The Beauty Shortlist
In October 2022, something happened that we genuinely did not expect.
Nwadi Beauty — a brand built from scratch, by one person, with a clear vision and zero guarantee anyone would notice — was selected for The Beauty Shortlist. We were named No. 6 and No. 11 across two separate categories. We found out through social media. We stared at the screen for a long time before we believed it.
This is the honest story of what The Beauty Shortlist is, what being selected actually meant for us, and why it still shapes every product decision we make at Nwadi.
The Beauty Shortlist is a global beauty editorial platform and awards program that spotlights the best emerging and independent beauty brands from around the world. Unlike awards that require brands to pay for entry or campaign for votes, The Beauty Shortlist uses an editorial team to identify and evaluate brands based on product quality, ingredient integrity, brand values, and genuine innovation.
Being selected is a genuine editorial recognition — it cannot be purchased. For an indie brand at the stage Nwadi was at in 2022 — still building, still finding our community — being evaluated alongside established international brands and holding our own was an enormous validation.
Nwadi was selected across two categories and ranked No. 6 and No. 11 respectively. The evaluation covered our product quality, formulation integrity — vegan, cruelty-free, free from parabens and talc — and our commitment to building products that genuinely work for women of all skin tones, with a specific focus on melanin-rich complexions the broader beauty industry consistently underserves.
The recognition confirmed something we had believed from the beginning but had not yet had external validation for: making a product seriously and specifically for women with deeper skin tones is not a niche interest. It is a genuine, unmet market need.
“Making a product seriously for women with deeper skin tones is not a niche interest. It is a genuine need that the industry has been too slow to meet.”
Nwadi Beauty · Brand PhilosophyBuilding an indie beauty brand is a long, uncertain process. You create something you believe in, put it into the world, and spend a significant amount of time wondering whether anyone else will see what you see in it. The early days involve shipping orders with your own hands, answering every customer email personally, and making every decision without a team, a budget, or a playbook.
The Beauty Shortlist recognition arrived in a moment where that uncertainty was very present. Being selected — not through advertising spend or industry connections, but through the product itself earning the attention — was the kind of external confirmation that makes you keep going. It did not solve every problem. But it was real. It was earned.
And it reminded us that building something genuinely good, for people who genuinely needed it, was exactly the right thing to be doing.
New customers discovered Nwadi through the recognition. Our community grew. But more importantly, the confidence it gave us directly informed how we developed the No.61 Red Collection — our most focused, most intentional product line.
Every shade in that collection — Ruby, Scarlet, Candy, Wine, Mandy — was selected and formulated with melanin-rich skin at the center of every decision, not as an afterthought. That focus, validated by the recognition in 2022, is the core of everything Nwadi makes in 2026.
The collection exists because we knew — before The Beauty Shortlist, and more confidently after it — that women with deeper complexions deserved bold red lip options specifically built for them. Not adjusted. Not adapted. Built from scratch.
We want to be clear about what happened, because we think honesty matters in a space full of inflated claims. Nwadi was selected for The Beauty Shortlist — a genuine, editorial beauty awards program — which was featured in major publications including Vogue’s beauty coverage. This is a real, earned recognition we are genuinely proud of. It is not a direct editorial feature by British Vogue magazine, and we have always believed our actual achievement speaks for itself without embellishment.
An indie brand, built independently, selected for a global beauty shortlist alongside international names — we think that story is good enough on its own.
We share this story not to impress you — though we are quietly proud of it — but because we think it matters that you know who you are buying from.
Nwadi is not a brand built to look good on a shelf. It is a brand built by someone who saw a gap, who knew what it felt like to be on the outside of an industry that was not quite speaking to her, and who decided to do something about it.
The Beauty Shortlist saw that. Our customers see it. And every time someone sends us a message saying “I finally found a red that actually looks right on my skin” — we see it too. That is why we are here. That is what Nwadi is for.
Five bold reds. Transfer-proof. All-day wear. Shea butter conditioned. Formulated for melanin-rich skin. Every order ships with a free pair of lashes.