On any given day, news of unforeseen acquisitions, celebrity collaborations, executive moves, product launches and insider controversies will rattle the beauty-sphere, while the online masses — predictably — fuel the fire with questions and opinions of their own.
The latest buzz is a tale of two TikTokers who go by the name of Lipstick Lesbians, and their latest business endeavor, Leaked Labs. Here, everything to know about Alexis Androulakis and Dr. Christina Basias Androulakis and the current conversation surrounding their divisive brand.
Who are the Lipstick Lesbians?
Alexis Androulakis and Dr. Christina Basias Androulakis are the wife-and-wife creator duo known as the Lipstick Lesbians. With over 1.2 million followers on TikTok and 556,000 on Instagram, the couple first shot to stardom in 2022 when Basias Androulakis, who has a PhD in education technology, began filming Androulakis, a former product developer, discussing the ins and outs of beauty formulation and packaging.
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“We started to identify gaps in the industry from both of our vantage points: mine from the education side and Alexis’ from the product development side,” Basias Androulakis previously told WWD. “We would go into stores and we would document our experience in the stores, and I would document Alexis’ high level product development knowledge, which was, at that time, never before seen on platform in that way.”
In February, Androulakis and Basias Androulakis decided to parlay their content into a consumer-facing business, with the launch of Leaked Labs, a brand that “leaks” free agent formulas from suppliers to collect consumer feedback and potentially relaunch or archive the products later. This marked their second cofounded brand, after Fempower Beauty, a self care line that was discontinued last year.
“Leaked Labs is for everyone who feels tired of sameness,” Basias Androulakis told WWD at the time, noting that products would be sourced from different suppliers. “For the first year, we’re focusing heavily on Italy. Then we will expand and continue again, listening to our feedback loop. I call each of these products ‘innovation orphans,’ and we’ll bring them to market.”
The first product, Leak001, arrived on March 6. Named Amplify Flexi Powder, the innovation, $34, was a water-activated pigment disc likened to lasagna. Offered in bronze, silver, pale blue and rose, the flexible powder sheets were engineered in a similar format to pasta-making, designed to tint the lips, eyes and cheeks. According to Basias Androulakis and Androulakis, the product was abandoned in an Italian lab for being “too conceptual.” Indeed, they were curious to see if consumers agreed.
What was the response?
Leaked Labs garnered widespread attention upon its launch, with the majority of the Lipstick Lesbians’ followers on TikTok and Instagram expressing excitement ahead of the first drop. Comments under the initial video announcement read: “Ladies, I am sat. These videos are so exciting,” “You better be shipping to the E.U.” and “YESSS! The world is not ready.”
However, enthusiasm quickly turned to skepticism as the rollout continued. Videos of the two women in the lab, swatching the Amplify Flexi Powder samples, raised questions such as, “What is the product exactly?” and “What are you proposing?”
On Reddit, users pondered the purpose of putting out products that were “pontentially unsafe” with absolutely no promise of a shelf-life. One individual wrote: “So, let me get this straight, they’ll release formulas that are considered unpopular or risky by big brands, so that we as consumers buy them and give them feedback about it? So we will be PAYING to do the market research for this companies while everyone else profits? Oh hell no.”
Another critic wrote: “I wonder personally how innovative these formulas will be. Without the fancy packaging and marketing will people be less impressed or do you think it will give more genuine feedback? I’d like to believe the latter but we’ve all seen how social media has changed, and I can imagine without a fancy campaign to back it up people will be less than impressed.”
What’s the latest?
In response to the confusion, criticism and concerns regarding hygiene, Basias Androulakis and Androulakis tapped a cosmetic chemist to go on the record that the formulas were properly tested. For those who perceived the brand to be nothing more than a means to profit off consumer feedback, Androulakis and Basias Androulakis posted an Instagram video on April 19 to re-explain the purpose.
“As we reintroduce Leaked Labs, we want to start by owning that we didn’t do a good enough job explaining what Leaked is,” the caption read. “So as we reset, we wanted to take a moment to do that together, and take you on the journey from how we started to where we are today.
“What always remained true is our mission: Leaked Labs is about getting beauty products sooner. A Leak is a finished, safety tested product that we release early without waiting for traditional retail timelines. This isn’t how everyone wants to shop beauty. It’s for those who want to experience what’s next, sooner. From there: If you love it, we keep making it. If you don’t, we archive it. Like Flexi,” the statement continued. “This isn’t about testing. It’s about a different point of access to beauty. This is just the beginning, and we’ll be breaking down more of Leaked Labs in the videos ahead.”
