Saint John business hits the big league at Hollywood's Golden Globes

It's Golden Globes weekend in Los Angeles, where A-list celebrities walk the red carpet and gather for Sunday night's annual awards for television and film. And this year a New Brunswicker is part of the action.

Saint John entrepreneur Alisha Anderson is in the middle of all that excitement, thanks to her makeup line, Dioné Cosmetics.

She is in Beverly Hills handing out 200 gift bags of her products to the stars at what's known as a talent lounge.

"From what I know, the celebrities are just going to be kind of like coming and going," said Anderson.

"I mean at the end of the day, they're huge celebrities but they are normal people so they're just going to be, like, coming in and chatting and doing some public relations stuff and taking photos. And as they walk by, they'll get a little goodie bag of Dioné."

These are some of Anderson's products that are included in the goodie bags. (Dioné Cosmetics)

Anderson said the woman who contacted her about supplying her products told her the vibe of the brand matched the energy she was trying to bring to the event.

Anderson said this opportunity has been "astronomical" for her business so far.

"I'm very New Brunswick-based business, for the most part. Most of my sales come from there," she said. But just in the last couple of weeks, "the interest that I'm getting from other parts of North America has been insane."

And on top of the Golden Globes, Anderson will head back to Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards in February, where she has also been invited to give out goodie bags filled with her products.

Anderson became a professional makeup artist in 2009 before starting Dioné Cosmetics in 2012.

She is also a cosmetic chemist and has a hand in the formulation of her products.

Anderson posted an Instagram photo of her table of gift bags, ready to hand over to celebrities attending the event. (Dioné Cosmetics)

The inspiration for her line came from her experiences in school. She was given a makeup kit to use for her studies that was considered professional quality but she felt it wasn't up to par.

"I was thinking to myself, like, there's got to be a way for me to change this. Like I can't use these products on my clients if I can't use them on myself," said Anderson.

She tried searching for professional makeup stores in Saint John, but at the time, Sephora didn't have a presence in the Port City and the closest MAC Cosmetics store was in Halifax.

So she wasn't able to tangibly put together her own kit without blindly buying online.

"And during the course of my program, we had to do a business plan and my business plan was to start my own professional makeup line."

Anderson will have 200 Dioné Cosmetics bags featuring some of her makeup products. (Dioné Cosmetics)

Many years later, Anderson still has a dream for her business — a "gigantic" building in Saint John for product development and manufacturing for a range of brands.

She said she'd also love to see a cosmetology school as part of that venture, since she has her teaching license. And one day, she dreams of a storefront, too.

But for now, she's focusing on living in the moment at the Golden Globes.

"I know it's going to be an absolute whirlwind," she said.