African Americans have been pioneering the beauty industry since the very beginning. Let's not forget the self-made millionaire Madame C.J. Walker, who was the first to capitalize off of her products specifically designed for black hair. But even today, there are several up-and-coming and longstanding Black owned companies that are making their mark successfully on the industry by offering quality products that cater to the needs of the Black community.
1. Plain Jane Beauty
Since 2002 Lake Louise has been the Chief Eco-Beauty Officer (CEO) of Skin, Mind, Body Essentials, a beauty and wellness products company whose brands include: Lotus Moon®, DetoxRx®, Plain Jane Beauty® and SON®. As an EcoPreneur, Lake applies the principles of sustainability, a passion for whole body wellness and vast ingredient knowledge in all aspects of her business operations.
One of the newer members to the Skin, Mind, Body Essentials brand portfolio is Plain Jane Beauty. Introduced with great purpose, Plain Jane Beauty is a natural and organic makeup line that focuses on providing foundations that would be inclusive to all skin tones - ivory to ebony. Plain Jane Beauty strives to deliver products with the highest caliber of ingredients that don't clog your pores, offers you a safe and skin-healthy alternative, and supports sustainability for the environment.
Plain Jane Beauty is all about affirming beauty within ourselves, hence the catchy foundation names such as "I Am Worthy" and "I am Glorious." Check out these fun skin friendly foundations along with PJB's primers, eye shadows and lip sticks/glosses. You just may find yourself in love with your skin even more!
2. Fashion Fair
After noticing models mixing foundation colors to create the right blend to match their skin complexions, the late Eunice W. Johnson (creator of the famous Ebony Fashion Fair Show) gave birth to Fashion Fair makeup. As a pioneering business woman, Johnson took the risk that most major cosmetic companies refused to take by creating makeup products specifically for women of color. Since its birth in 1973, Fashion Fair has continued to expand its product offering from just makeup to skin care and fragrance.
The brand has grown to be loved and trusted by many, and you can find it in both local and international high end retailers.
3. Ginger + Liz
Started in 2010 by Ginger Johnson and Liz Pickett, the two bonded over all things beauty with a particular love (or what some might call an obsession) for nail lacquer. This and a strong connection over their personal journeys to becoming vegan and vegetarian and how it positively affected their overall health and beauty regime, is what began the creation of Ginger + Liz.
Ginger + Liz is known for its hypoallergenic, vegan friendly, and toxin-free nail lacquer, and has a devoted customer base of both trendsetters and celebrities. Ginger and Liz sought out to provide a nail polish line that not only offered safe ingredients and non-toxic formulas, but also a highly pigmented on trend selection.
4. Pooka
Like so many of our loved ones do, Dawn Fitch, Founder and Creator of Pooka, became mysteriously ill with no diagnosis in near site. This illness motivated her to explore her passion and love for aromatherapy, and it became the basis for the launchpad she created for her new bath and body product line. She recognized that so many popular products in the industry were saturated with unhealthy, unnatural ingredients and therefore saw an opportunity to create her own products from scratch.
What started out as a flee market sell out brand turned into a full time growing business. The cherry on the top to this success story is Dawn enlisted her three best girlfriends to help manage the business and as a team of four they are making their mark in the beauty industry. Pooka's lineup includes everything from elbow grease and body mists, to body scrubs and whipped creams.
5. Bevel
Recognizing that there was a serious skin care issue that both Black men and women suffer from, Tristan Walker decided to launch Bevel to help combat razor bumps. This single blade razor and skin care product line promises to help eliminate this problem. Tristan says, "I created Bevel so that men like myself can shave without the fear of irritation." He realized that a major issue with most mainstream razors were the multi-blades. They cut hair beneath the surface of the skin, which often leads to the awful razor bumps many men experience. Bevel's single blades reduces the bumpy outbreaks and still offers a smooth clean outcome.
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