BEAUTY QUEEN

How Kristen Noel Crawley built an inclusive beauty empire.

WORDS BY ALLISON DUNCAN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATRINA WITTKAMP

STYLING BY YAEL QUINT & THERESA DEMARIA

MAKEUP BY TROYE ANTONIO

HAIR BY JUSTIN REVENGE

Trendsetter Kristen Noel Crawley has always had her eye on the latest beauty trends and, in her early 20s, the North Shore-based maven started sharing her favorite finds on social media. Crawley slowly began to garner a loyal following on Instagram—today nearly 500,000 strong—and later caught the attention of ELLE magazine, which offered Crawley her own monthly beauty column to explore new products, techniques, and self-care rituals.

Her columns covered topics ranging from a photo diary of a trip to Cannes, a review of La Prairie’s $1,200 serum (spoiler alert: it’s worth the price) to a how-to on preventing stretch marks during pregnancy—all written in the name of beauty.

“I’ve always loved beauty,” says Crawley. “I remember experimenting with my mother’s makeup as a kid and, later, overplucking my eyebrows in the ‘90s. ELLE let me experiment and get my foot in the door within the beauty industry.”

In 2016, Crawley pushed that proverbial door wide open with her launch of KNC Beauty, an all-natural brand with a mission to keep you “naturally and effortlessly fresh.” She’d been inspired after a trip to Tokyo where, while wandering through cult-favorite discount store Don Quijote, a wall of lip masks caught her eye.

“I’d been suffering all winter in Chicago with dry, cracked lips,” explains Crawley. “Nothing seemed to work. I loved the idea of a lip mask but hated the plethora of toxic ingredients. When I got home, I searched for a natural alternative, and there wasn’t one. That’s when I decided to start my own brand.”

The first product in KNC Beauty’s portfolio? The Lip

Mask, which uses moisturizing plant extracts to protect lips from the elements. With plumping collagen and soothing rose flower oil, vitamin E, and bitter cherry extract, the mask yields soft, smooth, and plump lips. It took off and is sold at retailers ranging from Sephora and Moda Operandi to Revolve and Nordstrom.

The brand now counts celebrities like Bella Hadid, Emma Stone, and Kim Kardashian as fans, has partnered with big-name brands like Champion and A Bathing Ape, and even won a coveted Allure Best of Beauty Award.

Today, the multi-million-dollar skincare brand has products not just for lips but also for the eyes and face. Think retinol- and aloe-infused eye masks that depuff, illuminate, and reduce redness, and bio-cellulose face masks designed to hydrate, brighten, and soothe. The Lip Mask line has expanded to include a lip balm and scrub that promises to exfoliate, prime, and prep your pout.

“I really love the three-step system, which includes the lip scrub, lip mask, and the lip balm,” says Crawley. “These three products will save your lips in the wintertime and will give you a perfectly kissable and soft pout, no matter what. They have amazing ingredients and a high-end formulation that consists of shea butter, kukui oil, and moringa oil—your lips will love it.”

Crawley’s other product picks include Kim Kardashian’s SKKN product line; U Beauty; Joanna Czech; iS Clinical (for cleansers and moisturizers, specifically!); La Mer for eye cream; and Naturium’s multi-oil and body cleanser.

“As a mom of three, beauty has to be simple, uncomplicated, and effective,” says Crawley. “That is the essence of KNC Beauty and of so many other brands that I love, trust, and use on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to do all the things that I once was able to do. So, when I’m doing my skincare routine or my at-home facials, I have to really be able to see the difference.”

For the last few months, Crawley has been on maternity leave following the birth of her daughter Aya in the fall of 2022. But, in the meantime, she’s been working on a few new products that she “can’t wait to share with everyone.” They will debut this year.

She’s also been hard at work paying it forward. During her maternity leave, Crawley launched a partnership with Huggies aimed at addressing diaper insecurity in the United States. One in three U.S. families struggles to provide diapers for their children and often resort to using t-shirts as makeshift diapers. To help new parents “Take Back the T-Shirt,” she designed three t-shirts with Huggies with 100 percent of the proceeds donated to the National Diaper Bank Network.

A longer-term initiative began for Crawley after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020. Crawley says she felt “helpless” watching the protests across the country during the COVID-19 lockdown. “Other people were putting their lives on the line to make a change,” she says. “I wanted to find a way to do my part and help women like me.”

That’s how the KNC School of Beauty was created. It’s a free mentoring program that highlights Black- and person-of-color-founded beauty brands to address inequity within the beauty industry.

Crawley—along with advisors Alice Lin Glover and Marie Kouadio Amouzame of EADEM; Bridgette Howard of Parlor West Ventures; Latoia Fitzgerald of Lionne Clothing; and Sami Miro of Sami Miro Vintage—works with the founders on everything from how to launch a brand and file for a trademark to how to lead an investment round and create a business plan.

Every session, KNC Beauty and its partner Revlon give away a $10,000 small business grant. So far, they’ve given away more than $40,000.

“When I launched KNC Beauty, I was one of the only founders of a Black-owned company that was sitting on luxury shelf space,” explains Crawley. “And now, with programs like the Fifteen Percent Pledge, more retailers are dedicating their resources—and shelf space—to promoting and elevating Black and POC-owned brands.”

In terms of what’s next for the beauty industry, Crawley expects to see increased technological advances, more inclusion and diversity, and skincare products aimed at generating excitement and interest in younger generations.

“KNC Beauty has taken me places that I never imagined I could go—from the pages of Vogue magazine to headlining ComplexCon—and we’re just getting started,” says Crawley. “I’m really thankful for all the experiences that I’ve had.”

For more information, visit kncbeauty.com.

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