Founded by The Estée Lauder Cos. alum Reema Shihadeh, Zaiie looks to infuse high-performance products with hallmarks of Palestinian culture for a global audience.

A longtime makeup marketer is launching a beauty brand inspired by her Palestinian heritage.

Called Zaiie — an Arabic word translating to “like me” in English — the brand is founded by Reema Shihadeh, formerly a global director of makeup marketing at The Estée Lauder Cos.

Debuting direct-to-consumer on Thursday, the brand looks to channel hallmarks of Palestinian culture into high-performance beauty products. It launches with a $38 Lip Press tinted gloss, a $40 The Marble highlighting blush balm and a $68 Olive Melt makeup remover, each infused with olive oil sourced from groves that are owned and operated by Shihadeh’s family in the West Bank, Palestine.

“Olive oil has always been a part of my life,” said Shihadeh, who grew up in the U.S. and each summer would visit her extended family in the West Bank. “We’re familiar with olive oil in skin care, hair care and even body care, but I was particularly interested in what it could bring to the color cosmetics space.”

Each Zaiie product features a signature Olv+ Complex, which blends five ingredients including olive oil, olive squalane and ceramide NP to support skin moisture and barrier strength.

“The products have skin care benefits, but they’re also multifunctional; you can use your fingers, you can use a brush, your hand,” said Shihadeh, who tapped celebrity makeup artist Mollie Gloss to help develop the Red Thread, Mishmish and Rose Milk shades for the lip gloss, as well as the blush balm’s two reddish-brown and peachy shades, called Toasted and Plucked, respectively.

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