COCOTEA is a self-taught makeup artist who discovered her love for beauty through many years of dance. Dance was a resource her mother used to raise her self-esteem as a young girl, after observing her struggle with accepting her chocolaty complexion.

Lovingly nicknamed “Lil’ Chocolate” around the age of 5, she was constantly encouraged to embrace who she was, despite mainstream media telling her she was less than beautiful.

She found herself reaching into her makeup case outside of her performances, and began to practice on herself more and more. Soon, she was doing makeup for her entire dance team in college. It was not until the summer of 2012 -between her sophomore and junior year she landed a job at a Sephora store in Dover, Delaware, and began to formally train as a beauty expert. From there, she went on to work for MAC Cosmetics as a manager, and left in the summer of 2018 to develop her own brand.

The persona COCOTEA is a nod to her childhood nickname, in combination with her birth name, Teashya. As she came into her own, she realized her battles with self-love would work to shape her entire brand. Every service has a reference to chocolate or sweets as a constant reminder of the journey to loving who she is.

Genetically gifted with a talent for drawing, COCOTEA has combined her natural gifts with her passion for beauty and followed her dreams. She gains personal fulfillment by helping others attain that same confidence and self-acceptance that God enabled her to find.