Alicia Scott and Myisha Fantroy of Range Beauty absolutely nailed their “Shark Tank” pitch. They asked for $150,000 in exchange for 6% equity in their brand. But their episode featured a special guest: Emma Grede, a self-made mogul, who co-owns several brands with the Kardashians, like SKIMS and Good American. She was also the first Black woman to appear as a guest shark.
After Scott and Fantroy gave an excellent pitch, Grede got up and whispered a conversation with Lori Greiner. The other sharks pulled out, noting that makeup wasn’t their arena, but not without considerable praise. When Scott said that their foundation cost $21, Grede said it was “masstige.” Kevin O’Leary had never heard this term before, so it was a fun vocabulary lesson. Masstige is the sweet spot between prestige cosmetics and mass-produced cosmetics. While all of the sharks were in awe of Scott and Fantroy, it was Grede and Greiner who came in with a team offer. They would give Range Beauty $150,000 in exchange for 20% of the brand. After a bit of back and forth, Scott and Fantroy accepted the deal.
Later, Scott told Beauty Independent about the experience. “Being up there as a Black woman-owned makeup brand in front of their first Black women guest shark, being the first Black woman-owned makeup brands to receive a deal, it was everything,” Scott said. “We walked away, and it was like in the cartoons where there are stars floating around. That’s exactly how it felt.”
