Latina CEO makes her mark in cosmetics world with Beautyblender

A Latina has made her mark on the beauty world as she developed one of the most popular makeup tools in recent years.

Rea Ann Silva founded Beautyblender, the company behind the widely popular egg-shaped sponges that help people cover blemishes and blend different colors when applying makeup. 

The colorful applicators may be small, but they hold two decades worth of Silva’s history and experience.

“I kind of took everything I learned and just started experimenting,” Silva, the founder and CEO of Beautyblender, said. 

In the early 2000s, Silva was a makeup artist for MTV music videos and the TV show “Girlfriends.”

“The first show being shot in high definition and broadcast – it was kind of a big experiment,” recalled Silva as she was hired because of her expertise in doing makeup for women of color with different complexions. 

“I had to find a way to keep that consistency – that light – that beautiful flawless look throughout the day,” Silva said.

Her experiment started with a small piece of sponge until she made various iterations. 

“I came to the conclusion that the egg shape is the perfect shape,” she explained.

While she faced challenges, especially when working with male engineers when developing her product, her passion kept her moving forward.

“The advantage that I had was that most of the men that I was dealing with knew nothing about makeup,” Silva said. “There were many no’s. It’s a numbers game until you get to the yes.”

Silva, who does not speak Spanish as her parents were second-generation immigrants, said she never felt Latina enough until she was recently honored by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation with the entrepreneurial award.

“Defining who you are as a Latino – whether you’re first generation, second generation, third generation. For me, it was really a banner moment in my life to be seen this way,” she said.

Silva was also recognized by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 

“To Think that me creating my little egg-shaped sponge changed an industry, it was pretty amazing.”