A new Indie line of cosmetics is out and it’s a hit!! When was the last time you heard consistent praise like this for a new eyeshadow, blush or highlighter?

Spectacular shades, so blendable, soft, silky, excellent, stupendous

The line that has people talking (and buying by the truck load) is Sydney Grace Company.  I recently made the acquaintance of the co-owner of Sydney Grace, Heather McCullough Baker, and she does not disappoint.  I am so pleased that she is my first official guest interview!  

So how did this happen? I belong to a Facebook page run by a YouTuber named Lisa Jauregui.  (Check out her YouTube channel at “Lisa J” or join her Facebook page at “Lisa J Makeup”). A growing number of highly respected YouTubers began to sing their praises for the Sydney Grace products. The people on the Facebook group I belong to also begin to RAVE about the amazing and cost-efficient products. (Eyeshadows, highlighters, blush).  As more of us began to use their products, a small number of us reached out to the company via Instagram with one question or another, fully expecting a response from a staffer.  Imagine our (delighted) surprise when the co-owner, Heather, responded to us directly???!!!! Through my personal interactions with Heather I came to realize how genuine the owners of this company are.  They not only care about the products they produce, but they also care deeply about their customers and the experience they have with their product.

Below is my interview with Heather.

Tell our readers a little bit about how Sydney Grace came into existence.  And be sure to let us know where the name of your company originated. 

We are a sister owned company.  My sister Laura and I run this business together, but she doesn’t do any of the social media engagement, so some people don’t know she is involved.  I do all of the social media, formulating and making the products.  Laura handles all of the labelling, packaging, shipping and customer service.  If you have gotten an email from us it most likely is her.  She is the sweetest.

I am the youngest of 4 children.  I was born in 1980 to two amazing parents.  My dad was in the military for a long time as a navigator and my mom stayed at home with us until I was about 11 and she started doing daycare in our home so she could still be there for us.  

Laura is the second youngest in the family and is 2 years older than I am.  She hated me for about a year and then we became best friends.  We shared a room until I was about 12 and even in college, we were roommates or next-door neighbors.

After I got married our parents moved to Northern California to retire. Slowly over the next 8 years all of my siblings moved up to Northern California as well.  We all go to the same church so we see each other several times a week.

Laura has a bachelor’s degree and has done several different things mainly in marketing.

I have a bachelor’s degree and kind of fell into specializing in accounting. When my oldest daughter was born over 11 years ago, I started working for an amazing boss who allowed me to work from home so that I could stay with my daughter.  As his company grew, I still was able to work from home, but the job was very stressful and intense at times.  This is where Sydney Grace came into the picture.

Because I am a creative person being consumed with a stressful, intense job made me start doing side things to let me use my creative side.  Long story how it ended up being makeup but the short story is our mom used to make soap using her goat’s milk.  I decided I wanted to do that too.  I started coloring the soap with mica and then got a book on homemade eyeshadow using micas.  It took a LONG time for me to perfect pressing our matte formula.  I was picky on how I wanted them to apply and wear that it took months of testing and formulating until I got a finished product that I was happy with and could stand behind. We started selling our products under a different name in 2015 and changed our name to Sydney Grace in 2017.

Naming our company was easy.  My sister and I have two girls each. Her youngest daughter is named Sydney and the two older girls have the same middle name of Grace. Payton is my youngest an she didn’t get a name in the business because it really didn’t fit.

What are a few of your key business learnings?

I had so many years in business management before starting this company that I wouldn’t say I have learned many new lessons in business that I didn’t know before, but I have learned so many other things relating to the industry and how to market to this industry.  This industry is a polar opposite of the industry I work in as a CFO.

We love everyone and try to treat each person no matter who they are with love and respect.  I also think we have a good product that performs well and lasts a long time.  We want to be a company who is known not only for amazing products but excellent customer service.  If there is ever an issue we will bend over backwards to try and fix the problem for our customers.

Your brand is very successful! What do you believe are the key differentiators of your business? 

Top three things:

  • We stand behind our products and that is why we offer a money back guarantee.  If someone isn’t 100% happy with their products, we will do everything in our power to fix the issue, send a refund, etc.
  • We are just two girls who love makeup and love making people happy with our products.  
  • Our products are all formulated, produced, packaged and shipped from Northern California. We don’t outsource any of our items.

What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs (male or female) looking to follow in your footsteps? 

I would say for those who want to start a cosmetics company to do research and then do more research and test and take notes and do everything you can to make the best products that you can make.  Know your ingredients and what they do for your products. 

Your formulas are amazing!!! You have something in your product line for everyone from a novice to an experienced make up artist. What shadows would you recommend for someone just starting to utilize eyeshadow versus someone more experienced?

I would suggest the following:

Two of my personal favorite shadows are Flannel and Red Chameleon. How do you create such beautiful multifaceted colors and what is the best way for individuals to utilize them?

I love creating new colors and adding depth and dimension by mixing different tones and textures together to create different colors. I like to look at a color and then go to the lab and make that shade it is so fun for me. The other day my sister-in-law wanted a teal and I had been wanting to add a teal to our collection so I went to the lab and made her a teal cream shadow (launching soon) and it made my day that she was so excited about it.

All of our shadows should be able to be applied with a brush. Quite honestly our mattes swatch much better with a brush than with your finger. Our shimmers and pressed pigments are formulated to apply with a brush BUT some just need a little more help and that comes from the size of the pigment we used. The larger the pigment size the more help it might need but it also means the shine is more vibrant as well. I will take a shader brush that is a little fluffy and I will gently swirl it on the top of the shadow and then apply it to my lid, if I want more intensity I will then go in and tap a little on the lid with my finger.

What can we look forward to next from Sydney Grace?

  • We are working on another palette that will hopefully launch in May 2019.  
  • We have also been working on contour and bronzers and hopefully those will be coming this summer.  
  • We are always working on new colors to add to our single line.  
  • We also have glosses coming soon our packaging is getting finished up.  
  • I have been also working on pot gel eyeliners.  Lots of things coming!  
  • We are also having our big Christmas in July event in July which has lots of fun deals and giveaways!  It is by far our biggest sale of the year.

It’s been an enormous pleasure to have Heather share information on her company. I personally love promoting companies like this and I know many of you share my passion. (Making others great!) I appreciate the time Heather spent meeting with me and also want to let you let you know she has graciously provided my newly formed “blog family” with a 15% (non-affiliate) off discount code for their purchase on http://www.sydneygraceco.com (Code is “Yvonne15” ) We look forward to checking in with Heather in a few months!!

Below are a number of ways to stay in touch with Sydney Grace.