Since being diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases three years ago, I have slowly transitioned my everyday products to be clean, non-toxic, and non-irritating to my body. Anything with the potential to challenge my immune system has gone. As I was researching different companies and products, I must admit that ingredients were my main concern — who companies were founded or run by were not even on my radar.
However, since the death of George Floyd, and the continual unfolding of the Black Lives Matter movement, I have given a lot of consideration about what it means to be an Ally and truly support the Black community, specifically in the wellness space. For me, it means ongoing commitment to education, donating to the cause, listening and learning, having hard conversations with family members, and supporting Black businesses.
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I have begun the process of transitioning all of my face, body, and hair products to those from companies run by Black women in support of Black Lives Matter. Here are sixteen of my favorites. Perhaps you can find one — or many — to try and make some of your own beauty brand changes.
Black-Owned Clean Beauty Companies: Face
Ayele & Co
Founder of Ayele & Co, Danielle Bahi was 21 when she started her organic, vegan, and cruelty-free line in her college dorm room in 2016. She told Forbes that her motivation was to make great skincare options that are still affordable. Try their crowd favorite Garden Serum.
Epilogic-Skincare
Epilogic Skincare was created out of Dr. Jeanniton’s philosophy that beauty is, above all, not just about looking, but about feeling your best. After years of working with a diverse array of patients at various ages, stages and aesthetic needs, Dr. Jeanniton combined ther knowledge with industry-leading research to create a different type of skincare line.
Rose Skin MD
Developed by Board Certified Dermatologist, Rosemarie Ingleton, M.D., each product in the ROSE Ingleton MD Skincare line is infused with a blend of natural fruit extracts native to her home island of Jamaica. Take their quiz to find out which products are best for your unique skin.
Black-Owned Clean Beauty Companies: Body
Hanahana Beauty
Hanahana Beauty is an incredible skincare and wellness brand committed to empowering women of color. They handcraft 100% all natural products + pay 2x the fair trade rate for shea butter sourced from the Katariga (Su an glo) Cooperative in Tamale, Ghana. In addition, they have created The Hanahana Circle of care, a social realignment that serves women from Katarigo, improving their economic health, environmental conditions and self sustainability within the shea trade.
LIHA
UK-based LIHA was born from the desire to create a luxe natural and organic skincare brand that blends the rich botanical life of West Africa with traditional English aromatherapy. Handmade in small batches in Cheltenham and Hackney, their products are natural, 100% vegan, cruelty free and free from parabens, sls and chemicals.
Beneath Your Mask
Suffering from an extreme case of Lupus, Beneath Your Mask founder and CEO Dana Jackson, created their line designed to restore, repair, and reverse the toxic effects of environmental hazards, health challenges, stress, and damage done from countless other unforgiving aspects of our lifestyles.
Black-Owned Clean Beauty Companies: Tea/Herbal
Eleva Alma
This small business in Northern California has become my obsession. Everything by Eleva Alma is handcrafted with Natural, Organic & Cruelty Free Ingredients that have been meticulously & thoughtfully created with the intention of offering an exclusive luxury healing experience. Their collection of holistic herbal teas offer support for both physical and emotional well being.
Ivy’s Tea Co.
Ivy’s Tea Co is owned and operated by first-generation herbalist and Tea Bae, Shanae. What I love about Shanae is that she is changing the way we see tea drinkers and is introducing more African holistic remedies into the health industry. Her goal is to make the industry as inclusive and reflective and accepting of all cultures as Hip-Hop.
Black-Owned Clean Beauty Companies: Makeup
Blac
BLAC stands for basic luxury for all colors. And that it is: a luxury makeup that is non-toxic and natural, something that founder Merced Boyce was searching for. Boyce’s company was created out of this need to find makeup that would stop irritating her face, while also supporting the unique beautiful shades of women of color.
The Lip Bar
Have you seen The Lip Bar at Target? Next time you are there, pick up a few as their brand is vegan and cruelty-free and exists to help change the way we think about beauty. Their beauty positive brand highlights the uniqueness in beauty, and spreads the message that we are all enough and deserve to be celebrated.
Hi WildFlower
Founder, Tanwi Nandini Islam created Hi Wildflower Beauty for women of color. The line features an all-natural range of lipsticks and nail polishes that are formulated with ingredients like sunflower seed oil, beeswax, and shea butter.
Black-Owned Clean Beauty Companies: SunScreen
Unscreen
After much frustration over the lack of options of clean sunscreen for women of color, Katonya Breaux founded Unscreen in 2016. The company provides clean, no-residue options that are kind to our skin as well as the environment. Their most popular product is their mineral tinted sunscreen for dark skin tones.
Black Girl SunScreen
With Black Girl Sunscreen, you won’t find harmful ingredients or that annoying residue. Rub it in, and just like lotion, it dries clear. Natural ingredients help rejuvenate your face and body while helping you to stay moisturized.
Black-Owned Clean Beauty Companies: Hair
My Sunday 2 Sunday
My Sunday 2 Sunday designs their hair products around the active woman. Their unique blend of products are formulated to secure moisture loss due to sweat, buildup, and the environmental damage that takes place in between washes.
Sienna Naturals
Sienna Naturals is a clean beauty company whose main focus is the health and texture of your hair and scalp. What I love about them is that they are extremely intentional about how they source the ingredients. They purchase from companies that pay sustainable wages and use sustainable harvesting practices.
Briogeo
Briogeo has received a lot of great press over the years for their incredible products that take it back to basics. They are all 100% cruelty-free, with no harsh sulfates, silicones, parabens, phthalates, DEA or artificial dyes.
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