Sipho Gumbo, a Southlake mom and Yangu Beauty founder, recently partnered with Neiman Marcus, which now carries her line of award-winning skin care products online.
“Our brand partnership with Neiman Marcus is a validation of our quality, luxurious products that can compete head-to-head with some of the most renowned brands on the market,” Sipho says. “To be added on the Neiman Marcus list is a great achievement that we are most certainly proud of. This means a lot especially for women of color to now have a product line of high quality — created especially for them and available in this luxury space for their shopping convenience. We are just so excited and ask that everyone supports us to stay at Neiman Marcus for the foreseeable future.”
Yangu Beauty, a beauty line developed by women of color for women of color and those with sensitive skin, came about organically. Sipho says her sensitive skin would react to other skin care products because of their harsh chemicals, so she resorted back to using the oils she used while she was younger and growing up in rural Zimbabwe. After seeing success and introducing the oils to her daughters, she realized there could be a greater need within the beauty community.
“I realized I really need to solve this problem for myself,” Sipho asys. “And then I started thinking maybe I should try to see if people would be interested.”
After years of working with a cosmetic chemist, coming up with products and creating a brand, Sipho decided to take Yangu Beauty to an exposition for beauty products. In 2019, she headed to New York for the Indie Beauty Awards. While she says she had a little booth in the back, three of the Yangu Beauty products were chosen for best in show. After following up by attending the finals in Los Angeles, Sipho connected with a Neiman Marcus buyer, which eventually led the Dallas-based department store to pick up seven of her products.
Now Sipho is hoping to continue growing her brand and finding new retailers to partner with, all from Southlake.