Beauty and it’s processes have and will always be an intricate and personal experience for women of color, many of whom grew up in the hair salon or sitting between their mothers’ legs as she parted their hair and greased their scalps. Beauty is deeply woven into Black culture and it’s no surprise that African American consumers account for about 90% of the overall spend in the ethnic hair and beauty aid categories according to a 2019 report by Nielsen. Yet, Black women have often been overlooked and underserved when it comes to beauty products and shades that match, compliment, or address our unique skincare needs.
Nevertheless, there have been attempts made in recent years to address these needs. For example, major retail beauty brands have finally started to expand their foundation shade ranges to be more inclusive of the many shades of brown skin. While it’s commendable that all beauty brands would consider and cater to the needs of Black consumers true progress cannot be made until more Black voices have a seat at the proverbial beauty table. By including Black voices behind the scenes brands and consumers alike can ensure that diverse campaigns, advertisements, and inclusive product lines are executed authentically and successfully. The Black-owned beauty brands below have been doing the work of centering Black women, men, and children for years and deserve your support year round. These trailblazers are creating products that specifically address different ethnic skin care needs, purposely include nearly 60 foundation shades and undertones, and are creating beauty trends daily that continue to drive the industry.
With the current and necessary push to support Black-owned businesses during a time of major social unrest and injustice in the world, here are 50 Black-owned beauty brands with products for the entire family that you can support, amplify, and buy from now and forever.
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Started by Janell Stephens in 2011, Camille Rose Naturals is a vegan ingredient based natural hair and skin care line. The mother of five whipped up her first batch, of the now over 30 product hair care line in her kitchen from a desire to create clean beauty products that fit the needs of her children's sensitive, eczema-prone skin. The brand uses high-end, gourmet ingredients like Morrocan pear, almond milk/oil, buritti nectar, and nangai oil.
“There’s beauty in taking it off.” is the tagline of this high-end makeup remover wipe company founded by Lauren Napier. The wipes were crafted out of a need for a makeup remover wipe that melts makeup off without leaving harsh chemicals behind. Infused with ingredients like aloe, rose water, and vitamin K, these makeup wipes are packaged for women on the go who love clean beauty.
Founded by a former Fortune 500 Company marketing manager, Mahisha Dellinger, CURLS was created out of a desire to, “create a remarkable, high quality, natural hair care line for an overlooked audience.” With product lines that cater to both babies and adults, CURLS has something to quench everyone's curls and make them pop.
After noticing the lack of makeup shades available during photoshoots and runway shows, Alicia Scott created Range Beauty to fill the skintone gap in beauty. Range boasts a foundation line of over 20 foundation shades with every skin tone and undertone in mind. “A makeup line with skincare benefits,” the company uses clean ingredients that do not inflame eczema and acne prone skin.
Bea Dixion created The Honey Pot Co. for women to have natural feminine and menstruation products options. Dubbed as the “first complete feminine care system that cleanses, protects, and balances your vagina,” the herbal-based lines include washes, sprays, menstrual cups, tampons, pads, and more.
Many women of color have trouble trying to find the perfect nude lipstick for their skin tone and Mented Cosmetics was created to fill the void. KJ Miller and Amanda Johnson believe, “every woman should be able to find herself in the world of beauty, no matter her skin tone.” These vegan lipsticks have the perfect nude for every skin tone.
Launched in 2012, Melissa Butler created The Lip Bar in her kitchen after growing frustrations from media depictions of what beauty should look like. Starting off with bold bright lipsticks and expanding to a full face line there’s something for everyone to add to their makeup bag.
Dubbed as, “the most influential makeup artist in the world” by Anna Wintour, Pat McGrath created her namesake line to revolutionize the beauty industry. The iconic makeup line includes over 50 lipstick shades, eyeliners, and lip pencils that have pushed the brand to be valued at $1 billion two years after its inception.
Created by musician and mogul Rihanna, Fenty Beauty took the beauty industry by storm by launching with 40 foundations shades for all skin tones. The Fenty Beauty launch shifted the beauty industry and shined a much needed light on the diversity of skin tones in people of color and the importance of an inclusive beauty line. The brand now has over 50 concealer shades and other beauty products.
A makeup line with newbies and amateurs in mind, Raynell Steward, took the makeup world by storm with her “Box of Crayons” makeup palette. With a fun school theme, the line includes “loose leaf” makeup wipes, pencil styled makeup brushes, and white out eye liner.
Many sunscreen brands are not created with women of color in mind and therefore usually leave a sticky white residue on the skin. Black Girl Sunscreen is a no mess sunscreen created with women of color in mind that dries clear, boasts natural ingredients, and moisturizes and rejuvenates your face and body.
Created with the many skin tones of people of color in mind, Jacqueline Carrington created People of Color Beauty to create nail polishes that complement the various shades of brown skin. With fun bright colors and pale nudes there’s a nail polish color for everyone.
Play Pits was created by Kameron Powell as a way to provide a safe kid-friendly natural hygiene option for children with active lifestyles. It now has deodorant lines for the entire family.
Founded by Cashmere Nicole, Beauty Bakerie is a makeup line inspired by delicious sweet treats! With items named after brownies and Neapolitan bars there’s lipsticks, foundations, and highlighters to satisfy many beauty lovers' sweet tooth.
Bevel is a line of shaving products with men of color in mind that was created to reduce bumps and skin irritation. As well as before and after shave skin care products that cleanse, moisturize, and nourish the skin.
Created by celebrity stylist and natural hair expert these detangling brushes work best for thick, natural, kinky, curly hair. The brush is designed to be open and flexible at the top to allow for the brush to move with your hair for easy detangling.
Created by mega star, Tracee Ellis Ross, Pattern Beauty hopes to “give you access to your best curls in your own bathroom.” Offering shampoos, deep conditioners, styling creams, and hair tools, there’s something for your hair needs.
Created to help you elevate your shower experience, Luv Scrub is an exfoliating net that helps to scrub dead skin away, remove dirt and promote healthy clean skin. Lather up the net in the shower and bathe like normal as the net will help unclog pores, prevent ingrown hairs and even skin tone.
A natural hair and skin care line that promotes clean ingredients to encourage healthy skin and hair. Launched in 2014, the brand blends herbs, amino acids, and minerals to help your hair, skin, and nails grow and shine.
A beauty subscription box that sends several full sized natural hair products for a discounted price that allows beauty lovers to try different brands of products and hair tools.
A makeup line inspired by the rulers and Queens of the African kingdoms. With high intensity, pigment rich palettes dawning photos of African Queens that will transform your makeup look.
Sustainable natural hair products with clean natural ingredients made for every curl type. With four different collections that range from natural hair care, curly hair care, children's hair care, and protective styling.
Created by natural hair YouTuber Whitney White, Melanin Haircare offers products that are made with high quality natural and safe synthetic ingredients to offer simple and affordable products for women, men, and children.
Created out of a need to heal eczema prone skin this skin care line is most known for its whipped body butters. With a collection that includes body and face oils, sugar and moisture scrubs Kyn Care keeps moisturized skin as a top priority.
These all creme nail polishes were created to be cruelty free and vegan friendly and come in several shades ranging from nudes to metallics and bright yellow.
Created by media personality Toya Wright, this line of 100% Mulberry silk bonnets were designed to keep your hair protected at night. Including a line of children's bonnets as well in cute designs.
With a mission to help make skincare easy for oily and combination skin types Base Butter was founded by She’Neil Johnson and Nicolette Graves. The brand wants to make skincare simple, safe, and effective with products that are clean and natural. They’re on a mission to “redefine the perception of beauty and its impact on our relationship with our skin.”
Created by Lisa Price, Carol’s Daughter was crafted in her kitchen in Brooklyn and turned into a mega brand in the natural hair community, offering both hair and skincare lines that cater to reviving various hair and skin care needs.
A marketplace for all natural beauty and wellness products created by black artisans and entrepreneurs.
Award winning celebrity makeup artist and beauty coach Camara Aunique created these handcrafted faux mink lashes. Many of the lashes are named after friends and fellow Black women in beauty.
Created by a registered nurse and physician duo this natural hair care line builds its foundation on a “beauty, health, science” approach to create several product collections, vitamins, and wellness products that promote overall health and wellness.
Chock full of vegetable derived ingredients, honey, beeswax, and silk protein, Oyin Handmade has collections of hair care, skin care, and deodorant for the whole family.
Dana Jackson created this skincare line after overcoming a unique journey with Lupus and wanting to find products that would heal and restore her skin after all the medication and treatments. Jackson “sought to create products that were safe, non-irritating, and non-toxic for the skin to absorb and that would not challenge the immune system.”
Created by Kristen Noel Crawley, KNC Beauty is well known for it’s all natural collagen infused lip mask and retinol infused eye mask that took Instagram by storm.
Known for it’s notable Rose Galore multipurpose oil that helps with skin inflammations, black and white heads, hyperpigmentation and more. The founder, Mariee Revere sold out in eight minutes during the initial launch.
Best known for their vitamin C serum, Hyper Clear, Hyper Skin was created to fight acne, dark marks, hyperpigmentation, and brighten the skin.
Inspired by the founders global travels, Nyakio skincare incorporates globally sourced ingredients like almond oil from Spain and African black soap from Ghana to create collections that target various skincare needs.
Focusing on hyperpigmentation, oil control, and shade-matching, Black Opal has been around for over 25 years and developed “the first technologically advanced skincare and cosmetics line for women of color.”
Popular for its Sacha Buttercup powder, this cosmetic line began its rise to fame by being the “creator of the first and only powder foundation developed for light, medium, and dark skin tones.”
Created by former beauty executive Sharon Chuter, UOMA Beauty, was created to “rewrite the rules of inclusivity and diversity to create a world of beauty that truly is for all of us.” Most known for its award winning foundation that comes in 51 shades.
Created by acclaimed actress Taraji P. Henson, TPH by Taraji keenly focuses on promoting scalp health in order to create an “optimal environment for healthy hair”
A toxin-free, vegan hair and body care line created to change the way that consumers think about all-natural beauty care.
A sunscreen line created to provide clean no-residue UV protection for women of color along with being environmentally friendly,
A shaving and skin care line dedicated to helping make your shaving process as easy as possible while preventing ingrown hairs, razor burn, and dry skin.
Jam-packed with African ingredients, this organic and natural skin care line was developed to nourish and protect the skin. Epara means “to cocoon oneself” in the Nigerian dialect of Ebira and the brand wants you to do just that with their oils and serums.
Founded by beauty maven and celebrity makeup artist AJ Crimson Beauty was founded out of a necessity to, “bring products to women of color that actually worked and didn’t oxidize or change.”
A big hit in Sephora, Briogeo, is a high performance hair care collection that includes power packed natural ingredients set to revive your curls.
After dealing with a hair-damaging chemical burn, Eden Bodyworks was created to offer quality products with safe ingredients to “treat and maintain the hair and body's natural design.” Equipped with both skin and hair care lines to cater to several different hair and skin needs.
Created by a Black woman dermatologist, GIRL+HAIR was inspired by Dr.Camille’s desires to find and create healthy products to use while wearing protective styles like braids, wigs, weaves and extensions. The line includes products that help cleanse and moisturize natural hair while in these protective styles.
Plant and CBD-based tincture wellness products that include facial serums, daily drops, intimate oil, and body butter. The brand uses THC-free CBD products to help promote healthy skin, better sleep, vaginal health, and more.
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