Almost a Decade of Love, Years of Building, and One Dream Almost Ready to Launch

October Feels Different This Year

It’s our anniversary month.

My husband and I have been together for almost a decade, and when I look back over those years, I realize just how much life can change—and how much we can build—one small step at a time.

Careers evolve. Dreams change. Some ideas work. Others don’t.

There are exciting days, stressful days, late nights, mistakes, setbacks, and moments when you wonder whether something you’ve been working toward will ever actually become real.

And then, sometimes, you look up and realize that an idea you carried quietly for years is finally becoming something you can hold in your hands.

For me, the last decade has been about love, learning, building, and continuing to believe in ideas even when they take much longer than expected.

And this October, several parts of my life seem to be meeting at exactly the same time:

• My anniversary.
• My journey as a builder.
• And a little dream called ME-LIPS™ that is almost ready to launch.

By Day, I Build. Outside of Work, I Built ME-LIPS™.

My professional world and my ME-LIPS™ world could hardly look more different.

Throughout my career, I’ve worked in financial technology, capital markets, analytics, and product development. It’s a world where I’ve spent years asking questions, examining evidence, testing ideas, and trying to solve complicated problems.

At the heart of it, I’ve discovered something very simple about myself:

I love building.

I love looking at a problem and asking: How can we make this better?

Outside of my professional life, I brought that same curiosity into a completely different world:

Beauty.

Instead of technology and analytics, I started thinking about ingredients, color, formulas, packaging, jars, and brushes. I started learning about manufacturing, branding, websites, photography, Amazon, and all the countless little details involved in turning an idea into a physical product.

And somewhere along the way, that little idea became ME-LIPS™.

The two worlds couldn’t look more different. But they’ve taught me the same lesson:

Find a real problem. Ask questions. Test. Learn. Improve. Keep building.

Sometimes the things worth building simply take time.

Why I Created ME-LIPS™

The original idea was actually very simple.

I wanted an easier everyday beauty routine. I didn’t want a complicated makeup routine or a bag filled with different products just to create a fresh, natural-looking glow.

I wanted something I could use on my lips and cheeks.
Something comfortable.
Something moisturizing.
Something that could give me color without feeling like a traditional lipstick.
Something I could wear lightly during the day and build when I wanted more.

That idea eventually became the ME-LIPS™ 4-in-1 Color-Adaptive Lip & Cheek Tint Balm.

One little jar. Multiple ways to wear it. And a glow you can make your own.

Lip Balm. Lip Tint. Lip Stain. Cheek Tint.

I don’t think of ME-LIPS™ as a traditional lipstick. It’s a multi-use Lip & Cheek Tint Balm designed to give you the freedom to create your own look.

For my own routine, I like to outline my lips first and then fill them in. Then I wait. I usually give the color about 10–15 minutes to develop and settle before deciding whether I want another layer.

• One layer creates a softer, natural-looking tint.
• Add another layer when you want more color.
• And if you’re feeling bold? Keep building.

As the balm wears down, it leaves a tint or stain behind. On me personally, that stain can last throughout the day—and sometimes I can still see color the next day. (Of course, wear time will vary from person to person and with eating and drinking.)

I also like tapping a small amount onto my cheeks and sometimes adding just a tiny touch across the bridge of my nose to bring everything together.

A little goes a long way.

That’s part of the philosophy behind ME-LIPS™: Layer. Build. Make it yours.

Pink Glow or Warm Red Glow?

ME-LIPS™ is beginning with two shades:

• 💕 Pink Glow — a cooler pink glow.
• ❤️ Warm Red Glow — a warmer red glow.

Wear Pink Glow.
Wear Warm Red Glow.
Or layer the two together.

That’s something I love doing myself. One of my favorite combinations is two layers of Pink Glow with one layer of Warm Red Glow to create my own pink-red finish.

The fun is seeing how the color develops on you and deciding how you want to wear it:

• Keep it natural.
• Build it bolder.
• Wear one.
• Layer both.

Buildable. Kissable. Uniquely yours.

Almost a Decade Together

While I’ve been building all of this, there has been someone beside me through almost an entire decade: my husband.

October is our anniversary month—almost a decade of being together.

When I think about that amount of time, I don’t think a relationship is built around one enormous romantic moment. It’s built through thousands of ordinary ones: supporting each other, laughing together, getting annoyed with each other, getting over it, going through difficult periods, celebrating victories, making mistakes, changing, growing, and continuing to choose each other as both people evolve.

The woman I was almost a decade ago isn’t exactly the woman writing this today. And I’m grateful for that. We’re supposed to grow.

He Has Seen the Messy Middle

When you’re building something for years, the person closest to you doesn’t only see the finished photographs and beautiful packaging.

They see everything that came before it.

My husband has watched me work through the entire ME-LIPS™ journey: the ideas, the experiments, the excitement, the frustration, the manufacturing conversations, the packaging decisions, the website, the Amazon preparation, the videos, the photography, the boxes, the labels, and probably far more conversations about pink and red lip color than he ever imagined having when he met me.

He has watched me change things because they weren’t quite right. He has watched me get excited when something finally worked. And he has watched me keep going.

That’s why some of my favorite moments have absolutely nothing to do with business: sitting together by the water, spending an afternoon on a boat, enjoying the Toronto waterfront, laughing, taking silly videos, and having absolutely nothing important to accomplish for a few hours.

Building your dreams matters. But so do the people beside you while you’re building them.

Almost a Decade of Love. Years of Building.

Maybe that’s why this October feels so meaningful.

It’s our anniversary month. Professionally, I continue to build, learn, and challenge myself. And outside of work, after years of quietly developing my own beauty brand, ME-LIPS™ is approaching its first launch.

These don’t really feel like separate stories anymore—they’re chapters of the same life:

• One taught me about partnership.
• One taught me about perseverance.
• One taught me how to build.
• And all of them taught me patience.

Because very few meaningful things happen overnight.

Made in Canada 🇨🇦

Another part of this journey that means a great deal to me is that ME-LIPS™ is made in Canada.

I’m Vietnamese and Canadian, born in Vietnam, and Canada became the country where my family built a new life. It’s where I grew up. It’s where I built my career. And now it’s where I’m building my first beauty brand.

There is something incredibly meaningful about seeing "Made in Canada" attached to something that once existed only as an idea in my head.

ME-LIPS™ is starting small, and I’m perfectly okay with that. Every company starts somewhere. This is where ours begins.

Building ME-LIPS™ in Public

If you’ve been following me on social media, you’ve probably noticed something: I’m not waiting until everything is perfect before sharing the journey.

You’ve watched me wear ME-LIPS™. You’ve seen Pink Glow. You’ve seen Warm Red Glow. You’ve watched me layer them together. You’ve seen my tutorials. You’ve watched me outline my lips, fill them in, and wait for the color to develop.

And you’ve probably watched me ask the same question more than once:

“Would you wear this? YES or NO?”

There’s a reason for that. I want people to see the journey. I don’t want ME-LIPS™ to suddenly appear one day as a perfectly polished brand with no story behind it.

There is a real person behind this little company. There have been years behind it. There have been mistakes, changes, delays, and real people helping me bring it to life.

You’re watching a small Canadian beauty brand being built in real time, and I’m grateful you’re here for it.

October: We’re Getting Close

Our goal has been to launch ME-LIPS™ during October.

Right now, we’re aiming to launch toward the end of October on Amazon Canada while the final manufacturing, packaging, and launch pieces come together.

Would I love to give everyone an exact date today? Absolutely.

But after spending years building this, I’ve learned something:

Deadlines matter. Getting it right matters more.

I’m not interested in rushing the final steps simply so I can say I hit a particular date. When someone receives ME-LIPS™ for the first time, they won’t see all the years behind that little jar. They won’t see the emails, the spreadsheets, the prototypes, the packaging decisions, the changes, the manufacturing conversations, the late nights, or all the times I wondered whether I was crazy for continuing.

They’ll simply open the package. And I want that moment to feel right.

Love Takes Time. Dreams Take Time.

Maybe that’s the biggest lesson this anniversary month has given me:

• Love takes time.
• Building expertise takes time.
• Creating something from nothing takes time.
• Building a business takes time.
• And becoming the person capable of doing all those things takes time too.

Almost a decade with my husband.
More than two decades building my professional career.
Years quietly working on ME-LIPS™.
Thousands of decisions.
Plenty of mistakes.
A lot of learning.
And a lot of persistence.

Now, one little Canadian beauty brand is getting ready to meet its first customers.

That’s why this launch feels bigger to me than simply selling a lip tint. It’s a marker of time. It’s proof that something can begin as an idea that nobody else can see yet—and, little by little, become something real.

To Everyone Following This Journey

Thank you.

Thank you to everyone who watches my videos.
Thank you to everyone who comments.
Thank you to everyone who answers my endless YES or NO? questions.
Thank you to everyone asking when ME-LIPS™ will be available.
Thank you to everyone telling me whether you want to try Pink Glow or Warm Red Glow.
Thank you to the women who have already told me, “Let me know when you launch—I want to try it.” I remember those messages, and I can’t wait to finally tell you that it’s available.
Thank you to everyone who has encouraged this little dream before I’ve even had a product available for you to purchase.

And especially, thank you to the people who were beside me during the years when this was simply an idea.

We’re getting close.

ME-LIPS™ is aiming to launch toward the end of October on Amazon Canada. 🇨🇦

• 💕 Pink Glow
• ❤️ Warm Red Glow

Wear one.
Layer both.
Keep it natural.
Build it bolder.

Buildable. Kissable. Uniquely yours.

And after all these years of building, testing, changing, learning, and believing, I can’t wait for the day when I finally get to write two very simple words:

WE LAUNCHED. ❤️💋🇨🇦

With love,
Melinda Bui, DMS, PMC-II, FCSI

Founder, ME-LIPS™

Love yourself first, then love the world.

ME-LIPS™ is my independent personal business venture. The views and experiences shared here are my own.