Black Business Month: 20 Black-Owned Beauty Brands to Know
Black-owned beauty and skincare brands are not only trailblazers in the industry but also champions of diversity and representation. With their thoughtfully formulated products and dedication to serving diverse communities, they have gained recognition and admiration in the beauty world and beyond. So, whether you’re looking for products that help embrace unique beauty or seeking effective and clean skincare solutions, these brands have you covered. Support their mission and discover the Black-owned beauty and skincare brands that celebrate and empower every individual.
Arami Essentials
Offering a variety of all-natural skincare products, Arami Essentials is a Lagos-based beauty brand that develops skincare products that invite customers to indulge and treat their bodies like a temple. The brand was founded in 2016 by former PR and marketing executive Ore Lawani, who found importing her favorite beauty products costly after moving from London to Nigeria so she began to make oils and body butters for herself. Free from sulfates, parabens and other harmful chemicals, Arami’s multi-use products take a less-is-more approach to beauty, with simple ingredients and formulas based on African wellness traditions.
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Ami Colé
This luxury skincare brand was founded by Senegalese-American Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye after feeling frustrated by the lack of inclusive options for women of color in the beauty industry. Ami Colé focuses on creating effective skincare products intended to highlight natural beauty, specially formulated for melanin-rich skin. Its skin-enhancing tinted moisturisers help to boost radiance and are available in various shades to suit multiple skin tones.
ILERA Apothecary
Chinonye Akunne established ILERA Apothecary in 2015 with the hope of helping to achieve healthy and beautiful skin through plant-based products that are free of harmful chemicals. the skincare brand achieves this through moisturizing body butters, hydrating body washes, and revitalizing oils, which are all made in-house in Detroit, Michigan. The brand’s ethos is established on the founder’s Nigerian heritage, striving to keep West African practices and philosophies alive through sustainable ingredients found naturally in the Earth.
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AcARRE
Established in 2018 by chemist Tracey Hicks-Kearse, AcARRE is a sustainable beauty brand that creates multi-use active products that use natural ingredients to protect skin and hair. Made in small batches with ethically sourced ingredients rich in antioxidants and vitamins, AcARRE’s signature Bioactive Dry Oil helps to prevent moisture loss while restoring skin’s suppleness, balance, and protection.
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Uoma Beauty
Founded by Nigerian-born, LA-based former beauty executive Sharon Chuter, Uoma Beauty offers a range of innovative products that celebrate diversity and self-expression. With an approach that’s inclusive, progressive and uncompromising, the forward-thinking make-up brand takes inspiration from the founder’s African heritage, and infuses it with a modernity that creates an original aesthetic.
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Epara
handcrafted skincare products tailored to the needs of women of colour. Founded by Ozohu Adoh, the brand uses natural ingredients derived from the rich soils of Africa to create products that nourish and protect the skin. Adoh works closely with a lab in the UK to develop formulas that address all the skincare issues faced by women of color, including dryness, uneven skin and discolouration caused by the sun, free radicals and air pollution.
LUV + CO
Founded by former makeup artist and college professor Dr Melodie Davis-Bundrage, LUV + CO was developed as a response to health disparities in women of color linked to cosmetics. The result is a line of beauty products that are designed to help cover and heal stressed skin without exacerbating health and skin conditions. The products – from foundation to powders and lipgloss – are formulated to eliminate harmful ingredients and promote healthy skin.
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Mented
The brainchild of friends KJ Miller and Amanda Johnson, Mented is a cosmetics brand developed in 2017 to make the beauty industry more inclusive. This vegan and non-toxic brand offers both a shade matching quiz and a complexion consultation to help customers find the hues that look best on their skin. Also, in staying true to the slogan “pigment is our passion,” Mented offers a large array of richly colored products that range from lipsticks to eyeshadows and bronzers. This beauty line brings the women that have been treated as an afterthought in cosmetics to the forefront.
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Black Girl Sunscreen
In 2016, Shontay Lundy created Black Girl Sunscreen to offer sun protection that caters exclusively to women of color. Made with melanated skin in mind, Black Girl Sunscreen’s 30 SPF lotion is formulated to dry completely clear and protect the skin without the white-cast. Designed for everyday, use, the brand’s products help fight against sun damage, hyperpigmentation, and fine lines.
Suki Suki Naturals
Creating natural products that nurture, soothe and heal skin and hair with harm-free ingredients from Mother Nature’s pantry is the goal of South African beauty brand Suki Suki Naturals, which was founded in 2010 by Congolese-born Linda Gieskes-Mwamba. With a focus on the quality of its ingredients and discovering under-utilised natural remedies such as mongongo and papaya, Suki Suki’s holistic formulas for facial oils, hair cremes and conditioners are handcrafted to celebrate Africa’s rich and diverse plant life.
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54 Thrones
Christina Funke Tegbe is the founder and creative mind behind 54 Thrones, an African-based beauty brand inspired by the richness, diversity, and cultures of the continent and its people. Taking a skin-first approach, 54 Thrones uses African-grown, organic botanicals blended to protect, soothe and nourish skin. Its products are designed to celebrate African beauty rituals handed down from generation to generation, that are rooted in community and the power of healing.
She Biology
Inspired by her mother’s skincare routine, founder Chinenyem Nwadiugwu created her own wellness practices to help combat her insomnia, anxiety and acne-prone skin. The result is She Biology, which offers products formulated with organically grown cannabinoid strains to achieve stress-free skin. Using high-quality ingredients that are organically sourced, all products are sustainably made with outdoor-grown ingredients that are good for the skin and the environment.
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TERRA-TORY
Freeport-based TERRA-TORY was founded by Kimberly Waldropt, who taps into her Jamaican and Trinidadian roots, and personal experiences with skin conditions to create effective, plant-based skincare. TERRA-TORY believes in harnessing the power of food and nature to improve skin health, with a mission to set new standards for the mentality and approach to personal care. The brand creates products derived from superfoods, crafted with ingredients found in nature, such as avocado, papaya and cactus. Formulated for daily use, TERRA-TORY products are designed to nourish, cleanse, soothe and protect, especially for those challenged with sensitive skin.
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The Potion Studio
At The Potion Studio, a luxury haircare brand based in Los Angeles, each product is meticulously crafted, derived from the personal story and experiments of its founder, Aziza El Wanni. Drawing inspiration from her own hair journey, she created the perfect potion to nourish and nurture her natural curls. Today, that potion is transformed into a formula designed to elevate, celebrate and simplify the haircare journey. The Potion Studio prides itself on its potent and simple ingredients, harnessed for their ability to moisturize and hydrate textured hair. Its products are formulated with nutrient-rich natural ingredients such as coconut oil, shea butter, mango butter, rose oil, and other nourishing elements.
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Address Oasis
Skincare brand Address Oasis was founded in 2022 by Loran Wilson to create spa-like products that can be used in the comfort of one’s home. She has devised a four-part treatment system that is formulated to hydrate and moisturise dry skin. Comprised of a body wash, scrub, body butter and serum, each Address Oasis product is handmade from organic, natural ingredients that improve the overall health of skin, such as aloe vera, argan oil and shea butter.
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Olaedo Naturals
Launched in 2018 by Chidera Ogbu, Olaedo Naturals is been committed to helping individuals maintain confidence in their skin, regardless of any conditions they may face. Every product is thoughtfully created with comfort in mind, incorporating the expertise of certified cosmetic scientists. The brand is dedicated to providing the best sustainable beauty products that harness the power of nature and science to enhance skin health while promoting eco-conscious practices.
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KNC Beauty
Kristen Noel Crawley created KNC Beauty in 2016 after seeing a wall of lip masks at a store in Tokyo, which inspired her to start her own line of lip care products. KNC Beauty began with a glossy pink collagen-infused lip mask, and now includes eye masks with retinol, along with face masks made up of ingredients derived from plants. This California-based beauty brand wants to keep customers looking natural and effortlessly fresh.
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Pink Root Products
Founded in 2019 by Mariel Mejia, haircare brand Pink Root Products is dedicated to improving the transition from chemically treated and heat-damaged hair to natural hair. With a mix of oils, vegetable proteins, and butters, the brand’s conditioner, lotion and curling paste are full of nutrient-rich, organic ingredients that are carefully chosen to restore, nurture and protect all textures and hair types.
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Honam Naturals
Toronto-based skincare brand Honam Naturals incorporates African beauty secrets with Western beauty procedures to create unique and natural products that cater to a diverse range of skin types and combinations. Inspired by the founder Naana Daniels’ Ghanaian heritage, the brand uses shea butter, coconut oil, mango butter and other naturally grown botanicals for its range of soaps, serums and body butters.
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Honey Beauty
Founded in Lagos, Nigeria in 2021, Honey Beauty wants to make high-quality cosmetic products readily accessible to beauty lovers in Africa, and beyond. The brand has spent three years developing premium products that are accessible, easy to use and cruelty-free. A direct response to the pressures of so-called “Instagram face”, Honey Beauty products are designed to enhance, not alter, the natural looks of the women that use its range of eyeshadow palettes, mascara, lipglosses and brow pencils.
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