Challenges caused by an autoimmune disease motivated Becca Cory to  partner with LaTicia Stuart and take a makeup line national.

At 14, Cory developed vitiligo, an autoimmune disease which causes a loss of pigment in the face. As a result, Cory said, she struggled with finding the right makeup for her skin tone.

Twelve years later, she found the solution to her struggles in Hunny Hush makeup.

“I met LaTicia Stuart, who is married to Paul the Signman, and she was mixing this makeup,” Cory said. “I had tried every single makeup on the market, but I just couldn’t find anything that I loved and LaTicia had the same problem. So, she was at a hair show in Atlanta and found the ingredients to make her own makeup. She came back home and started doing makeup for pageants and things like that with her own makeup, but never wanted to go into retail.”

Cory said that she finally talked Stuart into selling her makeup.

“I put it on and I literally squealed because I knew I found the makeup for me,” Cory said. “I told her immediately that she needed to sell it, because I knew we would be millionaires, then finally when she was 50 she told me that she had lived life, had a career, raised kids and grandkids that she did not want to go into retail, but she would mix. I told her that I would sell the makeup if she mixed and now we are splitting it down the middle 50/50.”

The company is now taking off, selling to their first international customer and selling in 10 different states. But it wasn’t always easy for Cory, who was working a full time job at Pack and Ship.

“In the beginning, I was going out of my way for customers in Covington County,” Cory said. “It got to where I would have girls message me at 5 a.m., or 11:30 p.m., saying that they ran out of makeup and that they are going out of town quickly and they need more. It got to where it was exhausting trying to keep up with everything that was on demand, but I would still deliver and meet people whenever they needed it, because how else are you going to get your name out there? A year in, I had to put my foot down and say that Wednesdays were my makeup days and I would do everything only on Wednesday.”

Cory is trying to make an empire out of her makeup company now.

“I think the goal with this company is to branch out into the entertainment industry,” Cory said. “Whether that be with stage makeup, pageants or models. I just want the everyday girl to know that she is wearing what the big names are wearing, but not at a big price. We already have a couple of the Disney cast at Disney World wearing it so it is a start. One thing that I don’t want to happen is that my makeup gets into a mainstream drug store. When you get into drug stores, it becomes quantity over quality and I never want to lose sight of why we started.”

Cory believes one main advantages to her makeup that is that it includes 100 spf sunblock.

“No other makeup on the market has 100 proof sunblock in it,” Cory said. “We are busiest during the summer because girls just love to wear our product if they go to the beach or if they go on vacation.”

Although the sunscreen in the makeup is an advantage, some girls are allergic to it.

“We make sure that if a girl is breaking out because of the sunscreen, she can order the same thing without it,” Cory said. “We can make custom jars of the makeup without the sunscreen.”

When girls call Cory and tell her that they love her product, she said that it makes her feel like all the hard work is worth it.

“When they tell me they love the product, at the end of the day, I feel like I have done something to make somebody’s life easier,” Cory said. “They are having to not be miserable that day or touch up that afternoon, and it saves them time in the morning. People don’t realize, it is not easy to look pretty everyday. It takes some time and some effort, and if I can give a girl an extra five minutes in the morning to sit and enjoy her coffee, then I’ve done a good job that day. Makeup is hard, and I think it shouldn’t have to be.”

Cory believes that it is extremely important to shop locally.

“The people around here put their heart and soul into their businesses and they are not trying to be greedy,” Cory said. “Customer service matters to people and the smiling face you see when you buy a product here locally matters. Whether it’s a t-shirt, makeup, shoes or whatever it is shopping locally is so important. Andalusia is growing by leaps and bounds, but a lot of it is we have such heartwarming people in our community that make it grow and make it worth shopping here.”

Cory comes from humble beginnings, going from not finishing college, to owning her own makeup company.

“I went to LBW, but I never finished my degree,” Cory said. “My mother and father had a wreck when I was headed to the University of Alabama and my life got derailed to take care of my parents. They were more important so I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was prepared to take my company to the top because I am a people person. You put me on stage and I’m going to glow. That is just the way I am. I have never been the quietest person in the room, but I just feel like I have been preparing for this my entire life.”

Cory said she’s often asked if the makeup line was named for Billy Bimbo, the late sales manager of WFXX whose trademark phrase was “Honey, hush.”

But Cory said that the name ““Hunny Hush”  was chosen because it’s a great Southern phrase.

“Everyone always asks us if we got it from Billy, but we really didn’t,” Cory said. “All of our makeup even has Southern phrases as their names.”

The shades of Hunny Hush Makeup are Lord Have Mercy (xx light,) Sweet Pea (extra light,) Bless Your Heart (light,) Simply Darling (half light half medium,) Gimmey Sugar (medium,) Hot as a Firecracker (dark) and Hot Mess (extra dark.)

Samples for Hunny Hush Makeup are $5 and they last about three to seven days; a 1.5 ounce jar, which lasts two to four months, is $32, and the one ounce jar lasts three to six months and is $43. Cory said that they can make larger custom jars.

The active ingredients are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide and other ingredients are glycerin, water and minerals.

Hunny Hush Makeup can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Etsy by searching Hunny Hush, or #flawless.