Live Tinted

Live Tinted is a beauty brand offering makeup and skincare products formulated for a broad range of skin tones, with a focus on complexion and sun protection. Its catalog includes the HUESTICK multi-use all-over color corrector — the brand's first product — HUEGUARD mineral sunscreen and SPF 50 skin tint (sold in 13 shades in original and mini sizes at $42 and $19 respectively), a hyperpigmentation serum stick, a magic blur primer stick, and a HUESTICK Click CC brightening wand. Products are described by the company as clean, vegan, cruelty-free, carmine-free and formulated with skincare ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, vitamins C and E, and squalane; the SPF skin tint is marketed as dermatologist tested, fragrance free, reef friendly, non-comedogenic and packaged in a 100% post-consumer-recycled tube.

The company was founded by Deepica Mutyala, a South Asian entrepreneur and former senior manager of brand development at Birchbox, who serves as CEO and founder; Neilesh Mutyala is also listed as a founder. Trade directory data lists the company at 407 North Maple Drive, Suite GRD1, California 90210, with roughly 15 employees and executives including a retail director, product/trading director, merchandising director, marketing director, chief digital officer and head of sustainability. In January 2026 the brand named Aminata Tall, previously its first vice president of marketing, as chief marketing officer, and appointed Celina Areosa senior vice president of sales.

Founding story

Founder Deepica Mutyala, a Texas native of South Asian descent, posted a YouTube video in 2015 showing how she used red lipstick to cover dark under-eye circles; the video went viral, drew appearances on The Today Show and The Dr. Oz Show, and has since surpassed 10 million views. At the time she was a senior manager of brand development at Birchbox. She built an online community around the hashtag #TintFam and, drawing on her own experience of colorism as a South Asian woman, formed Live Tinted in 2018, launching its first product — the Huestick color corrector, inspired by the viral hack — in May 2019.

Business model

Direct-to-consumer sales through its own e-commerce site plus wholesale distribution through prestige beauty retail, principally Ulta Beauty, where the brand entered via the Sparked emerging-brands program.

Sales of color cosmetics, complexion and sun-care products at price points such as $42 for the full-size HUEGUARD SPF 50 skin tint and $19 for the mini.

Traction

The brand reported selling one million units since its 2018 launch as of early 2023, and more than one million products in 2025. Bestsellers include the HUEGUARD 3-in-1 mineral sunscreen, hyperpigmentation serum stick and the HUESTICK all-over color corrector. Management stated in January 2026 that its skin tint sells every two minutes at Ulta. The brand was named Ulta Beauty's Emerging Brand of the Year in 2021.

Latest developments

In January 2026 Live Tinted announced a new, undisclosed-size funding round in which Curate Capital and L'Oréal's BOLD venture arm took stakes alongside existing investors including Monogram Capital and Unilever Ventures, at a valuation stated to be more than double that of its 2023 Series A. Alongside the raise, Aminata Tall returned as chief marketing officer and Celina Areosa joined as senior vice president of sales. The company said it would focus on complexion and sun protection hero products and on deepening its Ulta Beauty business. Recent product introductions on its site include a Magic Blur Primer stick and the HUESTICK Click CC Brightening Wand.