Since launching in 2021, rapidly rising beauty label TooD Beauty has been helping modern consumers reclaim their narrative and embrace the euphoric feelings of beauty expression. There’s nothing mediocre about founder Shari Siadat’s approach to the beauty industry either, whether it be democratizing clean beauty or the brand’s overall push for cosmetic exploration without shame or insecurity. Built on non-toxic formulas, eye-popping packaging, and vegan-friendly products, TooD is quickly becoming a one-stop shop for anyone considering refreshing their makeup collection with not only clean but affordable products.

True beauty goes deeper than the skin for Shari, who prior to launching TooD Beauty, spent decades trying to hide and conform to a society where she did not fit in. The mother of three, author, entrepreneur, and all-around neighborly creative recalls being bullied for her unibrow which she spent years covering up and attempting to hide up until the birth. But now, she’s embracing her truest self and creating a safe, inclusive space for others to do so as well. Thus TooD—short for attitude—was created as a self-reflection of not only Siadat but a generation often conformed to fit harmful and sometimes unrealistic beauty standards.

“This is about taking my own power back. That’s what TooD is about, it’s all about attitude,” Shari says. “It goes full circle to say that it’s a never-ending journey. I’ll always add and flow into ways that I abandoned myself and ways that I need to put myself back in check. That’s the dance and work, and I feel so lucky that I’m a seeker and I’m not afraid to grow.”

Tackling the Beauty Industry’s Harmful Standards

On the topic of challenges she faced amid launching TooD Beauty, Shari admits, “The good news for me is if I actually knew the challenges that I would face, I probably wouldn’t have entered. I was doing it because I cared and because I was curious, and doing it because no one knew I was doing it, I had no pressure.” Launching the brand with one question in mind—can you launch a cosmetics brand that cares just as much about the non-toxic thinking as it does the non-toxic formulas?—she quickly realized that it wasn’t as hard as it seems. “What shocked me is it wasn’t hard. It took three weeks, that’s the crazy thing. We’re told that it’s hard.”

According to HelloGiggles, the most toxic thing the beauty industry sells isn’t phthalates, sulfates, or silicones, but rather its beauty standards. The urge to embody the beauty ideal is a product of capitalism and colonialism that as a result, creates much anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. While the rise of new indie labels has certainly widened the conversation, there’s a lot that can be done in terms of dismantling harmful marketing techniques, unsustainable ideologies, and the toxic messaging that accompanies them. TooD is among the list of beauty brands pushing for healthy dialogue around cosmetics.

Pivoting into her own story, Siadat recalls her upbringing and how the lack of diversity across media had an impact on the way she viewed herself. “When you’re a little kid, you may not have the language to understand other than you look different and because you look different, you’re less than. All I wanted to do was look like Barbie and all the classmates I had. That’s what created so much insecurity in a sense of not being enough.” It wasn’t until Siadat had her third daughter that she grew her unibrow back and recognized the power in her uniqueness. She expands, “I had mistaken my femininity of always trying to conform to Eurocentric forms of beauty is actually self-hatred towards my self. That’s when I realized… there’s work to be done here.”

The Products

The label’s current lineup consists of its Freestyle Color Cream which is available in 10 different shades, as well as the Bioglitter, which comes in 6 shades inspired by the natural earth, was created to give your body, face, or hair a multidimensional shimmer. Meanwhile, other products like the best-selling Turn It On Soap Brows and TooDBrush complement the range with the latter used to define and fluff your brows, edges, or beard.

“Originally, I was developing glitter. I didn’t know until I was testing that the glitter was plastic,” Shari shares. TooD Beauty’s plastic-free Bioglitter is biodegradable in as little as 28 days in natural environments. Created easy to apply using your fingertips or the brand’s Magic Swab, it’s currently available in six hues: amethyst, jasper, citrine, and obsidian amongst others. “It took a year and a half for me to find true biodegradable glitter specs. I threw it into the formulation that I had, thinking that it would be an easy swap, but degraded. So I had to create a new base, but it took so much time and energy because I cared. It’s that intentionality that I would love to see more.”

The Freestyle Color Cream, which is newly reformulated using lilac leaf and turmeric root extract among others, is as easy as applying the cream where you want it to show. The shades range from metallic black “Past/Present” and gold “Real/Fake” to a purple “Asleep/Awake” and icy blue “Brother/Sister.” Both the Bioglitter and Color cream are available in limited-edition bundles, including “Blue Is The Warmest Color” and “Purple Haze.” Meanwhile, TooD’s Magic Swab allows for creating razor-sharp lines and abstract curves, while the Paint Brush gently brushes through brows and hair. To round the range out, the Turn It Off Makeup Remover dissolves any glitters or products while nourishing the skin.

Elsewhere, TooD Beauty utilizes 100% recycled and recyclable packaging made from kaolin clay-coated paperboard that stands out in your makeup drawer. “From the packaging side, everything is toxic. It’s so hard to find packaging that is recycled or recyclable. All of our paper board is made of kaloin clay. It’s not only recycled but it’s recyclable. I know it feels thin, but that’s because it’s the greenest thing in the marketplace.” She adds, “Our glitter pots are made in glass with PCR caps, our tools are made with FSC wood and they have silicone on the top so it’ll last forever. I’m trying this with single-use tools that are creating this pollution.”

Community and The Importance of Inclusivity

TooD Beauty places creativity and freedom in those who behold it, pushing the boundaries of glitter while being transparent around ingredients and pricing. And, led by Siadat, the label encourages feelings of self-love and tenderness whilst communicating to its audience like people rather than customers. TooD is a brand for everyone—both in terms of affordability and exploration—that embraces the collective voice of the youth.

“It’s almost forced that you have to have this I don’t give a fuck attitude, but there are so many Gen Z people that don’t have that confidence. They may not know themselves and may feel a weird way, that’s creating a binary for them. So how do we even remove all of that pressure of needing to flex in that way and say however you are, confident or not confident, and say you’re safe? That’s what TooD is, creating a safe, fun, non-judgmental space.”

“Clean beauty should not be for the rich. We all deserve to have these products. From a mindset, how are we creating a truly sustainable world filled with self-love and love towards others? I feel like so much of the pain we all feel is the competition and flexing for being superior. That’s all created to keep us on the hamster wheel without trying to solve world problems,” she emphasizes.

“As a mother, I look at myself as a vessel for them to actualize who they are. I think beauty can’t be bought in a bottle yet we can also have clean products to help you self-express in any manifestation that you want,” Shari tells us. “I want each of them to develop a relationship with self and know who they are. I think when you know who you are and you can give yourself your needs, then you can outwardly show the world that through hair, clothes, fashion, and makeup. That’s a magnetic form of beauty that cannot be taught, but earned.”

TooD Beauty and Beyond

This year, TooD continues to break barriers and dismantle beauty standards with a handful of community efforts and possible product launches throughout the latter. “I love that Gen Z is not as willing to be controlled. You’re questioning the systems and saying ‘yeah, I may have inherited these systems, but I don’t need to play a part in them.’ That’s what I love about Gen Z and that’s why I feel like I’m Gen Z even though I was born twenty years earlier,” Shari says.

“The world that we live in is tough, and between social media and pressure from family and friends, we’re all made to feel like we can’t be who we are. Many of us don’t know who we are. We think we do but we really don’t know the essence so I really want to help people find the connection to self,” Siadat. “That’s what I want to teach people. Using TooD as a conversation piece, and knowing that people can self-express in any manifestation that they want, but all that matters is the work in knowing who you are, how you want to look, and what is the story that you want to write for yourself that no one else needs to write for you.”

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