Press

One lipstick. Lips, cheeks, eyelids. A whole face out of a single tube.

It was the first makeup lesson Prados Beauty founder Cece Meadows ever received, taught to her by her grandmother.

Fast-forward through The New York Makeup Academy and to the shelves of JCPenney, and there sits the shade closest to that lipstick, called Powwow. This shade is among many in the collection of what is now called Prados Beauty, the Yoeme and Xicana-owned brand Meadows founded in 2019. Today, Prados Beauty is excited to take another big step in its journey as it announces it is among those selected for Ulta Beauty's 2026 MUSE Accelerator.

The MUSE Accelerator is Ulta Beauty's program for early-stage brand founders. Out of hundreds of applicants, Ulta chose Prados Beauty for its upcoming cohort. It generally seeks brands that have generated revenue, demonstrated direct-to-consumer traction, and begun developing a community. Starting Sept. 14, Prados Beauty is among seven beauty brands that will participate in a 10-week program that provides mentorship, retail-readiness training and cash grants of $50,000 apiece. Ulta and nonprofit partner The Fifteen Percent Pledge will award an additional $10,000 to one participant based on sales growth, whitespace opportunity, and community impact.

"This is such a full-circle moment for me. Prados started as something I dreamed about, but the seeds were planted long before that by my grandmother. She was the first person who taught me about beauty, not just through makeup, but through the way she taught me to see myself."— Cecelia Meadows, Founder & CEO, Prados Beauty

A professional makeup artist raised in Yuma, Arizona, Meadows built Prados Beauty around a definition of beauty she learned at home rather than one she found in magazines or traditional beauty standards.

“My grandmother is the definition of beauty to me,” Meadows said. “She taught me to be proud of everything about our culture, our clothes, our features, our food, our traditions and our way of life. All of it was beautiful. I wanted to create something that reflected that version of beauty, the one I grew up knowing. In a world that constantly tries to tell us what beauty is supposed to look like, there is power in knowing we were already beautiful.”

That philosophy extends beyond Prados Beauty’s products and into the art surrounding them.

The brand has collaborated with Native artists including Steven Paul Judd (Kiowa/Choctaw), Lauren Good Day (Mandan//Hidatsa/Arikara/Blackfeet/Plains Cree), Kassie Kussman (Cherokee), and RAH Azul (Mexica), bringing their artwork into Prados Beauty collections while crediting artists by name and Tribal Nation.

For Meadows, those collaborations have always been about more than packaging. They create opportunities for Native artists to be seen, compensated and recognized while allowing Indigenous consumers to see something familiar and meaningful reflected back at them in the beauty industry.

What began as a brand created so Indigenous communities could see themselves represented has grown far beyond its beginnings.

Since launching in 2019, Prados Beauty has expanded from a small independent beauty company into a nationally distributed brand carried at more than 600 JCPenney locations. In 2022, its Matriarch Eyeshadow Palette earned an Allure Best of Beauty Award. The brand’s growth has reinforced something Meadows believed from the beginning: Prados Beauty never had to become less Indigenous to reach a larger audience.

“We have always been told, directly or indirectly, that in order to reach the mainstream, we have to make ourselves smaller or make our culture more digestible,” Meadows said. “Prados has shown me the opposite. People connect with authenticity. They connect with the story. They connect with something made with intention.”

For Meadows, participating in the MUSE Accelerator is both a professional opportunity and a deeply personal milestone.

“I’m a makeup artist, but I’m also an Ulta shopper,” she said. “I’ve stood in those aisles and discovered some of my favorite brands and products. So when I think about the possibility of more people discovering Prados and discovering the stories, artists and communities behind it, that means everything to me.”

“It has always been a dream of mine to see the beauty of who we are as Indigenous people represented in spaces like that,” she continued. “We deserve space there. We are artists. We are creators. We are entrepreneurs. We have incredible gifts, ideas and businesses, and we deserve the opportunity to share them with the world.”

Over the course of the accelerator, Meadows says she intends to approach the experience the same way she approached becoming a makeup artist and building Prados Beauty: ready to learn.

“I’m going into this as a student of the industry,” Meadows said. “My family, my friends, my customers and my community have taught me so much. Now I want to expand that network, strengthen the business, grow our visibility and learn what it really takes to build Prados for the next level.”

And despite the growth, national recognition and retail milestones, some moments still bring Meadows back to where it all began.

Asked what went through her mind the first time she saw Prados Beauty sitting on a major retailer’s shelf, her answer had little to do with sales, distribution or business strategy.

“Wow. I really did it. Is this real?” Meadows recalled. Then came the thought that mattered most: “I wish my nana could see this.”