Cheekbone Beauty

Cheekbone Beauty is a Canadian Indigenous-owned cosmetics company founded by Jenn Harper in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The brand is certified B-Corp, cruelty-free, and produces cosmetics with a focus on sustainability. Cheekbone Beauty is carried by major retailers, including Sephora and JCPenney.

Background

Founder Jenn Harper established Cheekbone Beauty to create inclusive cosmetic products that also promote environmental responsibility and support Indigenous communities. Its product lines include lipsticks, eye makeup, and face products designed for a range of skin tones. In 2025, Cheekbone Beauty introduced a line of tactile makeup palettes for blind and low-vision consumers. The company's values also include a focus on sustainability, ethical sourcing, and cruelty-free production practices.

The company reports that it reinvests a portion of its profits into initiatives supporting Indigenous youth, particularly in education and access to resources. The Cheekbone Beauty Scholarship Fund provides financial support to Indigenous students pursuing post-secondary education. Through limited-edition product campaigns, 100% of profits are donated to Indigenous students.

Cheekbone Beauty has also implemented sustainability initiatives, including the use of biodegradable packaging and efforts to reduce plastic waste. Cheekbone has partnered with environmental programs such as Canopy's Pack4Good Initiative and has reported partnerships with organizations, including Bullfrog Power, to offset its annual operational energy footprint. Cheekbone Beauty donates to various Indigenous youth-related causes, including Shannen's Dream, the FNCFCS, the Navajo Water Project, and One Tree Planted.

Jenn Harper

Jenn Harper is the founder and chief executive officer of Cheekbone Beauty. She is an Indigenous entrepreneur of Ojibwe heritage and a member of the Northwest Angle#33 First Nation. Harper founded the company in 2016 following a personal turning point that influenced her to create a business centered on Indigenous values and representation.

Before launching Cheekbone Beauty, Harper worked in the corporate sector. She has spoken publicly about the importance of representation and the need for increased Indigenous participation in business and media.

Harper has been featured in various media outlets and has received recognition for her work in entrepreneurship and social impact. Harper was named a recipient of the Indspire Award for Entrepreneurship, which recognizes Indigenous leaders who demonstrate innovation and community impact. Harper's leadership style emphasizes the company's focus on transparency, sustainability, and community engagement.

In 2022, she was listed as one of the "100 Women of Influence" by Entrepreneur Magazine. She was also named as one of Canada's "Top 100 Most Powerful Women" by the Women's Executive Network.

In 2023, Harper received an honorary doctorate from Brock University as well as delivering the Convocation address for the Class of 2023.

Harper made an appearance on the reality TV series, Dragons' Den, where she declined an investment offer that would have required her to give up a controlling stake in Cheekbone Beauty. She instead received funding through a partnership with Raven Indigenous Capital Partners.

Ojibwe background

In January 2015, Jenn Harper had a dream of little Native girls covered in lip gloss. She had never seen an Indigenous brand making products that supported youth or giving back to Native communities. From there, she formed a business plan that would include Native representation and a foundation in her grandmother's name. Harper saw a way to make lipsticks that shared her grandmother's story as a residential-school survivor and start conversations about Indigenous history.

Cheekbone Beauty draws inspiration from the traditions and values of the Ojibwe people, one of the largest Indigenous groups in North America. Ojibwe culture perspectives often signify respect for the land, community interconnectedness, and the importance of storytelling.

Cheekbone Beauty references the concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing", which integrates Indigenous knowledge systems with Western approaches. Cheekbone also honors "Seven Grandfather Teachings" from Anishinaabe culture. 

The company's focus on supporting Indigenous youth is connected to historical and ongoing challenges, including limited access to education and economic opportunities, which are affecting some Indigenous communities. Through its initiatives, Cheekbone Beauty seeks to address these disparities.

Cheekbone Beauty seeks to represent Indigenous communities through product names. The "SUSTAIN Lipstick" highlights their Indigenous roots and is all named after the word for land, earth, or ground in different Indigenous languages.

The products in the "Warrior Liquid Lipstick" collection are all named after inspirational Indigenous women. The products are named after figures including Ashley Callingbull from Enoch Cree Nation, Autumn Peltier from Wikwemikong Unceded Territory, and Bethany Yellowtail from the Northern Cheyenne and Crow Tribe from the Crow Nation Reservation in Montana, as well as many other notable women.

Another example, "Sunny Redbear." This lipstick color represents Redbear, a writer and activist, who is from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

References

This article "Cheekbone Beauty" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Cheekbone Beauty. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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