As some of you may or may not know, my background is in public relations, digital marketing and content production for the fashion industries. Recently, I have decided that fashion isn’t where my heart is anymore, and have my eyes set on the beauty industry. So I took to linkedIn, and began searching all of the brands I would want to work for. I didn’t like what I was finding, so I looked up even more and came to one conclusion: There are extremely limited opportunities for black women in the corporate beauty world.
It seems that for many brands, inclusivity stops at foundation shade ranges, and for those of us who want to be apart of the bigger picture behind-the-scenes, this can be extremely discouraging and a blow to our confidence.
With so few professional opportunities for men and women of color in the beauty industry outside of working retail or becoming influencers, I decided to take a departure from my typical content style and create a comprehensive list of black owned beauty brand, to support the innovators that have chosen to create opportunities for themselves.
You’ve probably seen lists like these from your favorite magazines, on other blogs like Nudest.Co, or beauty influencers including Jackie Aina, Naptural85, Stephanie Nicole, and Alyssa Forever. The only issue I’ve taken is not covering every step for us cake queens, and brand repeats in the various categories. So I challenged myself to leave no stone uncovered. I looked at every single step of my beauty routine, and created a list of over 100 products, from 40+ brands, in more than 50 product types. To make it easy to navigate, I have broken them up into 16 categories for you to explore. Here we go!
(MOBILE PORTRAIT VIEW: Click on image to be redirected to view all options and shades of product. MOBILE LANDSCAPE/DESKTOP VIEW: Click on underlined text to be redirected to product listing, or instagram account)
Skin Prep & Set
Applicators
Complexion
Concealer
Setting Powders
Contour
Blush
Highlighter
Eyebrows
Eyeshadow
Eyeliner
Eyelashes
Lips
Glitter
Makeup Removers
Nails
Fragrance
Since this was such a long list, I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much information. I plan on doing individual blog/video reviews per category and tutorials, where I will have in-depth discussions on the brands, their founders and the collections.
Most of the brands I’ve included in this list have a full assortment of products, so you do not have to stick to my recommendations by any means. Whether you shop from my specific list, buy something different from each brand, or buy each brands’ full collection, all I ask is that you take the time to explore these inventive collections and challenge yourself to support more black owned beauty brands this year!
*Note: I wasn’t able to locate any black owned Pressed Finishing Powder, or Lip Stain. Please feel free to leave a comment below if you know of any, and I will update the list.*