Flow Adepoju

A true entrepreneur, Florence Adepoju, better known as Flow, is the BSc (Hons) Cosmetic Science graduate founder of cult beauty brand MDMflow. Inspired by the glamour portrayed through hip-hop music and street culture, Flow has built an innovative beauty brand from scratch.

Named within Forbes 2018 Top 30 under 30 Podcast series, Flow has ensured MDMflow can reach customers via Boots.com, Harvey Nichols and Nasty Gal.

Flow originally aspired to be a pharmacist, until a summer job on a make-up counter showed her just how she combine her two passions – science and make-up! After seeing a YouTube video of cosmetic science students at the London College of Fashion formulating foundations, Flow made a passionate application for the BSc (Hons) Cosmetic Science and she was offered a place on the course on the spot.

During her time at the London College of Fashion, Flow worked part time as a beauty assistant and was exposed to several luxury brands. This was where she identified a particular niche in the market, where she noticed the big brands weren’t experimenting with new technology, and they weren’t producing exciting and inclusive colour palettes that worked on black and Asian skin.

Flow put together a hypothetical business plan and social media campaign as part of her dissertation. Upon graduating, Flow set out to put that plan into action, applying for a business grant from the university which was used to set up a lab in her parents’ garden shed.

As part of her dissertation, Florence had to put together a hypothetical business plan and social media campaign. ‘I got a bit carried away with it,’ she admitted. Once she had qualified with BSc (Hons) Cosmetic Science at London College of Fashion, her provisional plan turned into reality when she applied for a business grant from the university, which she used to set up a lab – complete with scales and moulds – in her parents’ garden shed in Essex.

Now, with MDMflow an established and thriving brand, Flow has launched into a new mission to drive the number of women in science, and promote STEM careers to girls in schools.
Recently selected as a UN Mentor for International Day of the Girl Child, Flow is extremely passionate about promoting diversity in the beauty industry.

Her dream is “that in the next 10 years, the beauty industry will be so transformed that anyone from anywhere can walk into a store and everything will be available to them".