17 Black-owned beauty brands everyone should know
Against a backdrop of industry challenges, Black-owned beauty brands are here to make their mark
If you had looked at the landscape of the beauty industry 10 years ago, you might’ve been shocked (or not so shocked) to find that the shelves of your favourite retailer were quite lacking when it came to diversity of product offerings. In fact, even in ownership, beyond Pat McGrath Labs (which was newly launched at this point), there was little representation of the Black community.
Fast-forward a decade and much has changed on the shelves. But behind the scenes, Black-owned businesses still face huge challenges when it comes to equity and inclusion within the beauty industry.
In the last year, three Black-owned beauty brands have shuttered – with costs being a contributing factor. It’s a familiar story, and one that suggests awareness and internet fame aren’t always enough.
That’s why initiatives like Glossier’s Black Beauty Grant Programme are so important. In a landscape where Black UK founders received only 0.95%* of the total share of venture capital distributed in 2023, the programme arms founders with both knowledge and a £10k equity-free grant – because, let’s face it, running a business isn’t cheap!
“The UK’s landscape around Black beauty is an incredible force of innovation and creativity,” says Glossier Inc CEO Kyle Leahy, “and we’re proud to champion a cohort of visionary Black entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of beauty.”
This year marks the third anniversary of the UK programme, which is run in partnership with Black Girl Fest Studios, itself dedicated to creating space for Black women, girls and non-binary people.
“I’m incredibly excited about the future of Black beauty,” notes Black Girl Fest Studios founder Nicole Crentsil, “Especially when led by British entrepreneurs eager to redefine what it means to build with community at the centre.”
So, in the spirit of making space and championing Black-owned brands, we’re counting down our 17 faves and highlighting the amazing founders behind them – starting with the five grantees from this year’s Black Beauty Grant Programme.
SLIQ
If you asked co-founders Mamy Mbaye and Zainab Sanusi to describe SLIQ, they would probably say somewhere you can buy high-performing products for textured hair and then some.
Yes, it is the place to nab yourself a strengthening and hydrating treatment in the form of the brand’s DEEP IT conditioner, but that’s just one part of a larger ecosystem the duo have built. On a wider scale they're arming individuals who have textured hair with the right tools to care for it – that means a directory of verified hair stylists, editorial articles sharing inspo, reviews and advice and community events that keep customers at the forefront.
KEM
Starting with a single lipgloss and now on the verge of a relaunch that will see science-backed moisturisers and high-performance concealers brought to a wider audience, KEM is the beauty brand to know for true complexion representation. Watch this space.
Möss
Embracing the fact that we’re in our “mention it all” era, haircare brand Möss is all about effective scalp care for those experiencing hair loss, dandruff, itching and other topics that often feel taboo.
While it’s Black-owned, Möss caters to all hair types. “When a brand is founded by a person of colour or addresses these overlooked needs, consumers wrongly assume it’s only for Black individuals,” notes former scientist-turned-founder Fatima Ndiaye, “Our focus is on scalp health for every hair type, knowing that different communities have unique needs.”
Jay & Co Beauty
Working as a cosmetic scientist led Yvonne Jokogbola to realise the answers to skin concerns faced by melanin-rich people would probably come from within the community. So, she began building Jay & Co Beauty.
“Many products on the market don’t know the efficacy of some ingredients and how they are delivered to darker skin tones,” says Yvonne, “That’s why we’re intentional about making products to help issues we experience the most as consumers.” Science-backed formulations meet nourishing botanicals in a product range that is as effective as it is soothing. And the packaging is cute, too.
Mèlasun
By now, we should all know that sun protection is a non-negotiable (yes, even in England). Here to make sure we’re all armed with effective protection (in super-cute packaging BTW) is Mèlasun. Backed by founder Marina Camu’s deep industry knowledge and less-than-pleasant experience with other products (hello, white cast streaks), the beauty brand is all about doing sun protection and doing it well.
Oré mi
Made in London and inspired by founder Karen Olla’s Nigerian heritage, Oré mi is a luxury lifestyle brand taking up space in a market that often lacks diversity. Through aesthetically pleasing candles, natural oils and sustainably made incense sticks, the brand is telling a bigger story, one that says it’s OK not to be OK, and offers comfort through the senses. “I wanted to give the Black community something that went beyond just a functional product,” says Karen, “[these are] products that transform a space and positively influence your mind.”
The Glowcery
Believing that her skincare could and should be just as clean as her vegan diet, lawyer-turned-beauty founder Roshanne Dorsett developed The Glowcery with a clear purpose in mind: creating plant-powered products that don’t just talk the talk of being healthy, but actually put it into practice. Think science-backed formulas and nutrient-rich ingredients delivered in facial oils, milk cleansers and body butters (to name a few) that do right by you – kinda like a green juice, but for the skin.
Télle Moi
Télle Moi is on a mission to diversify the market of nail polishes and products, proving that “nude” goes far beyond what a lot of manicurists’ catalogues would have you believe. “In a world where Black women are not the main target, I wanted to create a brand that is inclusive, but to also not let people feel excluded from our products,” says founder Natel Allen. That’s where the breadth of shades is so key – proving that diversity doesn’t mean leaning one way or the other, Télle Moi’s polishes range from the softest pink to the richest dark brown to visualise nude in all its iterations.
AIRFRO
This one’s for the workout girlies among us, whether that’s Hyrox or just a hot girl walk round the block. AIRFRO is a haircare brand for active lifestyles, with all products backed by thorough performance testing. Co-founded by Nneka Fleming, it offers everything from deeply hydrating hair mists to soothing scalp cleansers, all especially formulated with Afro, curly, coily and textured hair in mind.
KOBA Skincare
For the amount of time we spend on our feet, we don’t pay enough attention to caring for them. That was founder Thérèse M’Boungoubaya’s driving force when founding KOBA Skincare. “I want to create products people can count on with formulas that do what they say and help people reclaim parts of themselves they’ve felt compelled to hide, including feet.”
What was once a mission to create the ultimate, all-encompassing foot cream has now become a bigger vision to fill homes and handbags with a made-for-all bodycare range that has natural ingredients at its heart. Hydrating, effective and aesthetically pleasing? It’s a yes from us.
ASHE London
How could a nail varnish brand founded by a former highly sought-after nail technician be anything but a win. The brainchild of Ashleigh Alli, ASHE is a vegan and cruelty-free brand doing nail varnish a little differently. Its name is derived from the Yoruba word “àṣẹ”, meaning, “the power to make change”, and fittingly its colours are inspired by nature and named after past and present changemakers. Produced in carefully curated seasonal collections, it’s tick, tick, tick from us.
Igor Hair
Once a university side hustle and now a fully-fledged business, Igor Hair by Danielle Igor is proving that elevated, editorial-inspired wigs, hair pieces and accessories can and should be everyday staples. Styles like Blade, Monday Mullet and Rooting For You exemplify Danielle’s experimental style. “I wanted to capture the importance of creative freedom and self-expression in transformative beauty,” she said. And capture it she did.
TRU SKN
Here to do away with the misconception that all Black-owned beauty brands are made solely for Black people, TRU SKN is all about making genuinely good products that work for everyone. What sets it apart from other brands? A community-first approach that means reviews, feedback and needs from customers (and potential customers) are taken seriously to make sure people are actually being spoken to and not just spoken about.
ÀMI London
While searching for the answers to her personal skin concerns in natural ingredients, ÀMI founder Damilola Akinnaike found herself on a journey of experimentation that ended with her founding a business. “My hope is for people to experience the same ethical, effective results I did with simple, well-considered, natural ingredients,” says Damilola of her brand vision. Its signature line of organic body butters and plant-based toners has recently been joined by soy wax candles and diffusers. ÀMI is here to prove that clean skincare doesn’t need to be complicated.
Caribé
Caribé is the self-tanning brand that proves not only are melanin-rich consumers very much interested in products that offer an extra glow, they aren’t being catered to on a wider scale. Sisters Phoebe and Leah Ellis have proved that quality wins over quantity every time, with just two well-researched and innovatively developed shades making up the brand’s entire product catalogue.
Not part of the Black Beauty Grant Programme, but very much worth shouting out, S’ABLE Labs is the beauty brand from none other than Sabrina and Idris Elba (S’ABLE = Elba’s, you get it). The super couple believe that products targeting specific skin concerns more commonly found in darker-skinned individuals, like hyperpigmentation, shouldn’t be exclusive, and so have built a range that is – at its core – about making the power of African botanicals like qasil and okra accessible to all.
Away from our Grant Programme, this entry comes from award-winning hairdresser Charlotte Mensah (who owns HairLounge on London’s Portobello Road, FYI.) Enriched with ethically and sustainably sourced oils and targeting a range of needs like dehydration and heat damage, the Charlotte Mensah Manketti Oil range was developed as a way of encouraging healthy haircare beyond the salon experience. It’s also pretty much the next best thing to sitting in the chair under Charlotte herself, which is quite cool.
Find out more about Glossier and Black Girl Fest Studios’ Black Beauty Grant Programme and how to enter at blackgirlfest.com
*The State of the Nation for Diverse Entrepreneurs, Extend Ventures; December 2023
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