Beautytap Founder Spotlight – Melissa A. Mitchell of Abeille Creations

Known worldwide for her artistry and wearable art brand Abeille Creations (ABL – A Better Life), Melissa A. Mitchell has collaborated with some of the most revered global brands including Nike, Peloton, Foot Locker, and Spanx creating everything from apparel and accessories to art and home decor. 

Featured in Essence, Black Enterprise, Vogue, and on her very own billboard in Times Square, Beautytap celebrates this highly decorated artist and entrepreneur during Black History Month and all throughout the year for her celebratory style, beauty and captivating motivation.

Melissa A. Mitchell… a living and inspiring work of art.

B: I imagine no matter where you go, everyone takes notice. Your style and fashion sense are so colorful, bold and inspiring. Did you always know that you would be an artist and how did it all start?

MM: Well, the short answer to that would be I began painting in 2014 during the infamous snowstorm here in Atlanta. The longer varied answer to that is that it's actually coming up on my nine-year anniversary of painting. I'll never forget it. At the time I had to live at home because when Dad passed away, we all came home. 

I was walking in the garage and found a box of random tools and I said, "Oh, paint!" and I wondered if I could paint. So, I just randomly started doodling on scrap pieces of wood and paper in the house.  I said, "Oh, look Mom, I painted!" and she was like, "You know, that might be your calling!" And I said, "This is not my calling, this is just some paint on the floor."

I started showing my friends on Instagram as a joke and people were saying, "Yo, this might be your thing, Mel! You gotta keep going!" So, it went from randomly painting on all this stuff around the house to now selling thousands of dollars’ worth of paintings, so I can now pay my mom's mortgage as a gift.

B: It's amazing you hadn't discovered your talent sooner and that you found one of your passions in life so randomly.   

MM: I think it was at a time when I was trying to find that light. You know, we go through life, you go to school, you get the good grades, you go to college, you get the degrees, and then it's, "Now what?" You have this big "Now what?" from age 22 until 80.

When I got out of school, I just expected there'd be a red carpet of opportunity - the husband, the kid, the job - but I came out of college during a recession and then slammed back home to the reality that “the cost of living is higher than what your salary can accommodate.” Then I lose my dad in 2010. So, dealing with the grief from that I thought, "OK...this is not what they told us in college that we'd have to deal with.”

I always tell that elongated origins story because I never really thought painting would be my medium, but it was that beacon of hope that I wanted to fulfill, and God gave me paint as my medium.

So many people are searching for the “why.” We're all waiting for the winning lottery numbers to show up in a dream, like in the movies, but in actuality God gives us tools to put in our hands to create that lottery winning sensation, and artwork became my sensation, and I have been running ever since.

B: Oh yes you have! Now you've been “painting the town red” shall we say?!

MM: Ha! Yeah! In every color I can think of!!

B: I love that you mentioned color because your color choices are what really strikes me about your designs. Has color touched your soul? Is it an important part of who you are?

MM: You know, I never really took color therapy seriously until it became my own therapy. When I was younger, I was always drawn to the brightest colors. They'd say, "OK class! We gotta wear black on Friday." I'd immediately get upset. I was like, "Why do we always have to wear black?" I'd find a way to bring in pink or bring in green or just be a rebel all the way around. But I realized that my personality shifted when I put on color. I thought, "Wearing pink makes me happy. Wearing red makes me feel spicy." All these different emotions came with color. 

I realized that I wasn't the only one who felt that way because people would see me and immediately say, "Wow! Where are you going?" For instance, if I wear a furry pink sweater, people have this immediate response to it. 

What I love about color and what it's done for me is literally transform my whole mood. I have paintings in every room. My bedroom is yellow and green and all these colors to evoke emotion, even when I'm not feeling it. I have no choice because the color is like, "Alright girl! Look at me!" and you know, immediately you feel it.

B: You inspired me today to put on a bright blue blazer and I love this color but sometimes if I go out, I'll hesitate and think it might be too much. What do you say to people like me who really want to do what you're doing but hesitate because they are insecure, or they aren't used to wearing bold colors. How do you step outside of your comfort zone? 

MM: I think you have to dress for yourself. There are just some people who don't want to wear color, which I respect because I don't know what's going on with them. But black is just as beautiful as wearing yellow, right?

B: What would fashion be without the little black dress?!

MM: Yes! But I think when you start to venture off into wearing color, you'll feel the power. I can show you better than I can tell you. Look, let's just touch the yellow. You know, inch your way in. If you're an all black girl, put on a colorful scarf, get a purse, get that funky sneaker or that sandal. Try a red toenail. It's such a vast world to only limit yourself to one or two colors.

It's definitely not to down anybody who's an all black, all white, all gold girl, but honey, when you live on the wild side there's so much magic over there. My biggest draw to people is… "Hey! You don't have to, but you would love it on the other side!" 

B: Do you remember your first bold statement?

MM: Well, it's funny. My mom says, and this is the craziest thing, I was around two or three and I went to a Christian preschool, and we had to wear a very monotone little blue boot, but I would not leave the house unless I wore these pink cowgirl boots. My mom said, "That's when I knew this would be your thing." There was also a uniform and I felt so itchy in it. I would say, "Why do I have to wear this damn dress?" This is at three. I just knew I didn't want to have to wear what everybody else wore.

I was an advocate for fashion at three years old, so my mom went to the teacher and said, “Melissa is a good student, but she will just not come to school if she can't wear these shoes." She advocated for me to wear my pink boots and I wore them for the rest of the year. That same variation of the pink cowgirl boots as I got older would become my thing.

B: And I saw in your Instagram posts @abeillecreations that you are wearing pink boots again, right?

MM: Yes! My momma said, “It's so funny that even thirty plus years later, you're the same girl who people were always asking, "What kind of shoes does Melissa have on today?" and I love that those full circle moments happen.

Kids really are who they are going be as early as two years old. I would always get caught in my mom's lipstick and now I can go to any store and get the lipstick I want. I was always that girl who “Was doin' too much" as some people would say, and it just became my whole life's mission to do that. 

B: Do you have a go-to color of lipstick, or do you like to change it up every day?

MM:  There are so many different things that I love. I think my favorite right now is Pat McGrath. She has great pigmentation in her lippys, and I think for me, because I have a larger lip, I like to make sure that's it's full, that it's clean, and that it gives me good moisturization all throughout the day. 

What I like is a bold lip. When I come in, I already have a lot to say. If people are like, "What is on your mouth? What is that?" You know, then not only is my mouth alluring for what my words have to say, but I like to feel like I’m painting myself when I get dressed. Having the best pigmentation for my lip is just my thing. I'm not a huge eye shadow girl, but lipstick, I love lipstick. I have probably fifty lipsticks in just a small variation of the same color.

B: I love that your face is your canvas too.  Have you thought about creating your own beauty line with your own colors? 

MM: If I did something it would definitely be a collab, because right now I'm stressing out over a new project I came up with last Monday that I want to see on shelves tomorrow! Right? I think we come up with all these grand ideas, but we don't have to reinvent the wheel. If I called Beautytap and asked, "Hey guys, do you know a makeup brand that would love to collab with a creative like me? Boom! I could be in retail by May, versus me trying to go to France, trying to do all these studies. Why not collab. I think there's so much power in collaboration.

There's no sense in me trying to say, "You know. I'm gonna do it by myself." Which I could, but I'm excited to get with an established line and say, "Hey! Let's join our powers. I know all about art. I know all about color. You know all about pigmentation. You know all about skin. Let's make a cute package and go live and talk about how we want to go work together in two months and come up with the line." That to me has more power than doing it by myself. 

B: You've already manifested that kind of relationship with some of the biggest brands including Nike, Spanx and Foot Locker and you are building your empire with over 50,000 fans on Instagram alone. Are you working on a collab at the moment and what do you want future collabs to be about?

MM: I'm working on Foot Locker now. I'm just really cultivating that relationship. I want to outfit the whole family, from the baby all the way up to grandma, so it's coming up with pieces that could appeal to everything - from getting a one-month-old dressed for her daycare all the way up to picking up grandma from the nursing home to take her to get her nails done.

So, when you see this, you think, "Wow! Grandma got an elaborate jacket!" and then you'd also be like, "Oohhh! Look at the baby with the leopard onesies!" For me, I like seeing people who wouldn't ordinarily be in color come alive with a piece. I like watching them when their eyes get bright with wonder, their body shifting the energy. 

B: Is it fun for you to see so many different types of people from so many different cultures and heritage wear your clothing?

MM: It’s like buying one of my Jewish friends something and she says, "Where is this Black girl getting this shirt from?" And then she puts it on, and you can see the cultures merge, you can see the energies merge. That to me is an amazing transformation of what art can do - it can make you see past color lines, see past gender lines, past sexuality lines. It's just a shirt. It doesn't have to do with a Black girl, White girl, Jewish girl. Whatever. For me it's my olive branch to the world, like, "Hey! We can all get along. Just put on a leopard print and let's call it a day!"

B: Every look you wear is so unique and stunning. Your fabrics and patterns too. Do you have to make all these things yourself because you're not finding what you are imagining?

MM: Yes, I am. I do have some go-to brands like Kurt Geiger or Kat Maconie and I'm still a Betsey Johnson girl. She was my go-to in high school. I still wear her. Then you know Basquiat, his family has done some licensing. But there really isn’t exactly what I want in the world. I don't often see leopard in a hot pink with a stripe going up the middle. So, I wake up and create it and get it printed. I think that a lot of times we get these ideas because we are the solution and not just the question. If I want head wraps that match my outfit and it doesn't exist in stores, I’m going to research and finally put it in stores myself.

B: I love the idea of mother and daughter head bands and outfits.

MM:  Oh, I have those. They sold out pretty quickly. That's what I’m working on now is to test the market more to see what will sell, what doesn't sell, what do people like, what will do well in the market. I thought my bonnets would sell like crazy and they didn't. So, I say, "OK, you guys don't like bonnets? Let me go back to the drawing board." It's really giving consumers what they want but also controlling what you give out and not to burn yourself out because every idea doesn't deserve to be a thing. You have to work it around and see how it goes.

Melissa A. Mitchell Abeille Creations Official Website

B: Your style is so uniquely you. When you do magazine or photo shoots do they just expect you to show up as you want versus having a stylist on the shoot?

MM: Oh yeah. Most of the people that reach out already know that I'm their girl. Right now, I'm working with an automobile company, and they said, "Whatever you do is what we want.” It's like, "Don't come in here in a suit. "Don't come in a dressy dress." It's just, "Do your thing." That's what I tell people. I get paid to be myself. That's the liberating feeling of just showing up and being me because that's enough.

I think that even with all the stuff that I do, that is my culminating message to anybody I come across, which is, "Girl! Do YOU! Whatever that is. If that's all black, you better be the blackest black that you can find. Do all black and enjoy it!" You know it!  I think when you find your own voice and identity especially in the fashion world it's so easy to be like, "Ohhh, they're wearing patent leather. Time to wear patent leather." I'm like, "I don't like patent leather so I’m not wearing it." I stay in my own lane because it feels good, it feels natural.

B: Because your clothes and patterns are so bold do you want to do bold make up too? Or do you want to keep your face more subtle?

MM:  I'm a Taurus. It's funny enough, as dramatic as I am, I don't like a lot of makeup physically on my face. I don't like the heaviness of it. I focus more on skin care and making sure my skin looks good before any make up gets on it. Then by the time the makeup gets on there, it's just enhancing what's already there. I give you a good eye, a good lip and I'm out of there. My makeup probably takes me ten minutes every day if I do it. 

B: What about your skin care regime? 

MM: I'm big on skin care and I've gone through so many different face washes and regimens, but PUR has just really changed my skin texture and the way I feel about my skin.  

B: Do you do face wash first?

MM: I do a face wash. My wipes are Philosophy One-Step Facial Cleansing Cloths.  I usually do two of those wipes and then a good deep pore Philosophy One-Step Facial Cleanser. I don't like the water too hot. I like room temperature water and then I go ahead and do my PUR Detoxifying. It's a good face wash and gives a good lather. I let that sit on for a second. I rinse that off and then I do a light PUR 4-in-1 Cloud Creme Gel-to-Water Hydrating Essence Moisturizer for bed. Rinse and repeat every day, and that's kept me looking pretty young. 

B: How do you achieve your dramatic eye?

MM: I'm an onyx girl. If it's black, I like it as dark as possible because my eyes actually look black if you look at them without light. They're actually a deep brown. But I have such deep mysterious eyes that I'll just focus on that. I do a good liner. Maybelline Lasting Drama Black Liner. A good top liner. A good under liner, and I do a dramatic lash by Eylure Lashes and boom! Honey, I'm ready to go!

B: How about eye shadows?

MM: I'm not a huge eye shadow girl, but I do like a company called Inglot. They do a really good gold. I'm just really simple with my eyes unless I'm doing a crazy photo shoot. INGLOT does it for me.

B: Do you ever like to wear the same colors over and over like on your nails? 

MM: I'm the girl who goes to the nail shop and will pick out the same shade of orange, pink or red. So I’ll say, "Let's try blue today" and she says, "You don't want blue."  And I say, "Yeah, you’re right. I want you to give me my pink. Go on! Give me my pink back."  

B: Do you wait to do your makeup or is it about the makeup first and then you decide what to wear?

MM: You know, it's funny. It depends on my hair. If I'm doing a head wrap, I may go a little bit more dramatic on my eyes because I might want to look super Queenie that day. If my hair is really big, curly and natural, my skin is more like a natural blush, so it doesn't matter as much. I think it depends on my hair and my mood and my time.

B: Underneath those head wraps is your gorgeous hair. Can you share some of your hair regimen with us? 

MM: My hair is pretty simple. I'll do some kind of curly texture extensions that mix in with my own curly hair to give that big Diana Ross fro, and it's as simple as that. That's what I loved about going back to the magazines – that was my inspiration. I would have them on my wall. Forget the rock stars, I loved the Queens of Essence. That's why it's so important that people who work in the industry do the best that they can to make these people show up because little girls are looking up to these magazine covers. 

B: Maybe you could do a collab with Diana Ross?

MM: Ohhh, that would be fly! If not her, then Tracee. She is amazing too, and she loves yellow. Maybe y'all can put a bug in her ear for that. I use Tabitha Brown/Donna’s Recipe, with her gorgeous full natural hair. I take her hair vitamins and I use her hair drops. It's an intense scalp moisturizer and then I just go into it with my Mielle Organics Leave-In Conditioner, and I twist my hair up and honey I'll be “show ready” in about twenty minutes. 

B: It's Black History Month. You've had such success already in your career and that must give you a great sense of pride. You even had your own billboard in Times Square. Do you recall some of the Black owned brands and products that made an impression on you as a kid and how they played a part in getting you where you are today? 

MM: In so many ways. I remember growing up and my mom wore this brand called Fashion Fair. it was a Black makeup brand. They were pioneers. I remember getting JET magazine at my grandma's house with all the Black JET "beauties of the week." They were in there and I was like, "Wow! One day I want to be either in JET or work with JET."  That was the voice of the Black community - JET, EBONY and ESSENCE magazines, and so I would take those magazines and save pages from them. From the outfits to the inspirations, never knowing one day I would end up in fashion.

I had such a passion for making my body a canvas. I want to say that I was inspired as early as two and three years old. Looking at these magazines. These Black women look like Queens. They look like royalty! They are amazing! Their clothes are amazing! Their shoes are amazing! And that made me want to wear the lipstick and put the rouge on my face like my mom. My mom used be late for work every morning doing her makeup, zooming through traffic. I'd be in the back seat thinking, “She put that on her cheek. She got that on her eyes. She did her eyebrows." When me and my sister got home, we were mimicking her makeup looks in our bathroom when we were little. 

Looking back, I think, wow! I was becoming who I was becoming even back then. As a Black woman, being a pioneer and being able to open doors and be that same Black woman that I saw as a little girl, it's an honor. I became who I saw and now I can become that to somebody else.

Being on that billboard, being in magazines, doing interviews with Beautytap, it allows me to have this voice and to show people that it can be done. It's not impossible. I'm opening doors that have not been open before and it's such an honor to be able to do that for other little black girls and boys.

B: You're already inspiring people and I love how you incorporate your mantras about life into your social media posts. Can you give us one that you'd like to share with Beautytap?

MM: For me, there are so many. I think the one that resonates with me is, “If you want to do something differently in life, you've just got to be prepared to do life differently." I think everybody has these dream boards and these vision boards. We are constantly asking the universe to show up for us but, you have to show up for the universe! You can't ask God for all these blessings and not make room for them. Do the work that is going to usher in your answered prayers.

Just do the work.

Follow Melissa A. Mitchell on Instagram @abeillecreations and discover her glorious art, brand collaborations and merchandise at www.melissaamitchell.com.