A Black Jamaican girl dwelling in Canada has quietly carved out house in one of many world’s best industries, not by chasing developments, however by fixing an issue most magnificence manufacturers ignored. June Smith, founding father of TAJJ Cosmetics, embodies the favored Jamaican idiom “tun yuh hand mek style”. Confronted with a problem, she selected to behave, making a product that serves ladies of color throughout the diaspora.
That distinctly Jamaican innovation and ingenuity have earned Smith and her model world recognition, together with an award on the Black Magnificence and Vogue Awards UK for innovation in 2020 and, most lately, a “Greatest Modern Magnificence Model” honour on the 2025 Canadian Selection Awards, main milestones for a Jamaican-owned model.
Jamaican Roots and Early Life
Born and raised in Jamaica, June Smith grew up in a tradition that prizes self-reliance, creativity, and profiting from what is on the market. Like many Jamaicans, she discovered early to watch issues carefully and discover workable options slightly than anticipate permission or good situations. Smith typically sums up this mind-set with a guiding perception she has repeated all through her profession: “For those who make a remark, you might have an obligation.” That mindset would later form her entry into the sweetness trade.
Magnificence and style had been all the time a part of her world from her early days on the island. Family and friends frequently turned to her for magnificence recommendation lengthy earlier than she ever thought of the sweetness trade as a profession path.
She later migrated to Canada, the place she raised her three sons whereas constructing her skilled life, a journey that may ultimately result in the founding of TAJJ Cosmetics in 2008.
Turning Statement into Innovation
Smith based TAJJ Cosmetics to handle a selected however broadly skilled concern: corns. Each she and her cousin handled the situation and, by way of conversations with different ladies, realised it was way more frequent than anybody overtly acknowledged, typically affecting confidence round carrying open-toe sneakers.
Inspired by her cousin, Smith started trying to find an answer and shortly found there have been no merchandise available on the market addressing the problem. That hole led her to a easy however ingenious query: if make-up exists to hide blemishes on the face, may it even be used for the ft?
The outcome was the Toe-riffic Toe Concealer, a multi-award-winning product designed to hide discolouration on the ft after callous removing. Sensible, particular, and unapologetically area of interest, the product gained consideration shortly and validated Smith’s perception that there was demand for considerate options to on a regular basis magnificence issues.
By 2011, she expanded TAJJ right into a full cosmetics line for ladies of color, developed by a girl of color, with cautious consideration to shade accuracy and formulation.
An Award Profitable Innovation
Through the years, TAJJ Cosmetics has steadily constructed a popularity past its authentic innovation. Smith’s work has been recognised by a number of organisations throughout Canada, the UK, and the broader diaspora. Among the many most important honours is the 2025 Canadian Selection Award for Greatest Magnificence Model, a recognition that alerts how far her concept has travelled.
The model has additionally acquired Greatest Modern Magnificence Product recognition on the Black Magnificence and Vogue Awards (Diaspora) and Folks’s Selection honours in Canada. Smith herself was named among the many High 100 Black Girls to Watch in Canada in 2017. These accolades serve not as the start line of her story, however as affirmation of labor constructed steadily and with intention.
Centering Girls of Color
June Smith’s work by way of TAJJ Cosmetics highlights the significance of making for audiences lengthy ignored within the magnificence and style house. By centring ladies of color in her product growth, she has constructed a model rooted in sensible pondering and cultural consciousness.
Smith typically encourages ladies to consider in themselves and their concepts, reminding them that if they will suppose it and actually consider in it, they will obtain it. For her, magnificence isn’t one thing utilized, however one thing already current, with make-up serving as a software for expression slightly than definition.
