A Leadership Shift That Redefines Live Tinted’s Next Chapter
Live Tinted’s appointment of Sherry Jhawar as CEO is a leadership move that aims to scale the hybrid beauty brand’s inclusive makeup-skincare model while freeing founder Deepica Mutyala to focus on long-term vision, community, and innovation at a crucial growth stage. Mutyala remains founder and visionary on the board, while co-founder and COO Neilesh Mutyala continues to run operations, creating a structure that separates creative direction from day-to-day management. This shift follows a period of strong momentum: the company says its Hueguard Skin Tint SPF 50 now sells every two minutes and that it sold more than one million products across its portfolio in 2025. With distribution through retailers such as Target, Ulta Beauty, Cult Beauty, and Amazon, Live Tinted is moving from social-media-born favorite to established player that now needs seasoned beauty brand leadership to grow responsibly.
From BeautyBio to Live Tinted CEO: Why Sherry Jhawar Matters
Sherry Jhawar steps into the Live Tinted CEO role with a background that blends big-beauty training and entrepreneurial scale-up experience. She began at L’Oréal, then joined the founding team at EOS as head of marketing and innovation for nearly eight years, before advising and investing in emerging consumer brands and co-founding Blended Strategy Group. More recently, she served as President of BeautyBio, giving her hands-on experience with prestige tools and devices that could inform future extensions of Live Tinted’s Huestick and Hueguard lines. Jhawar has already been close to the business as an adviser and board member, describing her promotion as a “full circle moment” in a LinkedIn post. That continuity lowers transition risk: she understands the community, product pipeline, and investor expectations, which should help her move quickly on expansion plans for the hybrid beauty brand.
Investor Confidence: L’Oréal BOLD and Unilever Ventures Back a Hybrid Vision
The Live Tinted CEO change lands soon after a fresh funding round that underlines investor belief in the hybrid beauty brand model. Earlier this year, Curate Capital led an investment with participation from L’Oréal’s BOLD fund, Unilever Ventures, and existing backers including Monogram Capital. According to the company, this raise valued Live Tinted at more than double its 2023 Series A valuation and marked the first joint investment by BOLD and Unilever Ventures in a US-based beauty brand. The brand is also Unilever Ventures backed from earlier stages, alongside early supporters such as Bobbi Brown, Toni Ko, and Hayley Barna. This level of backing gives Jhawar access to capital, networks, and category insights while still allowing Live Tinted to run independently. It also signals that strategic investors see long-term potential in inclusive, skin-first hybrid products that blur the line between makeup and skincare.
Scaling Huestick and Hueguard Under a Hybrid Beauty Playbook
Live Tinted’s next growth stage will likely revolve around sharpening its hybrid positioning and expanding hero ranges such as Huestick and Hueguard. Jhawar’s track record with prestige tools and devices at BeautyBio suggests potential for more multi-use, treatment-meets-color formats that fit the brand’s skin-first DNA. While details of upcoming launches are under wraps, the momentum is clear: the company reports that Hueguard Skin Tint SPF 50 sells every two minutes, and that Live Tinted has passed one million products sold across its portfolio. With distribution at mass and specialty retailers plus digital channels, Jhawar can test innovation across price points and formats. Expect a focus on complexion-perfecting textures, intentional shade ranges, and products that address coverage, care, and protection in a single step—keeping the hybrid beauty brand proposition central as the assortment widens.
Founder–Operator Split and the Future of Beauty Brand Leadership
The new structure, with Deepica Mutyala as founder and visionary and Sherry Jhawar as Live Tinted CEO, mirrors a broader shift across beauty brand leadership. Many founder-led labels are bringing in operational specialists to manage scale, retail expansion, and investor relations while the founder doubles down on storytelling, product ideation, and community. Mutyala has said her goal is to build Live Tinted into a legacy brand and that she wants to focus on her “superpowers” of vision, mission, and innovation. In parallel, Jhawar will concentrate on scaling impact and reach alongside Deepica and Neilesh Mutyala. For a hybrid beauty brand rooted in inclusivity, this split aims to protect the original community-first ethos while adding the discipline needed to grow into a long-term, global player without diluting its message that “it feels good to be seen.”
