Las Vegas businesswoman blends beauty product with safety

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — She’s leading a charge of change in the Las Vegas valley. Joy Hoover is an entrepreneur with one thing in mind; women’s safety. She says she wants to be part of the solution, preventing violence before it happens. And she’s doing it with something so small it can fit in a handbag.

Lipsticks colors that pop, with purpose. That’s what Hoover had in mind when she created ESOES Cosmetics. She calls it a lipstick revolution.  

“Our whole idea with ESOES is covert safety,” said Hoover, the founder and CEO of the Las Vegas-based company.

What does ESOES mean?  “Basically it’s the phonetic spelling of ESOES (SOS),” Hoover said. “Our lipstick has roofie test strips and a panic button that connects to a customizable safety app.”

She calls it life-saving and simple. “Pull out the strip. Dip it in your drink. Put it back in your lipstick and then shut it.” In just a few minutes it’ll determine whether a drink is spiked, or safe. But Hoover didn’t stop there. She added a tech component with a customizable app and 24/7 monitoring.  

Showing off the app on her phone she said, “When you actually hold the logo it turns into safety mode.” There you can create a personalized message before you even leave the house and then immediately send a text or phone call to your chosen contacts with a button on your lipstick tube. If you don’t answer or give the wrong pin, the service will immediately dispatch first responders.

“My passion has always been safety, specifically women’s safety,” Hoover said. She spent over a decade advocating for women’s safety in Las Vegas. “You can’t see that and just walk away from it.”

Now she’s focused on prevention, nationwide. Here at the intersection of beauty, science, and technology where the lipstick, tube, and design are all made locally.

The lipstick officially launched in July and she’s already had more than 75,000 orders from all over the United States. Her goal she said, is to get it into the hands of as many women as she can.

“If I didn’t think this product was needed before, I am certain that it is now,” she said.

The lipstick comes in five colors and it’s all available online. The starter pack includes a color and strips. The tech is just under $65.

ESOES Cosmetics was recently featured on the hit YouTube show, “Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch.” Hoover was given a $10,000 grant and is currently looking for more investors. She said she wants survivors to own equity in a solution.