While supporting the Black community and Black-owned businesses feels especially important right now, there is a need and an opportunity to supply this kind of support, love, and commitment every single day. Now and forever. Black culture has informed and inspired the beauty space for decades-a fact that we need to celebrate and sustain.
There is a lot of work to be done. As we've communicated on-site and on our social platforms, now is the time for us to rise above (not simply to) the occasion and make actionable steps with deep indentations. Here, our Who What Wear editorial team has outlined a collection of ways you can make a difference in the fight against racism, in addition to a list of resources to get you started.
One such way to support and take a stand right now is, if you're able, to put money where your mouth is. Alongside educating ourselves, attending protests, signing petitions, making donations, and calling our government officials to demand justice, buying fashion and beauty products from Black-owned brands is extremely helpful, especially considering the financial impactCOVID-19 has had on Black-owned brands, which have been hit harder than others. (Please familiarize yourself with this helpful graphic to understand why.)
Below, we're sharing 24 Black-owned beauty brands to support (now and forever). Keep scrolling to start shopping, or, if your funds don't allow, simply take screenshots or bookmark for a later shopping date.
Uoma Beauty (pronounced uh-mah) was founded by Nigerian beauty executive Sharon Chuter and supports the belief that beauty starts the moment you decide to be yourself. The goal: to rewrite the rules of inclusivity and diversity within the beauty industry.
As for shopping, we recommend the brand's Say What?! Foundation-choose from 51 shades. (Chuter used the Fitzpatrick scale to make sure each tone uniquely complements the skin based on the color groups it falls into.) The foundation is also long-lasting, lightweight, and wonderfully buildable to suit your coverage needs.
Trust us-you haven't had a truly luxurious shaving experience until you've invested in Oui the People's stunning collection of shaving and body essentials. The brand, founded by Karen Young, embodies a commitment to The reConstitution of Beauty -a mission to "watch their language" with the knowledge that brands hugely inform culture and language. Additionally, rather than enforcing the jaded ideal of perfectly smooth, hair-free skin, the brand places its focus on truly well-built and effective products that are carefully and beautifully designed to help you feel great in your own unique skin.
We can't recommend Oui's iconic single razors enough-a few of the models are currently sold out but still available for preorder.
Think 100% vegan, cruelty-free, epically nutritious (for your skin) makeup products that are designed to look beautiful on every complexion. Founded in 2012 by former Shark Tank contestant Wall Street stockbroker Melissa Butler, The Lip Bar was launched with the goal of redefining beauty standards. Because, as Butler points out on the brand's website, "there is no standard, we are the standard."
There are plenty of exciting places to begin where shopping is concerned, but we'd recommend starting with the best-selling liquid matte lipsticks. The fan favorite applies like a gloss but dries down to a well-hydrated, albeit pristinely matte, finish.
When it comes to inclusivity, sunscreen (which almost always casts a white, ashen finish on top of the skin) is notoriously problematic. Founder Katonya Breaux launched Unsun in 2016 after years of frustration regarding the lack of options for clear, clean, and no-reside SPF formulas women of color could safely use on their skin.
In addition to its SPF-spiked hand cream, the brand offers two different versions of its beloved mineral-based tinted SPF-Medium/Dark or Light/Medium.
The beauty world collectively celebrated when word spread Tracee Ellis Ross would be creating her very own haircare line, Pattern Beauty, last year. (You can click here for more details and our editor Courtney Higgs's in-depth review of the line.) The range offers everything from luxe, microfiber hair towels to hair ties and clips to nutritive treatment oils and curl-conditioning leave-ins. The argan oil-based serum, below, is a standout.
"Affordable, high-performance, clean beauty for the forgotten shades" is how Range Beauty describes its stunning cosmetics offerings, which meld two of the most important needs within the industry-far more inclusive shades and far fewer toxic ingredients. Founder Alicia Scott began her career in the fashion industry and immediately noticed the lack of shades available for women of all skin tones during photo shoots and runway shows. According to the brand's website, Range Beauty was formed for people representing all shades, all skin types, and all genders who want wallet-friendly options without being forced to forgo high-quality and safe ingredients. In fact, the brand's all-star foundation is one of the only formulas available that's specifically designed with skin conditions like eczema and acne in mind.
Pat McGrath is one of the most iconic makeup artists in history, and her namesake makeup brand, Pat McGrath Labs, more than lives up to her legendary name. Fun fact: The brand also just announced iconic supermodel Naomi Campbell as its first-ever global face of Pat Mcgrath Labs.
"The entire planet is just as cosmetics obsessed as I've always been," McGrath explains on the brand's website. "Makeup is a movement. Makeup is mesmerizing. Makeup is major. Mantra-esque, three words have repeated over and over in my mind ever since I was young. Obsession. Inspiration. Addiction. Those words became my guiding principles, my manifesto as I brought this brand to life."
Visit the brand's website and you'll be faced with a kid-in-a-candy-shop array of lipsticks, eye shadow palettes, and glittering highlighters, but our favorite staple is still the brand's skin-enhancing foundation. For best results, we recommend investing in the entire system, which also features a primer and face powder.
BeautyStat Cosmetics founder and chemist Ron Robinson is one of the most well-known and highly respected experts in the beauty business. But it was only after Robinson's team discovered a holy-grail technology to answer consumers' main skincare needs that he took the plunge to debut his own line. Currently, it features three game-changing products-the Universal C Skin Refiner, the Universal Pro-Bio Moisture Boost Cream, and the Universal C Eye Protector. The brand's mission? Tosearch the planet with the goal of discovering new beauty ingredients and innovative technology and to continue to develop envelope-pushing products centered around high-performance.
Created by dynamic duo CEO Christine Martey-Ochola, Ph.D., and CFO Anne Cheatham, Nuele came about due to their goal of wanting to have healthy, happy, shiny, and manageable hair without the need for chemical relaxers or keratin treatments, which are notoriously hard and damaging on the hair.
"Basically, we wanted to have it all; to be able to show the many sides of hair that we have been blessed with," they explain on their website. "Curls one day. Straight the next. We put our heads together with our chemistry and biology backgrounds and voilà! Nuele was born."
As of right now, you can shop their single all-star hair product, the Hair Serum, which they cite as the only clean, all-in-one, lightweight, residue-free yet oil-rich formula on the market.
This vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand is one of the newest on our radar right now. Businesswoman and YouTube personality B.Simone launched her namesake brand, B.Simone Beauty, last year, and the brand has already gained immense popularity. You'll find lots of stunning lip products like liners, glosses, and lipsticks, in addition to makeup bags and accessories. Oh, and did we mention everything is surprisingly affordable?
Founded by none other than iconic supermodel Iman, her eponymous beauty brand, Iman Cosmetics, has been heralded as one of the most well-loved, shade-inclusive brands, well, ever. (It launched back in 1994.)
Tired of always having to bring her own makeup to photo shoots and sets, she began her venture into the industry by first creating the Second to None Cream to Powder Foundation, and plenty of other equally stellar makeup and skincare formulations launched from there. This Cover Cream concealer below is another favorite.
If you're looking to browse some of the most vibrant, gem-like eye shadow palettes available, look no further than Juvia's Place. Founder Chichi Eburu launched the line with the intent to celebrate the beauty of rich, highly pigmented colors that define African tribes.
"Africa is not only the birthplace of humanity, it's the birthplace of all beauty," the brand notes on its website. "Juvia's Place was created to celebrate the rebels, rulers, and queens of the African kingdoms of long ago, who emulated and honored beauty through their soulful and innovative techniques that the top beauty gurus still use today."
Of course, the brand offers far more than just eye shadows, but the stunning palettes are true eye candy and have the habit of selling out at lightning speed.
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