Balanda Atis (born 1972 or 1973) is an American cosmetic chemist. An employee of

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, sk ...

since 1999, her work expanding the company's range of

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

marketed to

women of color The term "person of color" (plural, : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "White people, white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily a ...

has been covered by fashion publications such as ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'' and ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

''.

Early life and education

A first-generation

Haitian American Haitian Americans (french: Haïtiens-Américains; ht, ayisyen ameriken) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest proportion of Haitians in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area ...

, Atis grew up in

East Orange East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

, New Jersey. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

and a master of science from

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

's cosmetic science program.

Career

As a chemist at the company

Playtex Products Playtex is an American brand name for undergarments, baby products, gloves, feminine hygiene products, and sunscreen. The brand began in 1947 when International Latex Corporation (ILC) created a division named Playtex to produce and sell latex p ...

, Atis worked on various brands of

personal care Personal care or toiletries are consumer products used in personal hygiene, personal grooming or for beautification. Products Personal care includes products as diverse as cleansing pads, colognes, cotton swabs, cotton pads, deodorant, eye lin ...

products including Banana Boat, Jhirmack, Ogilvie, and Tan Express. When she joined

USA in 1999, she first worked on

mascara Mascara is a cosmetic commonly used to enhance the upper and lower eyelashes. It is used to darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, powder, or cream—the modern mascara product has vario ...

formulations. Not satisfied with existing makeup for dark-skinned women, in 2007, she started a side project at her job with the permission of the head of the company's makeup division. Atis and two other L'Oréal scientists went to shows hosted by the company across the United States and collected skin color measurements from women of color. Through her research at the company, she discovered that

ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...

could be utilized in

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

s to create rich and deeper shades while avoiding the muddy finish common in existing products for dark skin tones. Atis was made manager of a laboratory opened by the company in 2014 dedicated to developing cosmetics for a range of skin tones. She also developed the foundation that actress

Lupita Nyong'o Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (, ; ; born 1 March 1983) is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Lupita Nyong'o, several accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, and nominations for ...

wore in ads for L'Oréal's

Lancôme Lancôme () is a French luxury perfumes and cosmetics house that distributes products internationally. Lancôme is part of the L'Oréal Luxury Products division, which is its parent company and offers luxury skin care, fragrances, and makeup at ...

promotional campaign starting that year. In October 2020, ''

'' magazine named Atis one of "10 Black women making history" and identified her as the "driving force" behind the expanding range of makeup shades—to accommodate all Black skin colors—in brands like

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

Maybelline Maybelline New York (formerly The Maybelline Company and Mabelline and Co.), trading as Maybelline ( ), is an American multinational cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company, based in New York City. It was founded in Chicago ...

, and

Urban Decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atis, Balanda 1970s births Living people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American chemists African-American chemists African-American women scientists American people of Haitian descent American women chemists Cosmetics people L'Oréal people Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni Rutgers University alumni People from East Orange, New Jersey 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century African-American scientists