This article was written by a student writer from Emerson’s campus chapter.
Women tend to be concerned about the natural progression of aging from a young age. From anti-aging messages in skin care products to a recent trend of 10-year-old girls collecting Sephora’s Drunk Elephant serum, women are being shown to fight fine lines and wrinkles.
Elena Frankel and Carolyn Barber founded Flyte.70, an age-positive beauty brand and brick-and-mortar business, last year on 9 It opened in Wellesley, Massachusetts in May. Their makeup line is created to bring color and shine back to women’s faces. These products are named after favorite 80s and 90s songs by bands and artists such as Nirvana and David Bowie to remind women over 50 of a time when they felt beautiful. It is being
Flyte.70 is named after the year Frankel and Barber were born in 1970. Its packaging depicts an aerial view of land to represent the beauty as well as the importance of seeing a place from a different perspective.
The two first met in the 1990s while working at the beauty counter at Saks Fifth Avenue in Boston. They developed the first store E6 Apothecary, and from 1998 he sold an independent beauty brand until 2006.
Sephora’s first U.S. store also opened in New York City in 1998, but Frankel and Barber saw smaller beauty businesses hurt by the rise in popularity of Sephora and other big beauty companies. He said that Due to rising rent costs and raising children, he decided to close the store.
“Over the years, we have reorganized and [could] We want to contribute to the beauty industry in a more meaningful way,” Frankel said in an interview at the store. “And that’s when we started talking about creating our own brand since makeup is our first love.”
Their store in Wellesley is a bright, airy space with carefully selected counters and shelving. Products are not lined up in a row like in a department store. They want to avoid overwhelming customers with too many options.
On two walls, a collage of makeup, old beauty models, music artists, and other inspirations is taped in bright orange to encompass Frankel and Barber’s vision for the brand.
The company’s Flyte.70 line includes products for lips, eyes, cheeks, and face. Frankel said fine lines and wrinkles are a natural phenomenon of aging, so he doesn’t aim to fight them. The focus is not on bringing back color and shine to a woman’s skin.
“As an adult, there are two things you can instantly add back to your skin for very little money: blush, sheer lipstick, or highlighter,” Frankel says. “It’s very easy to put these two things back together and still look very fresh and modern.”
Flyte.70 also carries brands such as Australian-founded hair care company Rōz and New Zealand skin care company Jeureora. Frankel and Barber carefully research and scrutinize their products, sometimes letting customers try them out before placing large orders, and carefully decide what to carry. The store does not introduce brands that overshadow other brands.
“They’re all emerging brands,” Frankel said. “They have to be vegan, they have to do animal testing. They all have to have sustainable efforts.”
Frankel and Barber said that sometimes as we get older, we get into a routine and life can start to feel monotonous. This also applies to beauty. So, through their Instagram Reels, they offer makeup tips and encourage women to try new looks.
“If you want to wear a bold, hot fuchsia lip even when you’re 45 or 50, you should do it. It’s not something women are constantly told to tamper with,” Frankel says. I did. “Age positivity means seriously accepting where you are, no matter where you are in life.”
Barber said she and Frankel are creating the store to create a safe space for women to find cosmetics and feel confident in the low-pressure climate.
“I think we motivate a lot of women,” Barber said. “I think it’s just an affirmation that it’s okay to get older, and it’s okay to have some wrinkles.”
Marian Abraham, 67, discovered the Flyte.70 when she went to a nearby hair appointment. She said Barber greeted her and helped her with a personalized, stress-free and informative shopping experience.
“Carolyn said they include age.” I hadn’t heard much about it, so… [as women, we are] “We are conditioned to look as young as possible,” she said. “I appreciated the studio’s foresight and generosity in being age-inclusive and embracing wrinkles. That was something I wasn’t used to in today’s makeup world.”
She then brought her 21-year-old daughter, Lauren Abraham, to the store. Lauren said she doesn’t usually wear makeup, but she was looking for a simple look for going out.
“I just walked into the house and my mom introduced me. She was like, ‘Hey, this is my daughter.’ She doesn’t have much experience with makeup. While this is true, “she’s interested in trying some things,” Lauren Abraham said. “I was a little nervous, but they were so friendly that I didn’t feel like a salesperson. In fact, they seemed like they wanted to help me. The energy was just so personal and warm. .”
Frankel and Barber said they strive to make beauty shopping comfortable and empowering for all ages.
“For Carolyn and I, positive beauty means accepting your life, no matter where you are or what stage you are in life,” Frankel said.
