Photo courtesy of Jazii Kelly
Jazii Kelly - Founder and CEO of Spil Kosmetics
Jazii Kelly, founder and CEO of SPIL Kosmetics, poses for a portrait to promote her beauty brand.
Jazii Kelly’s love for makeup started when she was 14, long before SPIL Kosmetics became a growing Black-owned beauty brand.
Kelly, a Milwaukee native and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater junior, said she first got interested in makeup as a young teenager and once tried selling homemade beauty products as a child. She said the idea did not go far at the time, but the experience stayed with her.
“I was already into makeup,” Kelly said. “So I’ve been dipping and dabbing in makeup since I was like 14 years old.”
Years later, she decided to return to the idea with more focus and professionalism, launching SPIL Kosmetics with lip gloss as the brand’s core product.
Finding the name
Photo courtesy of Jazii Kelly
SPIL Kosmetics - clear lip glosses
A display features the "Ice Water" and "Subzero" lip glosses from the SPIL Kosmetics line by local entrepreneur Jazii Kelly.
The brand name carries a simple meaning. Kelly said “Spil” is “lips” spelled backward, and she changed the “C” in cosmetics to a “K” for legal reasons.
She said the name is meant to be memorable without overcomplicating the brand’s identity. For Kelly, the label reflects both creativity and purpose.
Learning entrepreneurship
Kelly said one of the biggest lessons she has learned as a small business owner is how people behave once money and business are involved.
“I didn’t expect how people act sometimes,” she said. “A lot of people want deals, want discounts, or can be unprofessional when it comes to your business.”
She said that has taught her to separate personal relationships from business relationships and stay professional, even when customers or people close to her are difficult.
That reality has also shaped how she manages customer service. Kelly said customers can reach her directly, and she offers local pickup sometimes to make the brand feel more personal.
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Making the gloss
Photo courtesy of Jazii Kelly
SPIL Kosmetics - tinted lip gloss shades
The SPIL Kosmetics line showcases three of its signature tinted lip shades: "Fortune Cookie," "Pink Paradise" and "Coffee Cake."
Kelly does not manufacture the gloss herself, but she stays involved in creating each shade. She works with a manufacturer and helps shape the final product through sample reviews and color decisions.
“We’ll mix ingredients to create it,” she said. “We usually go through about five different samples, and then I pick the one I like best.”
That process has helped her build a product line with distinct shades. Her collection includes Pink Paradise, a bright Barbie pink; Fortune Cookie, a clear gloss with a light pink tint; and Coffee Cake, a chocolate brown shade often worn as a liner or with another gloss on top.
Customer response
The brand’s customer feedback has helped Kelly measure what is working. She said many buyers tell her they are proud of her and like how the gloss fits different skin tones.
Customers also said the formula itself stands out. Alaynah McClain, a Milwaukee student at Marquette University, said the glosses “go on very smooth” and have “the perfect amount of pigmentation.”
IvyRose Boynes, a Milwaukee native and UW-Whitewater student, said the formula felt “lightweight, moisturizing and comfortable,” and “never felt heavy or sticky.” She said Coffee Cake was her favorite shade because it works well for everyday wear.
Angela Dale, also from Milwaukee and UW-Whitewater, said Fortune Cookie is “the perfect light shade of pink” and gives a “glossy yet natural finish.”
For Kelly, that response matters because it shows the brand is doing more than selling color. It is building trust.
Growing the brand
Kelly said SPIL Kosmetics has sold at least 2,500 tubes and is continuing to grow through reinvestment and word of mouth. She said she is not rushing the process and wants the brand to expand in a steady, realistic way.
“I just want to expand my color range and eventually branch into other products like eyeshadow or eyeliner,” she said.
For now, she said her goal is simple: keep selling out drops, keep building her audience and keep growing a brand that started with a childhood interest and a lot of determination.
