This Cherry Red Lipstick Could Save Your Life

Remember those times at a club or on a date when something just felt off? Now, picture having a panic button and roofie test strips conveniently hidden in your lip gloss. That’s exactly what Joy Hoover envisioned when she created Esōes Cosmetics — a brand on a mission to help women feel secure no matter where they are.

With over 12 years of experience in gender-based violence prevention, Hoover developed the world’s first tech-enabled lipstick designed to both protect and empower. Esōes’ signature lip gloss isn’t just makeup — it’s a sleek, discreet safety device loaded with personal protection features. Recently, Hoover was selected as one of just 20 recipients of the BOTOX® Cosmetic and IFundWomen Grant Program for female entrepreneurs. “We launched Esōes Cosmetics combining beauty, science, and technology to create the first lipstick that could save your life,” Hoover shares.

Ahead, she opens up about how Esōes is shaking up the beauty industry and redefining the conversation around personal safety.

What is the story behind Esōes? What is your own background, and how did you first get the company off the ground?

11 years ago, my mother-in-law’s final words were on a 911 phone call. After almost 40 years of inflicting violence, my father-in-law took the lives of my mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and his own life on April 10, 2013. 11 years ago, I was entering my third year as an entrepreneur working with sex trafficking and gender-based violence survivors. We were that 911 phone call for so many of our clients, and yet, we couldn't be that call for my mother-in-law. On April 10, 2013, I was also eight days into being a mom for the first time. Our world could have stopped that day. But instead, we chose to become the light. We built that social impact company to serve over 10,000 survivors. Then in 2021, we asked ourselves, “What could have possibly saved Marcia Hoover? What tools could have helped prevent the abuse of the 10,000+ clients we served?” After a global patent search, we found that the shocking answer was nothing. That's when we launched Esōes Cosmetics combining beauty, science, and technology to create the first lipstick that could save your life. And we launched the concept in our backyard with 75 respected community members on what would have been my mother-in-law’s 71st birthday. Since then, we have built a team of scientists, engineers, and software developers. We worked for over 20 months to develop the first tech enabled lipstick and customizable safety app and roofie test strips on the market. We’ve shipped to 45+ states. We’ve built a community of almost 100,000 individuals globally who have joined what we call our lipstick and safety revolution. And we’re just getting started!

What Esōes products do/should most every woman carry?

Our Esōes tech enabled lipstick connects with our safety app and has some revolutionary features. Our users can send their location, send customizable texts or phone calls, sound a loud alarm, and connect to a 24/7 representative that will stay on the phone until you’re feeling safe again or dispatch emergency services if needed, all by pressing the panic button on the bottom of their Esōes lipstick. This seamless integration adds convenience and ease of use, allowing our users to have peace of mind and enhance their personal safety, whether they’re walking or working alone, out on a date, actively in a relationship with an unsafe person, or feeling any sense of danger. We also carry roofie drink test strips that are accurate, highly versatile, and portable! These test strips fit seamlessly inside the diagnostic chamber of our Esōes lipstick, or they can be carried separately in individual packs. With just one dip, the technology detects the presence of commonly used date rape drugs in the greatest variety of liquids in just a few minutes. Our vegan and cruelty free lip colors are interchangeable and range in color from ‘No Means No’ cherry matte red to ‘It’s Not the Dress’ minimal peachy gloss. Also, at our customers request, we now carry eco-friendly, biodegradable cup covers which make it super simple to protect your drinks from being spiked!

What has been a particular moment of pride for you as a founder?

According to the World Economic Form, only 17% of inventors holding international patents were women in 2022, while 83% were men. I am so proud to be in that 17% and to hold a utility patent titled ‘Cosmetics with Safety Features.’ We are thrilled to own the safety cosmetics market and are passionate about revolutionizing personal safety so that everyone has the tools, resources, and community they need to feel safer everywhere they go! Another moment I’m incredibly proud of is being part of the 2024 BOTOX® Cosmetic and IFundWomen Grant Cohort because I truly believe this will be a massive catalyst in moving Esōes Cosmetics to the next level of success!

How did it feel when you were picked as a grant recipient for BOTOX® Cosmetic and IFundWomen grant program?

I’m still in shock that I was chosen as one of the 20 recipients out of almost 11,000 applicants! As female founders we get an unbelievable amount of no’s and it often feels like the odds are stacked against us. When I got on the call with the BOTOX® Cosmetic and IFundWomen team and they said, “This isn’t really a final interview call, you’ve actually been chosen & we just want you to know that we believe in you and we stand with you in your fight,” it was truly one of the most meaningful conversations of my career. When BOTOX® Cosmetic say they are working to close the confidence gap, I feel that in my bones because the confidence they’ve already instilled by choosing me as a grant recipient and the way they honored and elevated us in NYC last week means everything to me!

Where do you see the company growing in the next five years?

In the next five years our goal is to expand our product line into lip balm and other cosmetics that can keep both lipstick wearers and non lipstick wearers safer! We are collaborating with lawmakers on drink spiking and violence prevention laws and plan to pass those at a national level. We are working to educate and Safe Space Certify businesses around the country to elevate their commitment to their staff and patrons’ safety. We’re also preparing for retail partnerships with our drink spiking prevention test strips, so they are easily accessible. We’re working on building partnerships with large makeup companies that want to integrate their lip colors with our technology and test strips so we can affect the epidemic of drug facilitated sexual assault and violence together. This is a solvable problem, and we will not stop until we end generational violence in our family and in as many families as possible.

How will this grant help you accomplish the company's goals?

This grant will help us to finalize our GHB/Ketamine/Benzodiazepine test strips and be the first to market with a drink testing option that tests for the top three date rape drugs. There are thousands of businesses in California required to have drink test strips available for their customers this summer, so this grant will help us deploy our first order of combination test strips, while also giving us the ability to educate each business on the nuances of violence, drink spiking, and trafficking and start working together as a community to fight this issue! With the support of BOTOX® Cosmetic, we’re bringing a Safe Girl/Safe Gay Summer to as many babes as possible!