The beauty line includes an eye-shadow palette and a fun, flavored lip gloss called Mutton Grease. Photograph by Inga Hendrickson.
SHUNDINE SUAZO HAD BEEN OPERATING A FRYBREAD STAND on Taos Pueblo for four years when inspiration struck: “Wouldn’t it be cool to have an eye-shadow palette that represented a frybread stand?” Suazo asked her sister DeAnna. She spent six months researching ingredients and finding a manufacturer in the U.S. before releasing her first pressed eye-shadow palette in summer 2020.
“I wanted something super authentic to myself that showed unique colors you wouldn’t see in an everyday eye-shadow palette,” she says. “I wanted it to have a connection to Indigenous people who love to wear makeup and express themselves.”
Taking after innovators like Native-owned Cheekbone Beauty, in Canada, Frybread Cosmetics is part of a movement toward more Indigenous representation in the beauty industry. Suazo’s first eye-shadow palette pays homage to Indigenous culinary traditions with colors named after regional ingredients, including a soft periwinkle (Blue Bird Flour), a terra-cotta orange (Indian Tea), a deep brown (Mutton), and Suazo’s favorite, glittery pink (Watermelon).
Frybread Cosmetics’ beauty lineup includes a color-changing lip gloss, and another, called Mutton Grease, that comes in fun flavors. Suazo’s mission is more than skin-deep, however. She recently spoke via Zoom with Taos-area schoolkids about entrepreneurship. “I want them to know that if they’re passionate about something, they can go out and do it.”
Purchase Shundine Suazo’s eye-shadow palette, lip gloss, and merchandise at Shundine's Fry Bread Stand. Follow her on Instagram @shundinesfrybreadstand.
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