ontario, and it works with partners in Italy for the rest. "You could really see [a rise in sales] from January to April," after Trump took office, Harper revealed. "Even into May."
Another reason Cheekbone has skyrocketed in popularity in recent months is, in part, thanks to its growing celebrity fanbase.
Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness told Yahoo Canada that the brand's Balance Blush Bronzer was their "gateway drug" into blush. Which, by the way, made Harper "so, so proud and happy" to hear.
Actress Lily Gladstone, who made history in 2024 as the first Native American nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, was "adamant" about her makeup artist using Cheekbone Beauty, according to Harper.
Celebrity sisters Erin and Sara Foster spotlighted the Horizon Lip Pencil in Sand on their podcast, "The World's First Podcast with Erin & Sara Foster," which resulted in hundreds of sales shortly thereafter. We sold "800 [units] in eight hours. That's insane for a small business," Harper recalled.
The Fosters "keep coming back," Harper said. "They buy three sand lip pencils every time for the past like, three years."
It "is so hard building a business," Harper admitted. "So when you hear feedback like that" from JVN, Gladstone, and other public figures, "it's still a massive pinch-me moment. [...] It's incredible."
From the do-it-all product she is "hands down [...] not living without" to her favourite Canadian beauty products, here are five things Cheekbone Beauty founder Jenn Harper is Adding to Cart.