When it comes to meeting the hair- and skin-care needs of Black women, the beauty industry too often tends to fall short. That's why, over the course of the past year, Birchbox and R29's Unbothered team joined forces to create two crowdsourced beauty kits specifically curated by Black women, for Black women. And the selection process was no joke: R29's insights team gathered data from more than 1,500 women to help narrow down the ideal mix of curl-hydrating hair products for the "It's Your Crown" kit and glow-ready skin-care favorites for the "Stay Radiant" kit.

So, what ended up making the final cut?Scroll on for an in-depth look at some of the holy-grail samples that earned our seal of approval and landed in the kits, along with product tips, application hacks, and more reasons to love 'em straight from our Unbothered editors themselves. From the crunch-free curl gelée that defines one beauty writer's natural pattern to the cleansing bar that helps fade one social media editor's hyperpigmentation, discover your new top-shelf essentials, just ahead.

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