📕 THE FULL BUYING GUIDE — 16 pages, $4.99: https://declassifiedhistory.gumroad.com/l/shelf-audit-17-the-makeup-counterAll five brands, who owns each one, and what every product costs.Beauty Bakerie and Mented Cosmetics, two makeup brands most people would swear are unrelated, now answer to the exact same private equity owner, inside the exact same portfolio, plus three brands where the founder never sold at all.This is a buying guide, not a takedown. Every verdict below is ownership and price, checked and re-checked against the companies' own paperwork and live product pages — never a claim about what any product does or whether it's safe on your skin.THE REVEAL:• Mented Cosmetics (the callback) — already named a villain on this channel: acquired by West Lane Capital Partners in 2024, co-founder KJ Miller stayed on as Brand President. Lipsticks have historically run $12–$20, foundation around $30 (verify current pricing before you buy — no new ownership evidence here, same skip as last time).• Beauty Bakerie (the new reveal) — founder Cashmere Nicole built it in 2011, closed it herself in April 2024 by her own stated account, then it was acquired months later in 2024 by the same firm behind Mented, West Lane Capital Partners, joining the same Blooming Brands portfolio Mented already belonged to. Lip Whip: a flat $22.00 a tube, every shade, confirmed live off the brand's own site. Buy direct: https://www.beautybakerie.comTHE THREE THAT NEVER SOLD:• Juvia's Place — founder ChiChi Eburu, since 2014, fully bootstrapped, no funding round or acquisition found on the public record. Nubian, Warrior, and Coffee Shop palettes, $25.00 each. Buy: https://www.juviasplace.com (also at Ulta)• The Crayon Case — founder Raynell "Supa Cent" Steward, since 2017, self-funded off her own audience, no outside investor found. Hall Pass Lip Gloss Collection $12.99; Matte Book Palette $21.98 (currently sold out — check restock before you click). Buy direct: https://www.thecrayoncase.com• LYS Beauty — founder Tisha Thompson, still founder and still CEO, took an eight-figure Series A ($15M) from Encore Consumer Capital in early 2025, its first outside money ever. Founder-led, still CEO, took growth capital — never self-funded, and this isn't a buyout; no equity percentage is publicly disclosed. Chapters0:00 One Wallet, Two "Black-Owned" Labels2:30 The Villain Named: Private Equity3:29 #1 Mented Cosmetics, The Callback4:31 #2 Beauty Bakerie, The Full Reveal8:49 #3 Juvia's Place11:03 #4 The Crayon Case13:06 #5 LYS Beauty, The Asterisk15:59 The Buyer's Tell16:54 Recap: Three That Never Sold▶ Mented's full reveal: 6 Beauty Brands No Longer "Black-Owned" [VIDEO-ID-TBD]▶ Same playbook, different aisle: 5 Black-Owned Beauty Brands You Can Buy Direct (Skip Target): https://youtu.be/wTKJyr2lo-ISome of the links above may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which brands make this list, and it never will.Everything in this video is ownership and price — public records and the companies' own paperwork.Nothing here is a claim about whether any of these products work or are safe on your skin.SOURCES:• PR Newswire, West Lane Capital Partners Acquires Beauty Bakerie, 2024-07-10 (primary): https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/west-lane-capital-partners-acquires-beauty-bakerie-to-add-to-its-beauty-platform-302191993.html• Beauty Independent, West Lane Breathes New Life Into Beauty Bakerie: https://www.beautyindependent.com/west-lane-capital-partners-breathes-new-life-into-beauty-bakerie-with-acquisition/• Fashionista, How One Beauty Investor Acquires and Grows Indie Brands (Blooming Brands roster), 2024-07: https://fashionista.com/2024/07/beauty-acquisition-strategy-blooming-brands-west-lane-capital• Beauty Bakerie, Lip Whips collection (live pricing), checked 2026-07-23: https://www.beautybakerie.com/collections/lip-whips