Lyntoya Williamson is a local fashion and fragrant designer who has decided to take a leap to pursue her dreams of becoming a household name through her skincare line LinnieDREW.
“I’ve always had a passion for fashion design,” said Williamson. “But, when life happened—things changed.”
During her college years, she enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) to learn more about the industry and gain insight. Due to finances, she had to drop out of school. Soon after, she had her first child and found herself pushing back her dreams.
“Life got busy and I was taking care of my son. So, some of my dreams were placed on hold. But, I came to the idea that I needed to start styling. That’s when I started assisting stylists and gained insight through retail work at Club Monaco,” she said.
Williamson soon found more opportunities through her entertainment ties and began to build relationships so she could travel abroad to learn international fashion.
“I traveled to Rio and Hawaii to do a little studying on what people wore and used for their skin. I found their love of different natural butters for moisturizing interesting,” said Williamson. “I was an avid lotion user at the time, but traveling made me more interested in body butters.”
That’s when the spark ignited. She soon began making her own butters and came up with creating a line. She was introduced to different types of oils and fragrances through her brother who sold oils in Leimert Park. She shopped around to get the right scents she needed and carried forward with the creation of her line. The name LinnieDREW was Williamson’s way of paying homage to her late grandmother Lennie Drew Lee, who was also a designer.
“I want to create goodness for the health of others. That’s why I chose to make this skincare line,” she said. “Through a lot of prayer and meditation, I found my purpose. My brand is my way of stepping into my purpose.”
The drive of her line is to represent ‘strength, heritage and beauty’ as her grandmother once was, as stated on her company’s website.
LinnieDREW skincare products are manufactured in Ontario, California, and are all hand-made. The products consist of unisex fragrant Shea butter, roll-on oils, body scrubs and perfume sprays.
Her popular fragrant Shea butter is made with Raw African Shea butter, virgin coconut oil, 100% jojoba Oil, Vitamin E Oil, and hand blended pure fragrant oils imported from India. Each container of butter is made to order, so customers have the opportunity to mix and match their desired scents.
“All of our perfumes are made to blend well with one’s pheromones,” she said. “The goal is to get people to notice that there our natural ways to smell and feel good. “
LinnieDREW fragrances are organic imported fragrant oils from India and certified 100% organic grape grain alcohol.
However, her interest in lifestyle doesn’t stop at skincare. Williamson also designs clothing and jewelry. Her vision is to one day mesh all aspects of her brands into one and be an inspiration for travel, fashion and comfort.
“In the future, I would like to see my business thrive and get more recognition as a Black businesswoman,” she said.
For more information on LinnieDREW visit www.LinnieDREW.com or email Williamson at [email protected]
