I Discovered Juvia's Place Before It Was the First Black-Owned Brand at Ulta. Here's Why I Never Left
If you've been following The Black Beauty Edit, you know the series exists because as a proud black woman that wants to celebrate, explore and find new black owned brands to try and put on your radar. Some posts will be love letters to brands I love, some will be brands I am excited to try. I am not regulating this coverage to just one month. It is an ongoing series that will not stop. Today we spotlight one of my favorite brands.
There are brands you try once, mention once, and move on. And then there are brands that quietly take over your makeup bag, your bathroom counter, and eventually are represented in every category of your beauty routine.
Juvia's Place is the second kind.
I featured this brand almost two years ago and I stand by every word I wrote. Not much has changed since then except for more launches, which means more purchases of the same amazing quality. Juvia’s is a brand where I just buy it because the consistency has always been there, so I know exactly what I am getting- amazing quality at an amazing price. Every UIta trip starts in that section, then, once I am satisfied, I go about the rest of the store. Sometimes I go just to browse, sometimes I’m replacing something my mother simply refuses to give back, or I just re-swatch my wish list ( I seriously NEED every single Coffee Shop Liquid Eyeshadow)
This isn't a repeat feature. This is what real loyalty looks like. Almost ten years of spending money on a brand I genuinely believe in, and the receipts to show for it. If you've been sleeping on Juvia's Place, consider this your wake-up call. And if you already love them, get comfy and let us have a chat, because you already know.
The Brand Behind the Palettes
I covered Chichi Eburu's founding story in depth in my original feature, but I'd be doing this piece a disservice if I didn't mention it at least briefly, because the brand only makes sense when you understand where it came from.
Chichi launched Juvia's Place from a two-bedroom apartment with $2,000 and a frustration that a lot of us know intimately — the frustration of walking into a beauty store and finding almost nothing that was designed with you in mind. Limited foundation shades. Eyeshadow palettes with beautiful color stories where only two shades actually showed up the way they were supposed to. A beauty industry that wanted your dollars without really wanting you.
She built something different. Drawing on West African beauty traditions and the legacy of iconic figures like Nefertiti, she created a brand that centered bold, pigmented, culturally rich beauty and made it accessible to everyone. The packaging is tribal-inspired and stunning. The shade names tell stories. And the products? They back it all up.
Today, Juvia's Place is sold nationwide at Ulta Beauty, making Chichi the first Black woman to achieve that milestone. That's not a footnote. That's history. And the brand has done nothing but grow ever since.
Why I Keep Coming Back
Supporting Black-owned brands isn't just about the first purchase. The first purchase is the easy part. You see the buzz, you feel good, you click buy. What's harder and more meaningful is what happens after. Do you go back when there's no moment driving you? Do you recommend it unprompted? Do you keep choosing it when you have a hundred other options at the same counter?
I do. Every time. And here's why.
Juvia's Place has never once let me down on quality. For a brand with an average price point around $25, the pigmentation is genuinely shocking. It is the kind of one-swipe payoff that makes you hold the palette up and double-check the price tag. The formulas are consistently well-made, the color stories are thoughtful, meaningful, and unlike a lot of brands in this price range, there is no filler shade or product. Every product feels considered and intentional.
There are some products that charge four times more with less color payoff and I don’t like that.
Juvia's Place Products Worth Buying First
If you are brand new to Juvia's Place and don’t know where to start, start here. These are the products I feel are the most versatile:
I know. "Neutral palette" sounds like the safest, most boring recommendation I could possibly make. But the Coffee Shop palette earns it in a way that most neutral palettes don't, because it was built with warm undertones in mind rather than as an afterthought.
The browns in this palette are brown; rich, dimensional, and pigmented enough to actually show up and make an impact. The mattes blend seamlessly without being patchy and the shimmers catch light without looking glittery or overdone. The overall color story is warm and golden in a way that flatters a wide range of skin tones beautifully.
This is the palette that lives on my counter, not in a drawer. It is endlessly wearable and endlessly reliable, which in my opinion makes it the single best starting point for anyone new to the brand. This 16-shadow palette is $25 USD, and the pigment-to-price ratio alone would justify the purchase. Everything else is a bonus.
just a few of my 6 pan palettes…
The 6-Pan Palettes: Small But Mighty
Although known for her big statement palettes, I want to give credit where it's due, because Juvia's Place's 6-pan palettes don't get nearly enough attention and they absolutely should. I've worked my way through the full range at this point, and what stands out is at $15 USD they have the exact same consistency as the larger palettes with gorgeous color stories. They are visually stunning to the point where honestly, I didn’t even care what story was being told, I was buying it anyway and I’ll worry about the rest later. I would love to say The Berries Palette and Bronze Rustic were my favs, but the Olori 3 is just as stunning. The price point is perfect as well as the size which makes it great for travel.
This shade is that perfect balance of warm and neutral, with enough color payoff to feel intentional but not so much that it overwhelms the rest of the look. The formula is comfortable, non-sticky, and has a shine that reads as juicy and shimmery rather than wet or overdone. It layers beautifully over lip liner without shifting the color or breaking down throughout the day.
It also photographs beautifully which matters if you're taking any pictures of your looks for content, for Instagram, for anything. There is something about the way this gloss catches light that just works on camera. If you have been skeptical of glosses because past experiences have let you down, or you figure, “what’s another brown gloss?” I understand completely. Try Oasis anyway. This one is different.
I cannot overstate how underrated this lip liner is, and I genuinely do not understand why more people aren't talking about it.
A great lip liner does three things: it stays put, it doesn't feather, and it doesn't break down under gloss. This one does all three without fail. I have worn it through long workdays, through meals, through everything, and it holds. The color doesn't shift, the edges don't blur, and it plays beautifully with the Nubian Gloss without muddying the finish.
The difference between a lip look that lasts and one that falls apart by noon is almost always the liner, and most of us have spent way more than we should chasing that reliability from high-end brands. This one is $13 USD and it outperforms liners I've paid three times as much for. Genuinely. If you are buying the Nubian Gloss in Oasis (and you should be) buy one of these with it.
What I'm Saving For Next: The Coffee Shop Liquid Eyeshadows
photo by @cocoapixi
Juvia's Place launched liquid eyeshadows in the Coffee Shop collection, and they come in 13 shades. Thirteen.
I haven't gotten my hands on them yet and that is only because I am practicing self-control when it comes to my budget because I know me. I can’t have just one or two, I want the full collection. Needing them isn’t the question. I am a millennial, let me get my dopamine hits how I see fit. Liquid eyeshadows done right give you a foiled, high-impact finish that powder simply cannot replicate; its the kind of look that appears almost lit from within. In the Coffee Shop color story? THEY ARE STUNNING. One would say I do not need $200 worth of liquid eyeshadow. To that I say mind your business! LOL!
The Bottom Line
The average Juvia's Place product costs around $25. For that price, you are getting pigmentation that rivals brands charging three and four times as much, formulas that perform consistently across a wide range of skin tones and undertones, and packaging that is genuinely beautiful and rooted in a cultural story worth knowing.
Chichi Eburu didn't just create a makeup brand. She created a standard and proof that affordability doesn't have to mean compromise. That cultural inspiration and authenticity can exist at every price point. That there is always room at the table for brands that lead with integrity.
Close to ten years of purchases with my own money. Owning close to 70% of the product line. Not one regret.
That's not a review. That's a relationship.
Shop Juvia's Place
The full line is available at juviasplace.com and at Ulta Beauty in stores and online.
If you're starting fresh, my recommendation is simple: grab the Coffee Shop Palette, a liner and the Nubian Gloss in Oasis. That's a look for under $60, and every piece of it will earn its place in your routine.
You can thank me later.
Already a Juvia's Place fan? Drop your holy grail product in the comments and lets see what we have in common!
The Black Beauty Edit is an ongoing series here on The Cocoa Pixi spotlighting Black-owned beauty brands worth knowing, worth buying, and worth coming back to. Browse the full series and find your next obsession.
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