When you’re searching for something in particular you often discover something greater, and for mom-on-the-go Adiya Dixon Wiggins, her discovery/invention landed her on TIME’s “50 Best Inventions of 2018” list.
PHOTO: Love Yubi
“As a practicing attorney and mother of two, my mornings were, put mildly, frantic. It seemed no matter how early I woke up I was always time crunched. Instead of starting my mornings with a yoga class or quiet cup of coffee, I usually started them by answering emails, dishing out bowls of cereal and searching desperately for everyone’s shoes. Mine included. Racing out the door to make it to work on time, I’d give a longing glance to my bathroom vanity. I just didn’t have time for beauty,” Wiggins said on her company’s website.
Dixon Wiggons tried to find a shortcut for her beauty routine in terms of tools, because sifting through brushes was a hassle and using her fingers was not cutting it. After an exhausting and disappointing search, her husband asked her why she didn’t just create what she wanted. With that push and several prototypes later, her Yubi Beauty applicator was born!
PHOTO: TIME
“I named Yubi the way I named my other babies! I had a list of names I kicked around, but it wasn’t until I saw Yubi in real life that I knew exactly the name it needed. I knew I wanted a Japanese name for this product. Having spent many years studying Japanese language and culture in college and while living in Tokyo, Japan still feels very much like my second home. Yubi is Japanese for finger, the perfect name for a brush designed to be an extension of your hand. And, importantly, it’s a cute word that everyone can pronounce. I also dare anyone to say ‘Yubi’ and frown. It is impossible.”
So what exactly is the Yubi Beauty Applicator? It’s a makeup tool that easily slides on the user’s fingers and it can be easily switch between the "buff brush" and the "blend sponge." Not only can it be used to apply different facial products including moisturizer, foundation, concealer, highlighter, etc., it is also easy to store and travel with.
“When it came time to decide whether to actually launch this company I was mildly terrified. Yubi was born out of necessity, but running a company was not what I was ‘supposed to do.’ Still, I had the desire to take Yubi and make it into something beautiful, to bring joy to people through it. To do that, I would have to challenge the status quo and go all in. Hit pause on the law career I had spent a third of my life building, and effectively start all over. I pondered these things in quiet moments (usually in my car, while applying my makeup) and with my family. And after much thought it was clear that this path – where I get to connect with people in rich conversations about beauty, spend my days focused on supporting creativity and self-love and demonstrate to my own kids the value of living authentically – was the one I was being called to take, and I feel very blessed for it.”
Being as Wiggins just launched Yubi Beauty earlier this year and has been recognized as one of TIME’s best inventions of 2018, she and her company are living proof that when you are meant to do something it manifests in amazing ways.
To learn more about Yubi Beauty, click here.
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