By Howard Campbell
Palmer has produced the Gouldtag Lip Gel since 2018. The product, which she sells online and in her Queens, New York store, recently found a new market in South Florida.
It is available in Jamaican outlets in Miami and Doral.
“When I started doing it, the first people I sent it to were my family in Jamaica, and they liked it, so that was a good start,” Palmer recalled, laughing. “People who come to the store love it…black, white, everybody.”
Palmer was in expansion mode when she launched Gouldtag Lip Gel which she manufactures from her home in Queens. For just over eight years, she has been proprietor of Gouldtag store which sells outfits mainly designed by her.
Some of the material for her clothing line is from China where she visited regularly prior to the COVID-19 lockdown. That country is also source of the natural ingredients that produces Gouldtag Lip Gel.
The lip gloss market is one of the most competitive and lucrative in the multi-billion-dollar cosmetics industry. Palmer was aware of that, but had no thoughts of tangling with the mega brands.
“I just wanted to come with something different. There’s no stickiness to it, it’s just very smooth and I think that’s what people like most about it,” she said.
The Early Years
Palmer was raised in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. She migrated to the United States 18 years ago and has worked as a registered nurse.
After positive response to her outfits from a largely Jamaican clientele, Palmer eyed the lip gel market. Through online ‘classes’, she learned the process of manufacturing. Her method currently takes four hours to complete in her compact home studio.
With Gouldtag Lip Gel now in limited supply in South Florida, Palmer is looking for even more expansion.
“I’m hoping for bigger things in 2022, but with what’s going on in the world now, let’s see what happens,” she said.
