Alisha Saint-Ciel
The Enterprise, Brockton, Mass.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Bella Cosmetics currently offers lip gloss and lashes. In the future, founder Isabel Gomes plans to introduce eye shadow pallets, lipsticks and other glam products.
Brockton
Isabel Gomes, 24, started her makeup journey as a 10-year-old girl on the island of Fogo, Cape Verde, playing with her grandmother’s clothes and cosmetics. Then, Gomes turned her childhood passion into a business, Bella Cosmetics.
“It’s so much more than just makeup or putting makeup on. It’s about how it makes you feel. It gives you more confidence. It makes you feel beautiful, and for me, it’s therapy,” Gomes said.
When Gomes is upset, dressing nice and doing her makeup is the go-to and makes her feel grounded and whole again. For several years Gomes was fascinated with makeup artistry and decided in 2020 to work on her newfound business.
“Women should feel beautiful with and without makeup. I see makeup as the icing on the cake. I want my brand to make you feel confident, beautiful when you’re wearing it but also remember it’s just the icing on the cake,” Gomes said.
As a single mother working a full-time job in Brockton and running a business on the side, Gomes struggles, but she continues to persevere despite these obstacles. She is able to channel strength from her son to keep going no matter how tired she is, she said.
“Being a mom made me realize how strong and independent I can be. It also made me find myself, and whenever it gets hard, my son keeps me going. So I’m working hard not only for me but for my son’s future,” Gomes said.
Gomes wants to inspire women worldwide with her beauty brand to be the best version of themselves every day and try new things. Every day Gomes is researching ways to improve her brand and creating content for the Instagram page @The.Bellacosmetics.
Bella Cosmetics currently offers lip gloss and lashes. In the future, the brand plans to introduce eye shadow pallets, lipsticks and other glam products.
The young entrepreneur describes herself as someone who was never a risk-taker. Before opening up the business, Gomes was a little shy and kept to herself.
“I’ve always been scared to push myself to my full potential, but I’ve realized that we really can do anything we put our minds to. We are so much stronger than we give ourselves credit. So go for it,” Gomes said.
With this positive mindset, Gomes pursued modeling, which gave her a boost of confidence. In addition, her experience in the fashion industry helped her run her business more effectively, she said.
“If you have a dream or are passionate about something, you want to start something, especially a business, go for it and work hard!” Gomes said.
The end goal for Bella Cosmetics is to become a household name in the beauty industry and especially in Cape Verde.
Gomes came to Brockton from Cape Verde in 2010 at 13 years old and graduated from Brockton High School in 2015. Coming from a migrant background, Gomes wants to show her parents that their sacrifices coming to America weren’t in vain.
“It means the world to me owning a Cape Verdean-owned business. I’m here building something that will, later on, become something big, and it means so much to me. I love my people and my culture, and I’m proud of myself,” Gomes said.
“The feeling of being self-made feels amazing because I can finally say I found my purpose, and it feels right. I’ve dreamt of this for so long,” Gomes said.
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