Wende Zomnir of Caliray and Urban Decay on sustainability messaging: ‘We don’t want it to be all gloom and doom’

When Wende Zomnir co-founded Urban Decay in 1996, there was no Instagram or TikTok, and Sephora was still two years out from entering the U.S. Fast forward to today, she wrapped up her tenure at Urban Decay in December and has re-entered the beauty startup game with a new brand, Caliray. Since Zomnir launched Caliray in 2021, it entered Sephora in 2022 and just secured a Series A round of funding in February this year. In the episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Zomnir discusses what’s different about launching a beauty startup in 2022, compared to the ’90s. And with Earth Day this Saturday, she goes into detail about the brand’s sustainable packaging innovations, including its new compostable bamboo eyeshadow palette.