6 WOC-Owned Beauty Brands To Support in 2021

MakeupSkincare

Apr 8

For far too long beauty brands have catered mainly to a lighter skin tone. Beauty shopping has long been a hectic battle to find the perfect shade for people with deeper complexions, and while brands like Fenty have forced the conversation for the need for inclusivity and diversity in the beauty space, there are brands who have gotten it right from the very start.

Scroll through for a list of some of our favorite beauty brands owned by women of color, for women of color. These pathfinders are changing the conversation from merely accommodating women of color to actually creating products with our skin, curls and textures in mind. Here are 6 WOC-owned beauty brands to love and support, not just today but all year long.

GOLDE

Trinity Wofford launched her wellness and beauty brand in January of 2017. The brand’s goal? Building the future of self-care for all. She and her partner launched their first product in 2017 and two years later, she found herself on Sephora’s shelves and websites, making her the youngest Black woman to achieve this feat.

The brand sells everything from dietary supplements, matcha blends with superfood essentials like turmeric and cacao, to face masks powered by chlorella, spirulina and mango juice. She frequently speaks about the struggles of starting a business as a young woman of color and not having a lot of role models to look up to, but by sharing her story and success she has become a role model for women of color everywhere.

Black Girl Sunscreen

The common misconception that Black people do not need protection from the sun coupled with the flurry of sunscreens on the market that leave a white cast has made looking for SPF while Black a struggle. Shontay Lundy recognized this struggle, and in 2016 founded her company, Black Girl Sunscreen.

Black Girl Sunscreen’s top-selling product is its SPF 30 sunscreen, a weightless, invisible sunscreen that simultaneously leaves skin moisturized while keeping it protected from harmful UV rays. The best part about it? This amazing product retails for $16.

Krave Beauty

Liah Yoo is a South Korean beauty influencer best known for giving skincare reviews and tips on her Youtube page, where she’s garnered over 1 million subscribers. In 2017, she founded her own skincare brand called Krave Beauty. Her brand centers around skincare basics that work with your skin.

One of the most popular products from the brand is The Beet Shield, a light sunscreen that provides protection from UVA & UVB rays and doesn’t leave a white cast. It retails for $20.

Hyper Skin

Hyper Skin was founded by Desiree Verdejo who, despite constantly testing skincare products while owning a Harlem-based beauty boutique from 2015 to 2018, was unable to find products to treat her hyperpigmentation. This trailblazer took matters into her own hands and developed her skincare brand, Hyper Skin. She describes her brand as rooted in multiculturalism. The brand’s Vitamin C serum has a 4.6 star rating with over 400 reviews on the company’s website.

The Lip Bar

The Lip Bar founder, Melissa Butler presented her line of colorful, vegan lipsticks on ABC’s Shark Tank and was ridiculed. She however went from a laughing stock to being stocked on Target’s shelves.

The company was launched from Butler’s frustration with the lack of diversity in the beauty industry. She started off making lipstick in her kitchen after working 55 hours a week. The brand’s motto, "challenging the beauty standard,” is only an understatement of what Melissa has been able to achieve. “Without representation, as humans, we’re left seeking validation,” she said on her website, and she’s been able to do so with her brand.

ROSEN Skincare

Jamika Martin founded her skincare line, Rosen Skincare, while she was an undergrad at UCLA. She started dealing with breakouts from the sixth grade and tried everything from frequenting the dermatologist’s office to Accutane to DIY treatments. After dealing with harsh acne treatments and skincare brands perceiving acne as an imperfection, she decided to take matters into her own hands with a gentle approach to skincare.

Jamika is unique in that she knows the struggle behind finding ingredients and products that make you feel confident in your skin. She believes in positivity surrounding breakouts and wants the idea of skin imperfections to be normalized. Rosen’s Skincare bestsellers include the Earth Cleanser and the Rose Water Face Dew which both retail for $18.

Written by Rahama Sadiq

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels