Despite spending 77% more than the general population on cosmetics, Latinas are overlooked in beauty advertising. Only 34% of Latinas feel that the beauty industry embraces inclusivity.

At e.l.f., we stand for inclusivity and celebrating every eye, lip, and face. Knowing that Latinas are among our most passionate e.l.f. enthusiasts, we wanted to honor them in a big way.

We created an empowering anthem that celebrates our Latin audience.

But we needed to do it on their own terms and in their own language. So we partnered with Manuel Turizoto write an original song in Spanish celebrating Latin women, and the power of their “ojos. labios. cara.” (Spanish for “eyes. lips. face.”)

Our goal was to create a hit song with a message, and something that our talent is proud of.

We partnered with Manuel Turizo to write a song about the beautiful power that your eyes, lips and face can hold without saying a single word. We wanted to create an empowering anthem for our Latin audience, helping them feel seen and heard within the beauty industry.

We made a song because listening to music and applying makeup go hand in hand. Just look at the popularity of “Get Ready With Me” videos to understand what we mean. Just about every makeup look is created to the backdrop of banging beats. What better way to support every eye, lip and face than by meeting our audience where they are when they put on makeup.

It bears repeating that we weren’t after a branded jingle. We were after something deeper: we wanted to create a piece of art in the form of a hit single.

Manuel wrote “ojos. labios. cara.” (Spanish for “eyes. lips. face.”) based on a single insight: that your ojos, labios y cara communicate more than a thousand words ever could.

Latina women, who have perfected the art of using their features as a tool for self-expression, understand this truth better than anyone. After all, Latin makeup isn’t shy. The wingtips are anything but subtle. The bold lip is anything but quiet. And the powerful look is anything but minimalist. Bold looks have long been a loud political statement for Latina women in a society that would silence them.

We didn’t want a branded jingle—we wanted to authentically speak to the Latin community—and shine some long-overdue spotlight on the Latin diaspora. So we gave Manuel a relatively open brief. Our request was that he spoke from the heart and created an empowering anthem celebrating and honoring the Latin community.

Our commitment to authenticity paid off: “ojos. labios. cara.” became Manuel’s biggest solo hit of 2023, and earned a feature on Spotify’s “Hottest of the Week.” The song topped the charts on Pop Latin Hits, Top Latin Mix, Top Latin Bangerz, and Latino Vibes Mix. It even reached the top 1% of streamed tracks globally (the top 0.29% to be exact).

The music video earned over 14M views on YouTube alone, and performed 2.8x better than any e.l.f. video on the platform. But the effects were felt far beyond YouTube. The song had over 257M cross-platform views and plays in just the first month of its release.

It all goes to show that we were able to connect with the Latin community in the most authentic way. But above everything, we were able to make them feel seen and heard in the beauty space.