Temple grad Camille Bell's inclusive Pound Cake lipstick line sells out overnight

Pound Cake lipsticks are vegan, cruelty free and clean.

Alicia Vitarelli Image
Friday, October 29, 2021
Temple grad's inclusive lipstick line sells out overnight
Pound Cake Cosmetics - made right here in Philadelphia - is the brainchild of a Downingtown native and Temple University graduate Camille Bell.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- One of the hottest lipsticks on the market right now is made right here in Philly.

It's called Pound Cake and it's the brainchild of a Downingtown native and Temple University graduate.

When it launched last month, it sold out in hours.

Camille Bell created it specifically for darker-skinned people who often have a hard time finding a good red lipstick that's also moisturizing and vibrant.

"I was just very disappointed in what was being offered for folks that look like me and who are darker than me," she said. "I said, 'I'm going to solve this.' So we have one color, the red. And then we offer five different variations of that red to account for various skin and lip tones."

She also wants everyone to feel beautiful and feel seen.

"We want to help empower and bolster the black and brown community, folks that identify as fat, folks that are queer, and just make folks feel beautiful," said Bell. "Most of the time in the beauty industry, those are the folks that are marginalized. So we want to uplift those folks."

Bell's lipsticks are vegan, cruelty free and clean.

Allure Magazine recently named her "Maraschino Cherry" the best Classic Red in their recent Best of Beauty edition.

"We sold out in less than 48 hours," said Bell. "We've been working with our lab and we're making a lot more this time, to make sure that folks can buy it for the holidays."

Because it is called Pound Cake, the lipstick smells like a cake with vanilla icing.

Temple's Blackstone Launchpad helped make this a reality for Bell and she's over the moon with the overnight success.