From skincare and haircare to men’s grooming and wellness, discover and get to know these Black-owned beauty brands that are championing inclusivity, diversity, and a fantastic lineup of products.
It’s the year 2020, and there’s no doubt that the world of beauty now is getting more and more saturated. One would think such a massive, billion-dollar making industry would allow every single person to feel represented, but unfortunately it wasn’t always this way. For many decades, those with darker skin tones have been ignored, and the few products that were created with deeper skin tones in mind only had a handful of shades to work with. There was a time when shopping for beauty items for black women (and men) was incredibly isolating.
Fortunately we have come a long way since then, and the beauty market is seeing more and more Black-owned beauty brands at the forefront of diversity and inclusivity – leaving no skin tone or hair type ignored. Though it has taken the world this long to acknowledge that Black women have been setting trends for ages, at least we have now banded together to support Black people, businesses, and creatives who are today’s trailblazers. In their honour, we’ve listed down 15 Black-owned beauty brands that covers everything from skincare and haircare to grooming.
Pat McGrath Labs
You can’t talk about black-owned beauty brands without mentioning “The Mother of Makeup”, Pat McGrath. Known as “the most influential makeup artist in the world” by Vogue’s own Anna Wintour, Pat McGrath is, to this day, the most influential and sought-after makeup artist in the world who has been setting the trend for the beauty world for over two decades. She holds a truly incredible roster of the world’s most prestigious brands and designers, from Givenchy and Louis Vuitton to Versace and Alexander McQueen. Products under her Pat McGrath Labs brand boast formulations without any compromise, such as her highly pigmented yet cushy MatteTrance lipsticks, and incredibly beautiful range of eyeshadow shades encased in collectible palettes. W patmcgrath.com
Fenty Beauty
This is a brand that needs no introduction. Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty exploded in leading inclusivity and diversity in the world of beauty, created with a promise of inclusion for all women of every colour. The iconic brand has been recognised in no time as one of the most inclusive makeup brands on the already crowded beauty market, especially after the incredibly successful launch of her line of Pro Filt’r foundations in 50 shades. Since then, Fenty Beauty has expanded its product offerings into concealers, lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes, and show-stopping highlighters. W fentybeauty.com
Juvia’s Place
If you prize highly pigmented eyeshadows and rich colours, there’s no doubt you would have heard of Juvia’s Place cosmetics. Inspired by the magnificent cultures of Africa, the brand was created to celebrate the monarch, royals, and rebels of African kingdoms from the past, who once practiced and honoured beauty through soulful and innovative techniques that we practice today. Juvia’s Place is mostly known for their beautifully illustrated yet no-nonsense eyeshadow palettes that contain unparalleled textures and bold pigmentation – even in shades difficult to formulate such as matte yellow, black, and white. They now have expanded to include more products such as liquid lipsticks, blinding highlighters, shade sticks, and long-lasting foundations that boast 42 shades. W juviasplace.com
Hana Hana
The story behind Hana Hana goes back to a humble and loving memory of founder Abena Boamah-Acheampong’s mother using ‘nkuto’, the Twi name for shea butter, to create healing concoctions for pretty much any ailment from muscle aches to dry skin. From there, she worked to create an all natural skincare and wellness brand to help increase accessibility, transparency and sustainability in all they have to offer – from ethical sourcing of the brand’s shea butter from the Katariga Women’s Shea Cooperative in Ghana to the representation of people behind the brand. Customers can choose between Hana Hana’s Unscented Shea Body Butter to their naturally fragranced Body Butters to help nourish and regenerate the skin. W hanahanabeauty.com
Beneath Your Mask
Beneath Your Mask provides a range of skin, body and hair products designed to restore, repair, and reverse the damaging effects of our everyday stressors and unforgiving challenges that come with our modern lifestyles. An homage to founder Dana Johnson’s own personal journey to uncovering her fears and challenges and embracing her own happiness, she shares luxurious offerings that are packed with healing ingredients that were chosen for its restorative benefits. Each product is highly concentrated and do not contain any water, phosphates, parabens, sulfates, gluten, toxins, GMOs, and synthetic colours and fragrances. W beneathyourmask.com
Frederick Benjamin Grooming
The founder of Frederick Benjamin Grooming, Michael James, started his brand out of pure determination to empower Black men with safe and high quality hair care and grooming products. He replaces common chemicals and irritants with natural oils to help cleanse and nourish the scalp and hair, as well as offering a range of shaving products that’s both effective and easy to use. W shop.frederickbenjamin.com
Danessa Myricks
Danessa Myricks beauty is an artisanal brand that revolves around the notion that the beauty world should be inclusive of every woman. Myricks’ journey as a self-taught makeup artist was what inspired the brand, as she had to creatively work with minimal resources and colours at her disposal to maximise their usage to create the shades and textures she needed. “Even with this I found I was often limited by existing shades and textures and had the desire for more,” she wrote on her website. The products under Danessa Myricks are formulated to be multifunctional, with customisable colours and textures that designed for both professional artists and everyday consumers. W danessymyricksbeauty.com
Briogeo
Founder of Briogeo Nancy Twine credits her grandmother in inspiring her journey into the world of natural beauty product formulation. After realising that natural hair care on the market did not live up to its performance claim, she founded Briogeo Hair Care based off her grandmother’s beauty recipes. Briogeo offers texture-specific products that cater to every hair condition, while keeping formulas free of harsh sulfates, silicones, parabens, phthalates, DEA and synthetic colour. Twine eventually went on to become the youngest African-American to launch a product line in Sephora. W briogeohair.com
Oui The People
Instead of trying to sell lofty claims of magical anti-aging potions, carefully marketed packaging and the idea of flawlessness, Oui The People offers shaving and skincare products driven by science that can help customers feel their most confident. Founder Karen Young believes that “beauty shouldn’t come at the expense of our psyche”, showcasing the idea through products such as the Sensitive Skin Razor that features a single blade, and Bikini Line Sheet Masks to help ease new growth itchiness. The brand was launched in 2015 as Oui Shave, but eventually changed the name to Oui The People to honour people from all walks of life who love the brand. W ouithepeople.com
Coloured Raine Cosmetics
Coloured Raine Cosmetics was launched in 2013, making founder Loraine R. Dowdy’s wish of starting her own makeup brand come true. She went on to introduce high quality products ranging from long-lasting liquid lipsticks to foundations and highly pigmented, vibrant eyeshadows that would cater to every skin tone, age, and gender. The brand’s mission is to spread awareness of diversity through beauty, and to embrace all aspects of colour through unity. Coloured Raine is also more than just a woman Black-owned brand, but also employs both Black women and men, allowing customers to both shop and invest in a minority community. W colouredraine.com
TPH by Taraji
View this post on Instagram
Actress Taraji P. Henson started TPH by Taraji after encountering years and years of unsuccessful experiences with stylists who didn’t know how to work with her Black hair. With TPH, she managed to come up with a line that made innovative hair care products for every hair type, including natural hair, wigs, installs, braids, locs, and hair of every kind of texture. One of the star products of TPH is the Master Cleanse, a targeted scalp wash that contains witch hazel, eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil to help break down buildup. It even comes with a tri-touch applicator which provides deep and thorough access to your scalp where your fingers might not be able to reach. W tphbytaraji.com
Epara Skincare
The name “Epara” means “to cocoon oneself”, in the Nigerian dialect of Ebira. Epara Skincare was created to formulate luxury skincare products that cater to the needs and concerns of women of colour. Founder Ozohu Adoh developed formulas in a lab in the UK made with organic ingredients sourced from Africa to treat a myriad of skin issues that are often faced by women of colour: such as discolouration from the sun, free radicals, air pollution, and her own dry and uneven skin caused by follicular eczema. “Epara is a brand born out of a need to provide luxury skincare products to women with dark skin tones. The skin issues women have present differently in Women of Colour,” wrote Ozohu Adoh on her website. W eparaskincare.com
Vernon François
From Northern England to the world, internationally-acclaimed celebrity hairstylist Vernon François is a champion in creating highly versatile hair products catered to all hair types and textures. His eponymous brand also include sprays and treatments specially created for braids, locs, chemically-treated hair, and coily hair. Vernon aims to connect with all generations by providing the right tools and knowledge for every hair journey, regardless of the culture. W vernonfrancois.com
Unsun Cosmetics
Created in 2016 by Katonya Breaux, Unsun Cosmetics aims to provide effective and safe sun protection for women of colour. The brand’s best-selling Mineral Tinted Sunscreen is a 100% mineral sunscreen, primer, and colour corrector rolled into one versatile product. The sunscreen was formulated to cater to a range of skin tones, from fair to dark without leaving behind that white, chalky residue that we often get from using mineral sunscreens. Unsun uses a blend of natural extracts in its clean, non-animal tested and reef-safe formulations that not only protects the skin against UV damage, but also moisturises the skin and minimises the appearance of pores. W unsuncosmetics.com
Uoma Beauty
Uoma, pronounced as “uh-ma”, meaning beautiful, is a beauty brand that exists to disrupt the already saturated beauty space with a lineup that honours, empowers, and celebrates diversity and inclusivity by the way of African pride. The Nigerian-born CEO, Sharon Chuter, has been listed by WWD as one of the 30 most forward-thinking executives shaping the future of the beauty industry, after cutting her teeth at major brands such as L’Oréal, Revlon, GSK and Benefit Cosmetics. She takes inspiration from her Afro heritage and blends it with rebellious modernity to create her fresh and innovative brand, with offerings that give instant payoff and maximum pleasure to all the senses, while catering to all skin tones and types. W uomabeauty.com
Photos courtesy of the respective brands.
