If you spent time learning this past summer and want to start celebrating and supporting the Black community, you are not alone! This summer of BLM protests shined a spotlight on the overwhelming systemic issues built against Black people. One facet of racism is the constant disrespect of Black women, who face obstacles specific to both their race and gender. Black women are deserving of respect and should not have their lives, livelihoods, and creative endeavors downplayed. If you are interested in supporting health and beauty brands by some amazing Black women, the four businesses below are a good place to start.
- The Lip Bar
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The Lip Bar is a vegan, cruelty free, makeup brand launched by Melissa Butler in 2012, with the undertaking of expanding what is deemed as “beauty” in our society. Butler did not want her makeup to be harmful to people or animals, so she began by making lipstick in the clean environment of her kitchen without excessive chemicals. The Lip Bar’s products are clean, affordable and made with purpose. Butler wanted people to know that there is no standard of beauty, rather that people can be their own standard of beauty. She was tired of seeing the same bland products and wanted to see bright, good quality colors and wanted formulas that show up well on all shades and skin tones. In addition to The Lip Bar’s extensive bright lipstick selections, they also have 26 inclusive foundation shades, liquid eyeshadow, eyeshadow palettes, mascara, eyeliner, brow gels, and more!
Butler took The Lip Bar to Shark Tank in 2015 and was rejected for creating an out of the box product. The judges claimed that the reason bright shades were not already present at the time was because there would not be a good market share in those products. They also claimed that if there had been a demand for these products, the larger companies would be making the products already. One shark, Kevin O’Leary, went so far as to cruelly compare Butler with her project to “colorful cockroaches” and claimed enthusiastically that her business would be crushed by the bigger brands like bugs.
Despite these harsh words levelled at Butler and her bright products, she was determined to stay confident, passionate, and respectful. Only a year later, she succeeded in her pitch to Target and got The Lip Bar on Target’s exhaustive website in 2016. In 2018, she reached another milestone, as the Lip Bar was finally added to Target’s store shelves. Since then, The Lip Bar has continued to thrive and has been featured on several celebs, most recently Michelle Obama herself.
This brand truly has amazing products to look into for any occasion, in addition to having an amazing Black woman and story behind the cause!
- KLUR
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Klur is a humanitarian, sustainable, eco-inclusive, Black-owned skincare brand. This brand has a lot of eco-friendly skin treatments. It offers antioxidants, natural oils, facial products, masks and more. Klur is on the more expensive side of this list, however the raving reviews of quality claim that the brand is well worth the money.
Klur was launched by Lesley Thorton in 2019 after conducting her own private facial studio, while planning to work full time as an esthetician and skin care educator. Once her products began quickly growing in popularity, she realized that there could be a high demand for her content and Klur was born.
Klur has recently gained more support from well-known names like actress and singer Adrienne Bailon Houghton, in addition to being highlighted in popular magazines such as Vogue (twice!), Essence, and Poosh.
While many are beginning to hop on Klur, another great thing about the brand is Thorton’s continued recognition of other overlooked groups. Thornton highlights work from other cultures, posting about artists like Ruth Asawa, who was a Japanese American abstract sculptor, on the Klur Instagram page.
If you are looking for high quality, healthy, and environment friendly skin care products, Klur may be the way to go.
- Mented Cosmetics
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Mented Cosmetics is a vegan, paraben-free, non-toxic, cruelty free Black-owned beauty brand founded by KJ Miller and Amanda E. Johnson. Five years ago, Johnson and Miller got together with some wine and lamented the toxic exclusivity of the beauty industry, which constantly did not provide acceptable shades for dark-skinned individuals and Black people. Johnson had been looking for a nude lipstick that actually matched her lips well for three years, but had constantly been met with pink undertones and products that were not inclusive for Black beauty.
The two decided enough was enough and founded Mented Cosmetics.
The brand was launched with the perfect lipsticks for shades from light to dark. Since then, the brand grew to include eye, brow, cheek and face makeup, as well as accessories and nude nail polishes! In addition to the stellar products, Mented Cosmetics is also extremely user-friendly, boasting a shade finder for both the foundation and the lipsticks to help customers get it right on the first try.
Mented Cosmetics also has an active social media presence dedicated to intersectionality in its mission. This past Pride Month, the brand made a point to highlight Black LGBTQIA+ makeup artists on Instagram and to inform on issues that the queer community faces. Mented Cosmetics continues to show diversity across the board and stays true to their mission of inclusivity and beauty in all forms of community faces. Mented is currently available online and in select Target stores. - Golde
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Golde is a wellness and beauty brand co-founded by the Forbes 30 under 30 couple, Trinity Mouzon Wofford and Issey Kobori. The two have built a unique and innovative brand from the ground up. Wofford has not been shy in expressing what it has been like as a black woman on the journey. In an interview with Huffpost, Wofford notes that the brand gained thousands of new supporters over the summer as consumers grew in support of Black businesses, but she also notes how much of the shift has at times been performative.
Golde’s brand is separated into two sections, wellness and beauty. In the wellness section, you can find kits of Superfoods, Matcha, Green Detox and more. In the beauty section, there are plenty of options to choose from such as a Papaya Face Mask, Clean Greens Mask, and a Golden Glow Kit, to name a few.
Golde also runs a blog on their website where you can read helpful tips on a wide variety of subjects such as how to make different baked goods, how to navigate non-dairy milks, how to make your masking time as productive as possible and more!
The list of amazing Black women in business to support is endless, but this list offers a look at a few. Make sure to check out these outstanding brands. Fill us in on your favorite Black-owned businesses on Twitter or Instagram.