60+ Black-Owned Beauty Brands to Support Now and Always

The beauty industry has made some progress when it comes to diversity and inclusion, but there's still a long way to go. As a beauty platform, we know it's our responsibility to lead the charge to a more inclusive world, and we're making it our priority to work tirelessly every day to spotlight the brands, people, and businesses that make that future possible—and there are so, so many. We also know that in order to spur real change, we need to look inwards and prioritize representation first in our own team and how we operate. You can trust that we're putting this front of mind, now and always, because we know that we can do better. We will do better. As we work on actionable goals internally, we wanted put the spotlight on the Black-owned beauty brands that are making our beloved space a more inclusive place (and schooling ourselves on their incredible work in the process). Ahead, find over 60 incredible Black-owned beauty brands you can support with your dollar, now and always. From pigment-rich makeup to clean formulas designed with natural hair in mind, keep scrolling for the best Black-owned brands every beauty-lover should know.

Haircare

Vernon Francois

Celebrity hairstylist Vernon Francois' line of products are created specifically for textured hair in mind. With clients like Serena Williams and Lupita Nyong'o, Francois' expertise working with curly and textured hair translates to a line of products that make styling them easy.

Carol's Daughter

Lisa Price created Carol's Daughter in her mother's kitchen in Brooklyn, New York in 1993, where it's since grown to be a leader in the curly-hair space. A trip to Tahiti spurred the launch of the Monoi line, which is now the brand's top-selling collection.

Oyin Handmade

"Oyin" is the Yoruba word for honey and the inspiration behind the line for founder Jamyla Bennu, who started the brand after she wasn't able to find commercially-available products for her textured natural hair. This award-winning leave-in lotion can be used right after washing, as a mid-day refresh, or mixed with any other products to add hydration.

The Wrap Life

The Wrap Life was created by Nnenna Stella out of Brooklyn, New York and offers a stunning collection different head wraps and headbands made out of high-quality, premium fabrics.

Briogeo

Nancy Twine's ingredient-focused haircare products makes taking care of your strands fun and approachable, regardless of your hair type or concern. We've awarded Briogeo multiple Byrdie Eco Awards for its clean formulations and innovative formulas (try the Don't Despair, Repair Deep Conditioning Cap—you won't regret it).

Mielle Organics

Mielle Organics launched in 2014 with its Advanced Hair Formula, a blend of herbs, amino acids and minerals to support healthy hair, skin and nails. Since then the line has grown to include cult-favorite hair and body products, such as the Babassu Oil and Mint Almond Oil.

TGIN

TGIN stands for Thank God It's Natural and boasts a collection of clean haircare products for natural textures. Founder Chris-Tia Donaldson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, and since then has started the tgin Foundation to support uninsured women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, highlight the impact of health disparities on survivor outcomes, and stress the importance of early detection for women under the age of 40.

Aunt Jackie's

If hydrating, buttery, oil-infused hair products are your jam, we recommend you check out Aunt Jackie's, stat. The brand focuses specifically on curl care, offering a variety of different products to suit your curl goals; plus, join the brand's Curl Clique to ask all your burning curl questions.

Girl and Hair

This brand was created our of founder Camille's desire to maintain and grow out her natural hair while it was put away in a braided protective style. The products are all designed so that the formulas can flow easily from the nozzle into the root of the hair, protecting and fortifying natural hair as it grows.

SheaMoisture

SheaMoisture won a Byrdie Eco Award for Best Budget Haircare Brand, and for good reason. The brand has paved the way for a wave of products geared towards natural hair since it's inception in 1912 and now offers hundreds of SKUs ranging from hair masks to curl jellies and even skincare. (The brand's parent company Sundial Brands was acquired by Unilever in 2017—as part of the deal, Unilever and Sundial created the New Voices Fund with an initial investment of $50 million to empower women of color entrepreneurs.)

Oye Green

Founded on the notion that shea butter is a natural do-it-all ingredient with deep African roots, Oye serves to help nourish the skin and hair with its hero all-natural Shea Mix. To accompany your hydrated lengths, the brand also sells durags, cowrie shells, brushes, and combs.

The Mane Choice

After amassing a large following on YouTube where she shared her healthy hair journey, founder Courtney Adeleye realized she could take her learnings—coupled with her background in medicine— and fill a gap in the natural hair space to craft a line of products that truly boost the health and integrity of your hair without doing harm.

CURLS

Founder Mahisha Dellinger worked with a leading team of cosmetic and wellness experts to create CURLS, a line of specially formulated natural hair products for all ages, from babies to adults. Celebrity fans of the brand include Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, Nia Long, and Ashanti.

EDEN Bodyworks

EDEN Bodyworks founder Jasmine Lawrence founded the brand after suffering a hair-damaging chemical burn and lamenting the lack of products on the market to restore strength to her hair. The affordable line currently offers products with curly hair in mind in delectable scents and formulas, from Coconut Shea to Hibiscus Honey to Jojoba Monoi. Mmm.

Miss Jessie's

Miss Jessie's has been a leader in curl-care since its inception in 2004; it makes sense, given it was founded by two hairstylist sisters who specialized in textured and natural hair in their salon, Miss Jessie's Salon. Curly girls know it can be an arduous task to try and find the right styling creme—one that doesn't make your natural texture feel crunchy, slimy, or heavy. Enter: Miss Jessie's Pillow Soft Curls, which does quite the opposite, working as a weightless concoction that's perfect for all curl types.

Mayvenn

Mayvenn is a line of 100 percent virgin, 100 percent human hair started by founder Diishan Imira, who grew up in a family of hairdressers and noticed that "all of the hair products that our community was buying, we weren’t selling." That didn't sit right with him, which is why he started Mayvenn, which offers a wide range of extensions, wigs, lace fronts, and more. Plus, you can buy knowing that you can return your purchase if you aren't happy with it (even if you heat style or dye your Mayvenn hair).

Cee Cee's Closet NYC

Cee Cee's Closet offers a colorful array of headbands, headwraps and jewelry, all inspired by the patterns and prints of West Africa. Founded by Chioma and Uchenna Ngwudo in New York City, the brand works with artisans in Nigeria to design the fabrics for every piece.

Camille Rose

Camille Rose's Curl Maker is a holy grail for many a curly or natural-haired girl, thanks in part to its jelly-oil textured, infused with marshmallow and agave extracts for a light, non-crunchy hold. The line has expanded to an extensive collection of curl products, all infused with gourmet ingredients, and even sweet-smelling bodycare.

Skincare

Nubian Heritage

Founded by the same creators of much-loved hair and skincare brand SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage's holy-grail product is its African Black Soap, made with shea butter, oats, aloe, and cocoa pod ash to gently cleanse and detoxify the skin, draw out blackheads, and more. But don't sleep on its other products—the fragrant body washes will transport you to the nearest island in a breeze.

Folie

"Folie" (pronounced Foh-lee) is French for madness, but there's nothing mad about this minimalist brand. Other than being Solange-approved, the brand is worth noticing for its Prickly Pear Face Serum, which has a full five-star rating on Etsy with reviewers saying it's helped them with everything from hyperpigmentation to dryness.

JACQ'S

Barbara Jacques founded her skincare line after receiving news an ovarian cancer diagnosis, which she found out when she was pregnant with her young daughter. This led her to a journey of formulating skincare products completely free of the "dirty 30" and guaranteed to be non-toxic. This healing cleanser contains amino acids to repair the skin and papaya enzyme to gently remove dead cells, which makes it perfect for oily-combo skin types.

Kaike

Founded in 2015 by Keli Smith, KAIKE (pronounced "cake") is a plant-based skincare and bodycare brand all about making taking care of yourself fun again. It offers minimal and multi-purpose products formulated to solve a variety of skincare issues specific to melanin-rich skin, all made with natural ingredients.

Black Girl Sunscreen

Black Girl Sunscreen was founded in 2016 because there was a gaping hole in the market—historically, sun protection products were formulated with white residue, which left a white cast on anyone with a darker skin tone. Black Girl Sunscreen was made for melanin women to have a sunscreen brand that caters exclusively to them.

Klur

Klur is a clean, eco-conscious skincare brand born out of LA that's any minimalist lover's dream. Founder Lesley Thornton started the line after years of treating clients' skin as an esthetician and sought to create a sleek, luxurious, and sustainably-minded skincare brand that would cater to diverse skin conditions and ethnicities. The result is a chic line of products you'll proudly want to display on your vanity (and slather on your face).

Base Butter

Base Butter offers crowdsourced skincare products that are easy to use and yield results, specifically for oily and combination skin skin types. The brand promises to create better informed consumers through information, education and products that really work.

Bolden

Bolden creates expertly-cra­fted, responsibly-sourced formulas as a celebration of natural beauty. As Black women, the founders are committed to making beauty products that really work well for women of color, as well as helping to shape a global conversation about inclusive standards of beauty. This brightening toner uses glycolic acid to smooth skin texture and brighten dark spots, with hundreds of glowing reviews.

KNC Beauty

Kristen Noel Crawley started KNC with just one product: a collagen-infused lip mask that 1) was highly Instagrammable and 2) gave you the plumpest, softest lips of your life. These days, the brand has expanded to include lip scrubs and even star-shaped eye masks, all housed in playful packaging and all things you'll want to slather on your face and lips immediately.

Shani Darden

Shani Darden is the go-to esthetician for the likes of Jessica Alba and Chrissy Teigen, and her line of luxe skincare products allow you to get the effect of one of her waitlist-only facials without stopping by her Hollywood clinic. The brand's Retinol Reform is the hero product, but we also love the gentler Texture Reformfor those with sensitive skin and the hydrating, skin-smoothing Sake Toning Essence—honestly, everything in her sleek line is just so good.

The Afro Hair & Skin Co.

The Afro Hair & Skin Co. is a U.K.-born beauty and wellness business that prioritizes natural and locally-sourced ingredients to meet the unique needs of afro-textured hair and melanin-rich skin. They source sustainable ingredients that are grown, harvested, and cold-pressed in the U.K., as well as certified organic and Fairtrade natural ingredients from other parts of the world.

Unsun Cosmetics

After endless frustration over the lack of options within the world of clean sunscreen products for women of color, Katonya Breaux decided to make her own. Unsun Cosmetics was created to provide clean, no-residue tinted SPF options that are good for your skin and for the environment.

Hanahana Beauty

As a child, founder Abena Boamah-Acheampong's mother would heat up shea butter and cloves to make her own body butter concoctions. It became the go-to in her household for ailments like dry skin and sore muscles. Now, it's her business. Her mission? To uplift women of color and create products with increased accessibility, transparency, and sustainability. Hanahana Beauty formulates using shea butter directly from the Katariga Women's Shea Cooperative in Ghana.

Golde

Golde founder Trinity Mouzon Wofford started the playful line out of Brooklyn, New York to bring "good vibes" to the wellness industry. The brand offers much-loved Latte Blends, but also skincare made with edible superfoods, like this brightening mask containing superfruits like lucuma, papaya, and sea buckthorn berry.

Marie Louise Cosmetics

Akilah Mary-Louise Releford founded Mary Louise Cosmetics in 2017 out of a love for natural and organic beauty products. The brand works to create nourishing and clean beauty products that make skincare easy and fun—from serums and face masks to body butters. This top-selling face serum is made with baobab oil, sunflower oil, vitamin c, and other essential oils to balance oil production and soothe.

Essentials by Temi

This sleek line of skincare essentials is made with only plant-based ingredients and the brainchild of Temi Shobawale, who started the brand after years of working in the beauty industry and realizing most of the mainstream products she recommended were filled with sketchy ingredients. The brand's Radiance Elixir Oil is made with lemongrass to balance skin's oil production and baobab oil, a vitamin c powerhouse, to brighten and stimulate collagen production.

BFree Cosmetics

A true farm-to-body experience, founder Cassandra Dailey handcrafts each product in small batches using organic ingredients from the California farmland where she resides. This slow, natural ethos aligns with the teachings of Dailey's ancestors that plants are healing, especially for your skin.

AbsoluteJoi

AbsoluteJoi's tagling is simple: clean skincare for women of color. The line was created by Dr. Anne and inspired by her two daughters who were searching for a clean skincare brand to address their specific needs, like hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone. The brand's hero product is the Skin Refining Night Oil, made with retinol and vitamins c and e for an anti-aging powerhouse.

Pholk

After traveling to Africa and cocktailing her own beauty products of natural oils, clays, and butters to suit her combination skin, academic-turned-activist founder Niambi Cacchioli decided to form her own skincare brand based on African Diaspora folk beauty culture. The result is a beautiful range of skincare products made with nourishing and healing botanicals inspired by those Cacchioli found in her travels.

Nyakio

Founder Nyakio Kamoche started her namesake line to utilize the secrets she learned from her grandmother, medicine men, and farmers during her childhood growing up in Africa. The Sweet Almond Cleansing Oil makes cleansing an indulgent experience, melting away makeup easily, while the Kenyan Coffee Face Polish is inspire by her grandmother's recipe for sloughing away dead skin using crushed coffee beans.

Bevel

Bevel founder Tristan Walker developed this luxe line of shaving and grooming products specifically to reduce bumps, irritation, and itching caused by hair removal. The Starter Set features the brand's five-part system for your closest shave ever, while the Trimmer has reached cult status for its ability to create precise lines and closer, cleaner cuts. Bevel is owned by Walker & Company, a company with the mission of "making health and beauty simple for people of color."

Urban Hydration

If you already know you need to ditch the preservatives-loaded makeup wipes for a micellar water formula, you've come to the right place. It's in the name—Urban Hydration's products are specifically engineered to treat dry skin and hair, and the brand's micellar water is a cult-favorite. Use it as a toner or a makeup remover to infuse more hydration into your daily routine.

HIMistry

HIMistry's tagline is "where shaving meets skincare technology," which makes sense, considering the line consists of an assortment of skincare and shave products all meant to help you get the perfect shave (or take care of your beard, if you'd prefer). Check out the affordably-priced Hyaluronic Acid & Vitamin C Serum, which you can slather on post-shave to keep your skin looking bright.

Bodycare

SkinBUTTR

Model and entrepreneur Tatiana Price started SkinBUTTR with $100 and turned it into a cult-loved bodycare line full of delicious-smelling body butters and scrubs. Plus, at $8 a tub, you can stock up.

The Honey Pot Company

Founder Bea Dixon suffered from bacterial vaginosis for months, which led to the creation of the brand's OG product, the Normal Wash. The affordable line now creates everything from washes to tampons, all free of sketchy ingredients and all meant to make your "honey pot" happier. Plus, the brand works with #HappyPeriod to donate menstrual products to women in need.

Foxie Cosmetics

As someone with a chronic illness, Kayla Phillips launched Foxie cosmetics with colorful bath products to brighten her mood and help soothe and ease the pain and inflammation associated with her condition. Today, her products span haircare, fragrance, and skincare, and all ingredients are ethically and sustainably sourced—not to mention fun to use and look at.

Epara

Epara means "to cocoon" in Nigerian dialect, which is the notion founder Ozohu Adoh wanted users to feel when applying her U.K.-based skincare line—that they were wrapping themselves in luxury. The line of 10 products is meant to adsress two main skin concerns that women of color face: dry skn and hyperpigmentation, which Ozohu found she was able to counteract on her own with the same African botanicals you'll find in the formulations.

Gilded

Gilded is a line of bodycare products and candles that are meant to indulge your nose and your eyes. Each product is luxuriously designed to look good on your vanity, from marble-housed candles to marble body brushes.

PW Collections

If pretty soaps are your thing, you'll want to know about Brooklyn-based PW Collections, a line of stunning handmade swirled soaps from founder Paris Williams. The Black Rose soap is infused with rose petals and Moroccan clay to detoxify and gently cleanse your face and body.

Makeup

The Lip Bar

The Lip Bar is a vegan and cruelty-free brand that exists to offer representation and simple-to-use products for everyone, but especially those who feel underserved by the beauty community. In 2012, founder Melissa Butler started making lipstick in her kitchen—and the rest is history.

BLK/OPL

Founded in 1994, Black Opal offers skincare and color cosmetics specifically for women of color. Specializing in solutions for hyperpigmentation, oil control, and shade matching, the brand has celebrated diversity since its inception, offering a wide, nuanced shade range and products for men and women at an affordable price point.

Mented Cosmetics

KJ Miller and Amanda E. Johnson created Mented Cosmetics under the belief that every woman should be able to find herself in the world of beauty, no matter her skin tone. So, they've created a line of sleek, luxurious products with a wide shade range to help accomplish that. In addition, all Mented Cosmetics lipsticks are vegan, paraben-free, non-toxic, and cruelty free.

IMAN Cosmetics

Even in the age of the Fenty 40, it can be tough to match your shade when you're shopping for complexion products online. But IMAN Cosmetics—founded by iconic supermodel Iman—is doing its part to make shade matching easier for women of color. Instead of choosing from computer-generated images of swatches, IMAN's shade matching tool lets you choose from images of real women who match your skin tone for a realistic match.

Coloured Rain

Coloured Raine's founder Loraine R. Dowdy left the financial industry in 2013 when she saw an opportunity to create something unique (while still being inclusive) in the beauty space. And thus, Coloured Raine was born. The brand's products include vibrant eyeshadow palettes, liquid lipsticks with a nude for everyone, and a high-coverage satin foundation (maybe you saw the viral video of this product seamlessly covering an arm tattoo).

Danessa Myricks Beauty

The brand's founder, Danessa Myricks, is a professional makeup artist who wanted to create professional-grade, multifunctional products for every woman. She succeeded. You can shop Danessa Myricks Beauty's complexion, lip, and eye products, as well as Myricks's catalog of makeup artistry courses.

UOMA Beauty

Nigerian-born, London and L.A.-based Sharon Chuter led teams at Revlon, L'Oréal and Benefit before deciding it was time to start her own. UOMA Beauty is rooted in the values of self expression, inclusivity, and African Pride, with a wide range of shades for all of its complexion products. Pro tip: don't sleep on the Black Magic Carnival Lipstick—it's just as pretty on as it is mesmerizing to look at.

Range Beauty

Range Beauty was created out of a need for more diverse shades and less toxic ingredients inthe beauty industry and features products that are meant to enhance, not cover, your skin. The cult-favorite smoothing powder is cruelty-free, talc-free, and your ultimate weapon against shine, creasing, and sliding.

Maréna Beauté

Maréna Beauté's tagline is simply "makeup for dark skin," and it's clear that this messaging is part of every product they develop. Whether you're looking for foundation, powder, blush, bronzer, or lip color, there's a perfect nude for every skin tone.

AJ Crimson

AJ Crimson started his line of products with the makeup artist in mind, which makes sense considering his experience doing makeup for the likes of Brandy, Regina King, and more. His Artist Kit is one of the brand's best sellers, and for good reason. These creamy pigments deliver (in a multitude of shade sets) the perfect foundation, contour, and highlight all in one slim, quality palette.

SACHA Cosmetics started in Trinidad and Tobago and was developed for multicultural women. The brand offers a range of makeup artist-approved makeup in a wide variety of textures and shade ranges, and most are affordably priced.

Fenty Beauty

When Rihanna launched Fenty, she defied every preconceived notion that a makeup line that prioritized diversity could be embraced by all—now worth over $3 billion, it's proof that inclusivity is the new and only future of beauty. It's hard to pick a favorite Fenty product, but try starting with the Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation—which paved the way for a 40-shade range to be the standard, not the exception—then move onto the Gloss Bombs, Snap Shadows, and more. (Fenty is owned 50% by LVMH, which launched the brand via its beauty brand incubator Kendo, with Rihanna owning the other 50%).

Beauty Bakerie

Founder Cashmere Nicole is open about the journey that brought her to starting Beauty Bakerie, from becoming a single mother at age 16 to battling a bout of breast cancer. But she credits her new "sweet life" to the trifecta of giving back, her business and her love of pastries, which inspire this collection of last-all-day, smudge-proof makeup. These days, Beauty Bakerie is a valued at over $15M dollar, with backing from the likes of Unilever, and Nicole is one of the few Black women who have ever raised $1 million for their businesses. 

Pat McGrath Labs

Anyone who knows makeup knows Pat McGrath. The industry legend has created some of the most iconic looks in history, from beauty campaigns to jaw-dropping fashion week looks, and some might call her the most influential name in makeup today. Thus, it made sense for her to launch her own line, and it doesn't disappoint. Pat McGrath Labs is all about glamour, grandeur, and allowing you play artist with a range of glittery, silky, holographic products from lips to eyes. As Mother would say: Diviiiine, darling.

Juvia's Place

Juvia's Place makes colorful makeup inspired by and celebrating "the rebels, rulers and queens of the African kingdoms of long ago." The eye shadow palettes are a must-have if brightly colored shadows are your thing, and don't sleep on the matte lipsticks either—they don't budge.