5 Black-Owned Beauty Brands To Love And Support

Consumers decide what we want the face of beauty to look like, and we want inclusivity.

It is well-known that the beauty industry needs diversity. From a lack of shade inclusion in makeup lines to the underrepresentation of Black models to a marketplace dominated by white-owned businesses, the beauty industry has a lot of work to do before it is considered progressive or equal. It is not enough to wait for the industry to change. As consumers, we have the power to support companies that align with our beliefs and visions for a better future. It’s time to turn beauty influencers into beauty activists.

Here are a few black-owned beauty brands to get you started. Find a new favorite brand and continuously support it. Treat yourself to some new beauty products. Even when we’re wearing facemasks, we still need to take selfies in our homes. And facemasks draw attention to that beautiful smoky eye!

Lamik Beauty

Community, growth mindset, meaningful, innovation, and individuality/authentic are the core values at Lamik. The founder, Kim Roxie, was inspired to start a natural beauty brand for women of color after working as a makeup artist in a mall, so she created LAMIK, which stands for Love and Makeup in Kindness. LAMIK sells brow products, like a lovely neutral Celebrity Brow Kit, eyebrow gel, eyebrow maintenance kit, and eyebrow stencils. They also sell a custom blend foundation, where the customer sends a selfie to Lamik and they will collaborate with the customer to create the perfect foundation for their skin tone. Plus, all the ingredients used in their products are vegan, natural, and organic.

Mented Cosmetics

KJ Miller and Amanda E. Johnson founded Mented Cosmetics when they realized they couldn’t find a nude lipstick that matched their skin tone. They wanted to create a company that allows women to feel beautiful by creating pigmented makeup that matches every skin tone. Mented Cosmetics has a wide array of lip products, from semi-matte lipsticks to lip gloss to lip liners. They also have an option where you can “Build Your Own Trio,” where you create a lip palette that includes three shades of semi-matte lipstick. Also, the brand has expanded to include other beauty products, such as bronzer. They just released a Sunkissed Browner Collection, which comes in four different shades. Not to mention Mented is highly ethical—none of their products are tested on animals.

Beauty Bakerie

Cashmere Nicole founded Beauty Bakerie in 2011. Nicole created a makeup brand with a massive Instagram cult following (over 1.2 million followers!) as a single mother and breast cancer survivor. Lip Whip, a no-smudge lip gloss, is a bestseller. The Lip Whip comes in matte, metallic, and crème finish. When you purchase from Beauty Bakerie’s wide selection of face, eye, and lip products, you are also donating to Sugar Homes, a charity founded in 2016 dedicated to donating clothes, food, and other essential items to orphanages around the globe. So far, Beauty Bakerie has donated over $100,000!

Pear Nova

Rachel James, a graduate from the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, founded a cruelty-free + vegan nail line called Pear Nova. They are known for their unique nail color names, such as Tipsy Tea Party, Moss Def, Dianna Boss, and Cleo F*ckin Patra. Pear Nova uses inspiration from high fashion fabrics fresh off the runway. James researched for over a year to perfect a formula. Pear Nova has a wide variety of colors suitable for everyone. BRWNGRLMGC, a bestselling collection, was inspired by medium to dark skin tones. You won’t have trouble finding your next favorite shade with Pear Nova!

BLK + GRN

Dr. Kristian Henderson created BLK + GRN to address the lack of diversity in the beauty industry. BLK + GRN is a marketplace that sells beauty and wellness products made by Black artisans. When she worked as a hospital administrator, Henderson disagreed with the current medical system, so she decided to help people in another way. As a result, she set out to create all-natural, high-quality products that promote personal wellness. Not only does BLK + GRN sell makeup and nail products, BLK + GRN also offers bath and body care, skincare, menstrual care, hair products and more. BLK + GRN is a great way to support Black artisans and find new Black-owned makeup brands that will make you fall in love.