Marvella Akiojano launched Marviano Cosmetics in 2024. Her first collection of smudge-proof lip liners sold out within hours. What began as a personal frustration with fading lip combos has since grown into a rapidly expanding Dallas-based creator-led beauty brand. At just 22, Marvella leads every aspect of the business, from marketing and product development to scanning hundreds of orders herself while maintaining an online audience of more than 1.3 million followers.

“I want people to have a great experience,” she says. “It’s not just about a great product.”

Before the viral launches and magazine covers, Marvella was a teenager in Nigeria posting dance clips online. Makeup became her creative outlet after moving to the U.S. in 2018, a passion that soon merged with her entrepreneurial drive. 

“My parents sent me pictures of makeup I used to do on my mom when I was younger,” she recalls. “It’s something that’s always been in me.”

The Problem Every Lip Liner User Knows

The idea for Marviano Cosmetics didn’t begin with lip products at all. 

“Marviano wasn’t supposed to be a makeup brand. It was supposed to be a bag brand,” Marvella reveals. But, as a college student, the cost of high-quality production forced her to rethink. “I wasn’t making enough to produce the kind of bag I wanted. So I put it on the back burner.”

Her “aha” moment came from everyday frustration. “Whenever I did my lip combo, it would always come off,” she says. “By the end of a makeup video, my lip liner was gone, and I was just talking and drinking water.” Seeing friends reapply their lipstick as soon as they stepped out of the Uber, she realized the issue was universal. “I noticed even other girls in the bathroom doing the same thing. That’s when I knew it wasn’t just me. It was a real problem.”

Turning that observation into a solution became the foundation of her company. Last year, Marviano Cosmetics launched a line of high-quality, smudge-proof lip liners. The debut sold out within hours, according to Marvella.

Building a Brand From the Ground Up

Creating the perfect liner wasn’t easy. “I thought I found my manufacturer … twice,” she recalls. “Both times the batch was trash. They won’t refund you because your logo’s on it. I had to trash all of it.”

For a self-funded founder, those early losses were painful. Relief came when a friend introduced her to business credit, allowing her to scale more confidently. “That was the most frustrating part; receiving something different from the samples,” she says. “But once we found the right partner, it was all good.”

Fulfillment quickly became another challenge. “Order fulfillment is definitely the biggest struggle,” Marvella explains. “People put the wrong address, or carriers don’t scan packages. Then the tracking just says, ‘label created,’ and customers think I ignored their order.”

To fix the issue, she and her small team began scanning every package themselves. “Sometimes it’s 500, 600, 700 packages,” she says. “We decided to print labels in batches (200 at a time) so customers get a good experience.”

A Marketing Mind Behind the Brand

Armed with a marketing degree from the University of North Texas, Marvella approaches her brand strategy with intention. “At the moment, I am the marketing team,” she says. “I have so many ideas, but because I’m also Marvella the influencer, handling other things takes away from that creativity. I want to build my team so I can focus on marketing.”

Despite juggling roles, her sell-outs continue. Each launch blends product storytelling with social proof. “We focus on showing the long-lastingness of the liners, how beautiful the glosses are, and how everyone else is loving it,” she says. “It’s not about shoving it down people’s throats, but about showing the experience.”

Her small but dedicated crew includes a product manager, an overall manager who handles travel and partnerships, a customer service representative, and two TikTok specialists who keep daily posting consistent. Still, Marvella oversees creative direction herself, ensuring that the brand remains personal and community-driven.

The Power of Inclusive Beauty

Inclusivity isn’t a slogan for Marvella. It’s embedded in product design. 

“I’m not the darkest shade in anything, but I have friends that are way darker than me,” she says. “I see them struggle with makeup all the time, because they don’t have shades that match. Who would I be not to include that in my business?”

Her latest launch, the “Midnight” lip liner, was inspired by fellow creator Golloria George and tailored for deeper skin tones. “She gave me one of her favorite liners so I could test the wearability,” Marvella explains. “I wanted something as dark as that shade, but rich in depth. You don’t have to use black eyeliner to line your lips. We made a brown that’s sexy and made for you.”

For Marvella, inclusive product development is both moral and logistical work. “It takes a lot of back-and-forth,” she says. “Manufacturers don’t just have those shades waiting at the lab. Sometimes, it’s one sample, two samples, three samples… it takes months. But if a brand says they’re working on it, believe them. It’s a lot of dedication.”

Listening to the Community

Marviano’s development continues to be guided by its audience. “People make videos about Marviano every day, and I’m so grateful,” Marvella says. “I take feedback personally. I listen a lot and try to implement what people are saying.”

Her audience often spots upcoming products before they’re announced. “When I start using a sample in a video, people comment, ‘Hey, is that a Marviano setting spray?’ That’s how I know I’m on the right path,” she says.

Beyond analytics, Marvella measures success through genuine engagement. “I try not to focus on views,” she explains. “I focus on comments, DMs, and shares. When someone takes the time to message me asking a question, that’s how I know the product resonated.”

Beyond the ‘Slap Your Name On It’ Stereotype

As a creator-founder, Marvella is aware of the skepticism around influencer-led brands. 

“People think we just get something, slap our name on it, and sell it,” she says. “No. Some of us really care. We care about the makeup, the formula, the mission behind the brand.”

That passion fuels her customer loyalty. When setbacks hit (such as delayed shipments or packaging redesigns), messages from fans keep her grounded. 

One comment she keeps saved reads: “I used to line my lips with black eyeliner, but now I finally have a shade that makes me feel confident. My makeup takes less time, and I’m not late anymore.” Stories like that, she says, make the stress worth it.

Learning to Lead

Running a cosmetics company while maintaining a social-media career taught Marvella one of the hardest lessons: delegation. 

“Learning to trust other people with my vision has been tough,” she says. “As a creator, you do everything yourself: edit, post, answer emails. I carried that mindset into business, but there’s no way you can do it all alone.”

Her advice to new founders is clear. “Don’t rush, but don’t wait for perfection,” she says. “When I started, my lip liners looked so different from what they look like now. It’s okay to start small and evolve.” She also stresses the importance of mental health. “Burnout is not fun. It’s good to keep going, but breathe.”

What’s Next?

After multiple sold-out launches and a keynote appearance at the Black Beauty Roster Summit in Los Angeles, Marvella is expanding her ambitions. 

She plans to introduce a men’s product, develop a long-wear setting spray, and eventually host a brand trip to connect with her community. “By God’s grace, I want Marviano to be global,” she says. “In stores like Sephora or Ulta, everywhere.”

Even as she grows, Marvella remains hands-on, editing videos, reviewing formulations, and scanning shipping labels when needed. Her journey from “Dubsmash kid” to CEO shows what’s possible when creators turn their passion into an enterprise. 

“I love what I do,” she says simply. “It’s a lot, but it’s all worth it.”

PR photo credits: Zion Foster