Dillon Peña had simply left his put up at Bobbi Brown cosmetics when he began growing his personal merchandise, starting with a face oil. Seven years later, he has a clear skincare vary that displays his learnings of almost 20 years within the magnificence enterprise—and he’s aiming to make it plastic-free and appropriate for women and men of all pores and skin tones.
Born and raised on a farm in Oklahoma, Peña pays tribute to his roots, naming the corporate after his nice grandfather, Leland Francis. “To me, that’s an extension of who I’m. It’s my Mexican roots and being raised in an atmosphere that’s centered round nature,” he says.
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In 2015, as a star make-up artist, Peña made just a few bottles of a face oil that he would reward purchasers. He had no ambitions then of constructing an in depth skincare line. Whereas working in New York although, he dropped off a bottle of his product at Brooklyn-based Shen Magnificence, a well-liked spot for clear magnificence manufacturers, to get some suggestions.
“Thirty minutes after I’d dropped off the bottle, I obtained a name whereas I used to be at lunch, they usually instructed me they’d like to purchase some bottles to hold within the retailer. I didn’t even have containers but, or an organization correctly arrange,” he remembers.
With that first order secured, Peña not solely registered his enterprise, Leland Francis, however began fascinated about branding, packaging, and dealing with extra unbiased retailers. He chilly emailed dozens; many rejected him.
But, he saved at it, doing make-up for artists, fashions, and musicians as his day job and dealing on Leland Francis in his private time. It was a ardour turning right into a enterprise as a result of Peña realized that to get the clear, recent, dewy look that so lots of his purchasers have been after required having a wholesome base — and that started with skincare. Plus, lots of the fashions he labored have been acutely aware of what they have been placing on their pores and skin. “They’d typically flip across the bottle and skim the elements. So I knew that clear magnificence was necessary to them.”
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The pandemic performed a pivotal function in his enterprise. As shoots have been canceled, and filming and reveals got here to a cease, Peña needed to hit pause as a contract make-up artist. As a substitute, he used that point to develop Leland Francis.
Utilizing his financial savings and earnings, he invested in additional stock, and a small crew of consultants primarily to assist him scale up the corporate. With sustainability and clear magnificence changing into increasingly more common over time, Peña felt that his enterprise was extra related than ever.
“As a make-up artist, you see the quantity of plastic that’s generated by the wonder trade. And I’m the form of one who doesn’t wish to convey any plastic into my residence. I keep away from it if I can. So I did the identical with Leland Francis despite the fact that it’s meant larger prices on packaging and extra work on our half, looking for the perfect suppliers.”
The corporate’s merchandise are all packaged in glass with aluminum lids, if wanted, and thus, the containers are reusable, and delightful. Packaging is saved to a minimal with simply the necessities, coupled with a observe about Peña’s Oklahoma’s roots. It’s a traditional, luxe method to wash magnificence, which is what Peña was striving for. “Once I first began out creating Leland Francis, I observed that almost all clear magnificence manufacturers might solely be discovered within the Complete Meals magnificence part, which is nice. However they didn’t have that luxurious expertise that I wished to supply my purchasers and prospects.”
He’s additionally not keen to compromise on the sustainability of his packaging. As an illustration, the corporate’s Physique Radiance product was delayed by two years as a result of they might not discover an eco-friendly answer to place it in.
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As well as, Peña, being Mexican himself, was extra aware of how his formulations would sit on women and men of colour. Working with a chemist who’s a girl of colour herself, he says, has helped immensely. “I ask her to strive the merchandise on herself as nicely and if it’s not working for her pores and skin, we don’t proceed with it. I need this model to be for everybody, not only a choose group of people that’ve already obtained many choices to select from.”
Until now, Peña has declined funding, and but leaned on his mentors, which incorporates Bobbi Brown herself, to create a curated number of merchandise that’s premium, he says, however not fully “unaffordable.” But, with elevated prices throughout covid, he admits, he’s needed to increase his charges to mirror the problems in provide chains, like many companies.
Tamanu oil options closely in his line. “It’s a flexible ingredient that works for thus many various functions,” he explains. “It’s brightening, it helps with readability, clearing away blemishes. It’s simply an all-around great ingredient for the pores and skin.”
Peña refers to his assortment as plant-based. A lot of the clear magnificence trade, he says, is unregulated as a consequence of lax authorities restrictions, so prefers the time period “plant-derived” or “plant-based” and this is applicable to his latest addition: fragrances and candles. Most perfume manufacturers, he argues, don’t disclose elements in true transparency: “They’re unlikely to record all of the elements, and the names of every of the scents. We use simply pure oils and natural sugar cane alcohol.”
He has extra merchandise within the works that may enable him to share this make-up data additional. However he’s not eager about stepping foot within the main cosmetics retailers across the nation simply but. He likes his small enterprise method and prefers to assist mom-and-pop companies himself. “I similar to the concept of supporting one thing small made with thought and kindness. I attempt to be type myself. And I believe that’s an necessary worth in enterprise immediately,” he says.
Welcome to Missouri Tigers On SI’s “Extra Point,” a video series featuring the site’s Missouri beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers provide analysis on a topic concerning the Tigers or the landscape of college sports.
Watch the video above as MissouriOnSI lead reporter Joey Van Zummeren breaks down what head coach Eli Drinkwitz said will be the deciding factor for the Tigers’ Week 11 matchup with Oklahoma and why Missouri has struggled so much in that area.
The No. 24 Missouri Tigers will be looking for a statement win to open up the final quarter of the 2024 season. After a bye week in Week 10, the Tigers need a win over Oklahoma after going 1-2 in SEC play in October.
Health will be the biggest question for Missouri, with starting quarterback Brady Cook, leading rusher Nate Noel and Mookie Cooper all dealing with injuries. Even if those three can go though, the Tigers’ offense has struggled to find rhythm all season long.
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There’s been stretches where the Missouri offense has been effective. It led a 15-point comeback in the final quarter to secure a win over Auburn in Week 8. It scored 30 over Vanderbilt in Week 4, a feat only one other SEC team (Alabama) has done.
But it has yet to be the explosive unit it was projected to be ahead of the start of the season. It will need to have one of its best game of the season against Oklahoma for the Tigers to win the first matchup of the rivalry in the SEC.
Mizzou Players Excited for Rivalry Renewal with Oklahoma Mizzou, Oklahoma Availability Report – Brady Cook’s Encouraging Status How to Watch: Oklahoma at Mizzou; Week 11 College Football TV Schedule
The Oklahoma Sooners will look to win their second straight game on Saturday, as they’ll visit the Missouri Tigers. OU defeated Maine last week, with several true freshmen getting plenty of snaps in a blowout win over an FCS foe.
This week, it’s back to the SEC grind for Brent Venables’ squad, as Oklahoma looks to reach bowl eligibility. With plenty of injuries still hampering the Sooners, it could be another opportunity for some young players to step into the spotlight on the road.
Here are three freshmen to keep your eye on when Oklahoma takes on Missouri.
1. Xavier Robinson, RB
Running back Xavier Robinson was impressive last week against the Black Bears. He was playing in mop-up duty against lesser competition, but his physicality and burst has some clamoring to see what he can do at the highest level.
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Robinson is a local talent from Carl Albert High School in Oklahoma, and he’s been buried on the depth chart behind Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum, and others. No one is saying he should surpass Barnes or Tatum, but it’d be interesting to see what he can do if given the chance to get more work.
2. Reggie Powers III, DB
Each of the past two weeks, I’ve included one of OU’s freshmen trio of defensive backs in this piece. This week, Reggie Powers III gets the nod. He, along with Jaydan Hardy and Michael Boganowski make up an exciting future at safety for Oklahoma’s defense. They’re all playing more and more as the season moves along.
Powers had a beautiful interception in the fourth quarter last week that was wiped off the board due to a roughing the passer penalty. He’s been solid on special teams, and could certainly see more snaps as the Sooners try to cover up some of their deficiencies at cornerback.
3. Ivan Carreon, WR
We’ll go a little out of the box for this third one. Everyone knows about OU’s wide receiver injuries in 2024. And everyone knows about the various levels of impact true freshmen wideouts like Jacob Jordan, Zion Kearney, and Zion Ragins have had in their place.
But another guy who has gotten a bit of playing time is Ivan Carreon. He’s got the most size of the group at 6-foot-6, and is a good blocker on the outside. He’s caught a couple of passes this season, but could be in line for some more targets if the Sooners have bad injury luck at wideout again this week. He followed Emmett Jones from Texas Tech, decommitting from the Red Raiders to come to Norman.
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Oklahoma vs. Missouri will kick off on SEC Network at 6:45 p.m. from Columbia, Missouri.
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The No. 24 Missouri Tigers shared positive injury updates in the first availability report of the week ahead of their Week 11 matchup with Oklahoma.
This article will be updated with the new reports leading up to game day.
Missouri Wednesday Availability Report:
• QB Brady Cook – Questionable • RB Nate Noel – Questionable • OL Logan Reichert – Questionable • LG Cayden Green – Probable • WR Mookie Cooper – Doubtful • LB Brayshawn Littlejohn – Doubtful
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Starting quarterback Brady Cook was listed as doubtful the Wednesday and Thursday ahead of Missouri’s Week 9 battle with Alabama, but starts this week off with a better designation. He’s dealing with an ankle injury he suffered against Auburn and a upper body injury he suffered against Alabama.
Starting running back Nate Noel and wide receiver Mookie Cooper fully missed the game against Alabama, with Noel because of a foot injury suffered against Auburn and an unknown injury for Cooper.
Oklahoma Wednesday Availability Report:
Here’s the information without bolding:
• WR Jayden Gibson – Out • WR Nic Anderson – Out • WR Andrel Anthony – Out • DB Gentry Williams – Out • DB Kendel Dolby – Out • OL Geirean Hatchett – Out • OL Jacob Sexton – Out • OL Jake Taylor – Out • RB Jovantae Barnes – Questionable • WR Jalil Farooq – Questionable • WR Deion Burks – Questionable • RB Gavin Sawchuk – Questionable • DL Adepoju Adebawore – Questionable • OL Joshua Bates – Questionable • OL Michael Tarquin – Questionable • DL Ethan Downs – Probable