Wende Zomnir revolutionized makeup with Urban Decay. She's not done building her empire.

Wende Zomnir is a beauty legend. In the 1990s, she cofounded Urban Decay. Now, she's growing her cosmetics empire with a new venture called Caliray.

From the moment Wende Zomnir answers my call, it's like I can feel rays of California sun beaming through the phone.

While I'm settled in a New Jersey suburb, she's enjoying Newport Beach, California. It's where the beauty mogul runs her latest cosmetics venture out of a Zomnir-described "surf shack" that sits in front of the ocean.

Natural light filters through every window, and a mix of beauty products, succulents, and driftwood decorates seafoam-green shelves beyond the rainbow-painted entryway.

"I was just lifting in my garage gym before this interview," she told me. "You can see the beach from here."

If you're unfamiliar with Zomnir's name, you're certainly acquainted with her work. She cofounded Urban Decay in 1996 and created the brand's most iconic products. Remember the beloved Naked eyeshadow palette? Yeah, it was her idea.

She led the brand to reach $1 billion in annual sales and sold the company to L'Oréal in 2012. Less than a decade later, Zomnir launched a sustainability-focused beauty venture called Caliray.

But she's not starting over. Zomnir is simply expanding on something she's been doing for years.

"I tried making eyeshadow compacts out of corn plastic 15 years ago. And Urban Decay was the first brand to have all recycled paper cartons," she told BI. "So it's not like Caliray's wellness and sustainability is a 180 departure from Urban Decay. It wasn't part of the brand's messaging, but it was always part of my personal vision."

'Makeup is in my blood'

Zomnir grew up in Texas, where blush was bold, and hair was sky-high.

Her beauty memories start early. She recalls sneaking into her mom's bathroom, the smell of her makeup drawer, and the eyeshadow brush that seemed like the "biggest, fluffiest in the world."

Zomnir has also never forgotten the massive Calvin Klein makeup kit her mom gifted her around age 13.

"It was probably the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten, other than this giant diamond ring my husband bought me a few years ago," she added with a laugh.

Despite her innate love for makeup — and a college job selling Elizabeth Arden skincare at a department store — Zomnir didn't envision a career in beauty.

"My customers were all in their 70s and 80s, and the women I worked with were in their 50s and 60s," she said. "They were amazing, like moms to me, but that had been their career. They'd talk to me about progressing mine, and I would think: 'Oh no no, I'm not doing this.'"

Zomnir went into advertising, working an internship at Leo Burnett Worldwide that turned into a job working on cosmetic advertising accounts. Her career took her to California in the mid-'90s, where her life changed forever.

Zomnir's friend was engaged to a man who worked as an asset manager for Sandy Lerner, the cofounder of Cisco Systems. When Lerner told him she'd set her sights on makeup and wanted to create a brand, he called Zomnir and asked if she'd like to meet with the tech entrepreneur.

"I was thinking, 'How can we possibly break this giant beauty industry?' She looked at me and said: 'Well, I broke tech. Why can't we break beauty?'" Zomnir recalled. "So I quit my job and jumped in. Sandy and I started Urban Decay."

No regrets; just makeup

Urban Decay is famously known as one of the first indie beauty brands to make it big. At its peak, Zomnir said the company was selling at least one Naked palette every few seconds and had gone global, largely thanks to help from L'Oréal.

Zomnir left in 2022, a decision she made when she felt Urban Decay needed a "fresh perspective," she told Beauty Independent, and a chance to fully acclimate to L'Oréal's branding. The founder told BI she's at peace with the brand now being out of her control.

"Are you ever going to completely align with someone else's creative vision for your brand? Nope. You're not," she said, pointing to the brand's Moon Dust eyeshadows as an example.

"I don't love the new package they put them in, but it's the same formula," Zomnir said of the powder products, now encased in see-through acrylic squares rather than small, silver spheres.

"But I get a lot of satisfaction from the fact that many of the things I created are still the top sellers and top of the industry," she added. "Moon Dust shadows, the Naked palettes, the 24/7 pencils — all of those are things I cooked up."

She's still close with many people who brought the brand to the top with her. Zomnir said she attended a "mini-reunion" with ex-Urban Decay employees at the Caliray office the night before our call. Attendees included L'Oréal group president Carol Hamilton, beauty veteran Tara Simon, and, in true Urban Decay fashion, lots of pets.

"This is very emotional and top of mind for me," Zomnir said, reflecting on her past role. "While I was there, I'd look around and see a couple hundred people spread across a few buildings, all working toward a really unique and amazing mission."

Starting fresh with Caliray

Conceptualizing a new makeup brand with a California aesthetic was a no-brainer for Zomnir.

While on the road promoting Urban Decay, she noticed that people asked her the same questions: What's California like? Does she surf and do yoga? Does she eat kale for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Then Zomnir took a surfing trip with her family and noticed a surplus of plastic trash across the island.

Sustainability was always important to her. She introduced a biodynamic garden to the Urban Decay office so that employees could harvest their meals and ensured that eco-friendly materials like cork and bamboo were used throughout its office furniture and supplies.

But she knew she could make even bigger changes.

"I thought about all the Naked palettes that are probably in landfills right now, and I was like, 'We have to do a better job,'" she said.

So, she officially launched Caliray in 2021. Its makeup, made with skin-friendly ingredients, is meant to be effortlessly applied. Its packaging, however, utilizes recycled plastic, sugarcane barrels, algae and vegetable ink, and other eco-friendly components.

"What we're trying to do is get the most recycled plastic we can into everything," Zomnir said. "We're trying to use glass and not coat it with materials that render it unrecyclable."

Those shiny, plastic lipstick tubes that look like metal? They're a no-go for Caliray.

"They're beautiful, but it takes a highly toxic process that really pollutes the air environment to make them," she said. "We're trying to be cognizant, not only of the materials we use but how we treat those materials."

A Caliray press representative cites the brand's Come Hell or High Water mascara as its most popular product. It's followed by its So Blown primer, which the brand says has sold out seven times at Sephora.

Both products are also extremely popular on TikTok. Caliray's mascara first went viral in 2022 and is still regularly discussed on the platform today.

The representative also said Caliray is expected to reach $18 million in sales this year and was named one of the most innovative brands by Fast Company in March. BI couldn't independently confirm that estimate.

Doing things the Zomnir way

Zomnir's Caliray surf shack doesn't run like a typical office.

"Deliveries come, and we all basically get up out of our chairs and haul boxes into the product closet," Zomnir said. "It's scrappy, but it's fun. I love having my hands dirty and understanding every little aspect of the business."

Starting a new venture is difficult, even for a beauty veteran. The days of beauty consumers being loyal to one specific brand are long gone.

"There's not even loyalty to favorite products anymore, which is OK. That's the customer's choice," Zomnir said. "But as a brand, it's your job to make products so good, and the packaging and the branding so compelling, that even if they stray, they do come back to you."

That's why she's stuck with her tried-and-true business method: starting from the bottom and naturally working her way up.

"You can throw $20 million at something, get it launched, drive the awareness, and make it successful," she said. "But I do think there's something to be said for starting really, really granular. I started with almost no employees."

And in doing so, Zomnir can finally take a step back and enjoy everything she's created — so far, of course.

"I just graduated my youngest child from high school, so I really want to take the time he's out of the house to experience more and spend some more time with friends. And to be super honest, to keep myself from crying every day," she said.

She's also booked a ticket for a vacation with friends and is slowly but surely passing on some of her workload to Caliray colleagues.

"Hopefully, I can be an even better visionary for them now that I'm able to take my hands off the reins," she said.