UOMA Founder Sharon Chuter Dead at 38: The Woman Who Changed the Face of Beauty

image from IG

Sharon Chuter’s Death Shocks the Beauty World:

A Tribute to the UOMA Founder Who Changed Everything

Danielle Cox

I still remember the first time I wore UOMA’s “Diana” lipstick. I had just gotten back from a solo coffee run, the kind where you’re trying to feel like yourself again…trying to feel alive again… any semblance of human.

The kind where you hope someone notices you, but not too much. I was standing in front of my mirror, hair tied up, hoodie on, bare face. I twisted the bullet (loved the solid feel of it), swiped that red on, and something happened. I stood taller. I started talking to myself like I was on stage.

That lipstick didn’t just add color. It added memory. It made me think of Diana Ross with the wind in her hair and all the lights on her. I felt unstoppable. I too was coming out, lol.

That was the first time a lipstick made me cry.

And the woman who made that moment possible, Sharon Chuter, is now gone.

She Didn’t Just Build a Brand. She Built a Movement.

When Sharon launched UOMA Beauty in 2019, she wasn’t following trends. She was answering prayers. She brought over 100 products to the shelves on day one and made 51 foundation shades feel normal. Not a special collection. Not a limited launch. Just what it should have always been.

And she didn’t just stop at shade ranges. She gave her lipsticks names like Diana, Nina, Tracee, Angela, Maya. She handed us little tubes of power and named them after the women we’ve been trying to become. I wore “Tina” to a podcast taping once. It’s a fire orange-red that made me feel like nothing could touch me. Like even if my voice shook, my presence wouldn’t. Nikki wore Tracee.

Every product had a purpose. Every shade had a story. Sharon didn’t just give us makeup. She gave us mirrors we could finally recognize ourselves in.

The Work Went Deeper Than Beauty

In 2020, while the world was posting black squares and scrambling to issue half-hearted statements, Sharon launched #PullUpOrShutUp. She asked beauty brands to show their numbers. How many Black people are in leadership? How many decision-makers look like us? The silence that followed was louder than the movement.

She didn’t let it slide.

With her platform Pull Up For Change, Sharon didn’t just ask for accountability. She demanded it. And then she followed up with Make It BLACK, a campaign that redefined the meaning of the word “black” and raised money for Black-owned businesses. Sharon was that rare mix of grace and fire. She could clap back with a smile and change your whole company with one Instagram caption.

She Was Also Human

In 2023, Sharon shared that she had gone through a major health scare. Doctors thought it might be stomach cancer. She lost weight fast. She stepped back from the brand she built and tried to recover, physically and emotionally. A lot of us missed that post. We were used to her being loud, vibrant, untouchable. But she was asking for help in her own way.

By early 2025, she was fighting again, this time behind the scenes. In February, Sharon filed a lawsuit against MacArthur Beauty and BrainTrust, alleging that they had taken control of UOMA and forced her out. Her dream was being sold off, piece by piece. And still, she stood up and told the truth.

Her last Instagram post in May was a photo of her doing what she loved. Her caption? “Doing what I do!” No drama. No hint of the storm behind the scenes. Just joy, purpose… Sharon.

The News No One Was Ready For

On August 14, 2025, Sharon Chuter was found dead on a patio in Los Angeles. She was only 38 years old. The cause of death has not been determined. An investigation is still ongoing.

And while the facts are still being sorted out, the grief is already here. It’s sitting on my chest. It’s living in the comments section. It’s tucked into every woman’s makeup bag who ever pulled out a tube of “Nina” before a big day.

Sharon wasn’t just a founder. She was a force. A storyteller. A truth-teller. A woman who looked at the beauty industry and said, “This isn’t enough.” She made room for people who were always told there wasn’t any. She gave us luxury that loved us back.

Her loss is immeasurable. But so is her legacy. She was and IS Courage, personified.

What We Can Do Now

Talk about her. Tag her. Don’t let the algorithms forget. Don’t let the silence settle.

Ask brands how they’re continuing what she started. Ask your favorite makeup company who is sitting at their decision-making tables. Use the hashtag. Start your own. Be the kind of disruptive light she was.

And most of all, honor her by seeing yourself as worthy. As powerful. As the kind of woman whose name might end up on a lipstick one day.

Rest in power, Sharon Chuter.
You changed the game.
You changed the language.
You changed us.

We will not forget.
We will pull up.
And we will keep going.

**CurlyNikki offers a traditional Catholic prayer for Sharon, for the recently transitioned, and invites us to pray it with her:

Eternal rest grant unto Sharon, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

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