

As the human body’s largest organ, the skin is one of our most precious features. Caring for such a delicate attribute should be nothing less than a thoughtful process full of deeply rich, nourishing ingredients that enhance our melanin, not take away from it. Being conscious of what we put on our bodies is only one step to healthy skin. With the range of products on the market, it’s beneficial to know about Black-owned skincare companies that create products specifically for people of color, addressing issues that were previously overlooked by traditional brands in the past.
Making up about half of the beauty industry, the range of skincare brands on the market can be overwhelming. With such an oversaturated market, it’s hard to believe that not too many years ago, Black individuals were left out of the equation when searching for products such as white-cast free sunscreen or simple ingredients like shea butter that deeply moisturize deeper skin tones. Within the last 10 years, there's been an explosion of Black-owned beauty brands founded by entrepreneurs that birthed companies out of frustration, lack, and the necessity for what was missing in their everyday lives. Choosing the proper products can be an expensive and time-consuming process but supporting smaller brands that prioritize naturally clean ingredients as well as uplifting their community is a great start in the right direction.
In honor of Black History Month, keep scrolling for a comprehensive guide to Black-owned skin brands, their stories, and how they aim to benefit people of color.
1.Topicals
Growing up, founder Olamide Olowe always wanted flawless skin. She knew her skin was different from what she saw on her favorite television shows, commercials, and fashion magazines but with time she learned the key to achieving great skin was making it look good, not the other way around. Developing Topicals with board-certified dermatologist and stem cell scientist, Olamide created a line of skincare products along with experts using ingredients, developing formulas that are efficient and gentle, free from harmful dyes, and scientifically proven to ensure effectiveness for all skin types.
Best Seller:Topicals' Faded, $38
2.Hanahana Beauty
In 2017, Hanahana Beauty began out of Chicago-based entrepreneur Abena Boamah-Acheampong’s longing to feel beautiful and confident in her own skin. Frustrated with the lack of transparency within the skincare industry, Abena decided to take it back to her family’s tried and true method of achieving moisturized, radiant skin with shea butter. Hanahana sources its shea butter-based products from the Katariga Women's Shea Cooperative in Tamale, Ghana while producing clean, homemade products with natural ingredients to uplift women of color.
Best Seller:Hanahana Beauty's The Best Sellers Set, $75
3.Buttah.
It’s all in the name. Founded in 2018 by Dorion Renaud, Buttah’s products were created for melanin-rich skin to feel as smooth and soft as butter. Discovering the transformational properties of raw, organic, natural shea, this single ingredient inspired Dorion to create Buttah.
Best Seller: Buttah's Customizable Skin Kit, $60
4.KNC Beauty
The first all-natural, collagen-infused lip mask was inspired by KNC Beauty founder Kristen Noel Crawley after a trip through Don Quijote in Tokyo. After stumbling upon a whole world of lip masks overseas and realizing there were no options available here in the U.S., she decided to create her own. KNC Beauty was created for women to achieve injection-free, perfectly plump kissable lips in 5-10 minutes.
Best Seller: KNC Beauty's All-Natural Collagen Infused Lip Mask 5-Pack, $25
5.Flora and Noor
The first Halal brand to launch at Ulta Beauty, Flora and Noor provides inclusive luxury skincare with organic and natural ingredients for those who appreciate clean beauty and the benefits of superfoods being “food for the skin.” Being Halal means products are permissible for Muslims which include benefits and advantages for skin's health and for the environment. In such a diverse world, all products are vegan, Halal, and cruelty-free, created for everyone to shop all-natural luxury skincare.
Best Seller:Flora and Noor's Boost & Brighten Vitamin C Cleanser, $28
6.Black Girl Sunscreen
Black girls need sunscreen too and thus Black Girl Sunscreen was born. As women of color we were often overlooked when it came to protective products from UV rays, years of blotchy white residue was enough for founder Shontay Lundy. Founded in 2016, BGS launched with an SPF 30 made with melanated skin in mind, drying completely clear. Since then the company has expanded into a range of sunscreen options as well as SPF lip gloss.
Best Seller:Black Girl Sunscreen's Make it Glow, $19
7.Unsun
Due to the lack of clean sunscreen options for women of color, Katonya Breaux founded Unsun Cosmetics in 2016. Banning over 1,700 ingredients she created clean, inclusive, no-residue options that are mindful of those using Unsun products as well as the environment they are being used in. A favorite among many, the mineral-tinted sunscreen has been a game changer for protecting darker skin tones from harmful UV rays while enhancing flawless skin.
Best Seller:Unsun Cosmetics' Hand Cream SPF15, $27
8.Eve Milan
Eden Gilliam’s 11 years of experience in the skincare industry became the driving force behind Eve Milan New York 5-free skincare line. After years of hearing her clients complain about skin issues and masking insecurities with makeup, she was motivated to get clients to be comfortable in their own skin. Studying skin from within, Eden traveled abroad to learn about nutrition and how internal issues and diet affect skin health.
Understanding the importance of what goes into our bodies led her to pay attention to harmful ingredients within products she used which became the catalyst behind the birth of the products made free of sulfates, parabens, phthalates, artificial color, and fragrance to limit exposure to toxins.
Best Seller: Eve Milan's Brightening Vitamin C + CoQ10 Sheet Mask, $10
9.Pholk
Created out of both necessity and frustration, Pholk was founded by Georgia-born skincare expert Niambi Cacchioli who found it challenging to match these countless skincare options available with her personal skin challenges. In a world full of inclusivity, Niambi still couldn't find the right products that directly treated her needs for combination skin so she created them. Pholk Beauty is a vegan-based, melanin-safe, cruelty-free range of products created for women of color targeting the root of dark marks and hyperpigmentation with holistic care.
Best Seller:Pholk's Aloe Lemon Balm Face Mist, $20
10.'JENTL
Kiana Baldon is the founder of ‘JENTL, a vegan body butter brand that puts quality ingredients and self-care above all else. Created to nurture vulnerability and transparency through compassion, community, and self-discovery ‘Jentl was put forth with the intention to produce ethically sourced ingredients to soothe, energize and provide joy. Pronounced “gentle,” the base of all the products includes shea, cocoa, and mango butter.
Best Seller: 'JENTL's Original Body Butter, $16
11.Shea Radiance
Shea Radiance started in the kitchen to solve co-founders Funlayo and Shola Alabi family’s overly dry skin and eczema problems. Using unrefined shea butter as a form of healing, they created beauty products to help women achieve a healthy-looking natural glow at any age. Known as “women’s gold,” shea butter sourced from West Africa used in their products creates a pathway of economic progress for women and their community.
Best Seller:Shea Radiance's Sensitive Skin Moisture Bundle, $50
12.Siyah Organics
Established in 2019, women-owned Siyah Organics is both an American and Senegalese company. All products are tested and are 100% organically pure to ensure the highest quality of plants keeping everything fresh to maintain their healing properties.
Best Seller: Siyah Organics' Moringa x Ginger Facial Cleanser, $24
13.Natural Radiant Life
Empowering their community to take better care of themselves in every area of their lives, Natural Radiant Life was created out of love for nature-based products that breathe life into the skin. Long-time friends and co-founders Rhonda Daniels, LaKesha Gage-Woodard, and Sherry D. Fields set out on a mission to bring clean, organic, and effective skincare products to the market that proudly show outer and inner radiance. Encouraged to use products daily, these co-founders are promoting positive and healthy practices through natural products for a radiant life.
Best Seller: Natural Radiant Life's AM Moisturizer, $35
14.OAM by Ciara
Who knew leveling up our skincare would take us to a new product line by one of our favorite entertainers? OAM, or On a Mission Skin, was founded by singer Ciara in collaboration with clinical professionals, skincare experts, scientists, and dermatologists to create a simple day and night routine for all skin types. Concentrating on its main ingredient vitamin C to hydrate and brighten, the simple step solutions to clinical skincare are even more accessible for all.
Best Seller:OAM by Ciara's Vitamin C Brightening Pads, $28
15.Fenty Skin
From Fenty Beauty to Fenty Skin, Rihanna can do anything she puts her mind to and we will stan. Her latest project includes a line of products formulated for everyone to achieve beautiful skin. After years of experimenting with the best of the best products, Rihanna still felt there was something missing in the industry. In short, her aim was to create easy, hassle-free products for all to enjoy.
Best Seller: Fenty Skin's Instant Reset Brightening Overnight Recovery Gel Cream
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Featured image by LaylaBird/Getty Images
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On her debut album,CTRL,SZA crooned about her desire to be a “Normal Girl.” Now, nearly eight years since its release, her Not Beauty line represents her commitment to existing outside of traditional beauty norms.
The singer whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe first teased the idea of a lip gloss line during Super Bowl LIX in February, noting that the release would be happening “very shortly.” Not Beauty debuted simultaneously with the Grand National Tour, which she co-headlines with Kendrick Lamar, in Minneapolis on April 19.
Each Not Beauty pop-up would offer fans the opportunity to purchase the glosses, learn more about the brand, and have the opportunity to meet the superstar in the flesh regardless of their ticket status.
During the Los Angeles tour stop, which spanned three dates on May 21, May 23, with the finale on May 24, xoNecole had the opportunity to test out the glosses included in this soft launch, as SZA revealed in a statement that "this is just the start of other lip products, including plans to launch stains, liners, and creams all inspired by SZA's “infamous layered lip combinations.”
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So, what is included in the first Not Beauty launch?
The current Not Beauty products available are lip glosses that come in three shades: In the Flesh, Strawberry Jelly, and Quartz.
During my visit to the first LA Not Beauty pop-up activation, I not only had the chance to purchase all three glosses but also took a peek inside the blow-up log tent. Inside, fans got to experience SZA’s love for nature and her fascination with bugs, which are prominently featured in her performances for this tour. At one point, she even had human preying mantis prancing across the stage y'all.
There were blow-up photos of the beauty that is SZA for fans (myself included) to take photos, but in wooden-like tree trunks were a deeper dive into some of the ingredients featured in her products and their benefits.
For example, the glosses feature Hi-Shine Lip Jelly and Shea Butter as key ingredients and some of the listed benefits included are:
- Shea Butter - “A powerhouse ingredient, offering both functional and nourishing benefits.”
- Hi-Shine Lip Jelly (featured in the In the Flesh shade) - “Formula glides on with perfect adhesion to the lips without stickiness).
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What are in the products?
Featured in an orange package, with images of a bug and flower on the side, the back of the box reads: “It’s NOT BEAUTY, it just works. Developed by Solána “SZA” Rowe.
As someone who never leaves home without a good lip gloss, I loved how compact the wood panel packaging is. Perfect to slip into my purse, or in the case of the show at SoFi Stadium, into my pocket when I’m not carrying a bag.
Because I’m a sucker for a good black and brown lip liner and clear gloss combo, I decided to wear the Quartz flavor on night one of the Grand National Tour LA stop, and it did not disappoint. I’ll admit, it’s light weight feel made me nervous because it felt like there was nothing on my lips. However, when I checked my lips in my compact mirror several times throughout the night, I was shocked to find that my gloss was still intact. I only reapplied once out of the habit of looking cute and applying my gloss, but not necessity.
Here are some of the ingredients featured, but not limited to, in the Quartz flavor.
- Polyisoubutene
- Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)Butter
- Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil
- Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil
- Tocopherol
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Lip prep
I’m a simple girl who loves to stay true to her roots. So ahead of the show, I stopped by a local Inglewood Beauty Supply store and grabbed a Black and Brown shade lip pencil for just under $2 a piece.
Shading the outline of my lips with the black pencil first, I used the brown to lightly fill the inside of my lips before applying my Quartz Not Beauty shade gloss.
How to apply
There’s truly no right or wrong way to apply lip gloss (in my opinion), with this being a brush applicator sort of product, I simply untwisted the top and swiped the gloss around my top and bottom lip generously.
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Results
Again, my Not Beauty Quartz product stayed on my lips from the start of the show, which began with a fire DJ set from LA’s very own, Mustard, to the conclusion when Kendrick and SZA reunited on stage to send us home to their duet, “luther,” featured on the rapper's GNX album.
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Meet Kiara Walker: The Bold New Voice Giving Men A Safe Space To Be Real On ‘xoMAN’
Kiara Walker was born to entertain. Her childhood experiences helped shape her destiny as a media personality, and now she’s taking her talents to xoNecole.
A Dallas, Texas native and Atlanta transplant, Walker will host the newest Will Packer Media and xoNecole production, xoMAN podcast. This fresh podcast series provides a platform for authentic and transformative conversations that bridge the gap between the introspection men crave and their real-life experiences.
xoMAN started as an Instagram Live series and is now a full-cast production, with Walker as the host. Initially, she was skeptical about joining as the new host of xoMan. Not because she doesn’t have the chops to thrive in the role, but because coming in on something that wasn’t her original idea initially seemed daunting for the media personality.
However, since she loves a challenge, the CockTales: Dirty Discussionspodcast host embraced the task with an open heart and mind.
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“I was like, this is a cool concept, so I’m so glad that they decided to turn it into a podcast,” Walker tells xoNecole. “It’s been interesting to take somebody else’s idea and try to turn it into a thing, put it together, and bring it to fruition. I am anxious, nervous, and all things, but above all, I’m excited.”
When xoNecole's managing editor Sheriden Garrett approached Walker to take on the position, it felt like fate. She had previously attempted to get Garrett on her CockTales platform about six or seven years ago due to her expertise in the love and relationship space.
“I was like, wait, y’all listen to the show? And you want me to host a show where I’m only talking to men? And I’m listening to them and not giving them a hard time? I say that because sometimes I feel like, on my show, I may come off like I don’t even like men," she says.
"I love men, but it can be frustrating sometimes on that platform, social media, and other places when they continue to regurgitate the same rhetoric about what I like to call Twitter topics, like constantly talking about who’s paying as a man, as a woman. You should do this. You should do that…It’s been cool hearing the stories with the men we’ve spoken to so far at xoMAN, hearing these stories, and hearing them let their guards down.”
A Howard graduate, Walker almost didn’t enter the world of media after listening to advice from elders who said she would make a great lawyer because she loves to debate topics and sometimes argue (haha).
"It’s been cool hearing the stories with the men we’ve spoken to so far at xoMAN, hearing these stories, and hearing them let their guards down.”
After traveling to the nation’s capital to study political science, Walker soon discovered that her only motivation for becoming an attorney was the potential income and witnessing how boss women like Erika Alexander’s Maxine Shaw character on Living Single would look in their suits as career women.
“I realized that this was for real,” she says, studying law at Howard. “This is a lot of work, and when you think about what you do, I was like, this is not a performance, and I just wanted to talk. I wasn’t trying to defend anyone.”
A visit to a fair showcasing the different organizations on Howard’s campus, combined with her affinity for celebrity gossip and entertainment news, ultimately led Walker to explore a radio career. Soon, she auditioned for a show and landed the gig. By the spring semester, she was on the radio, ultimately leading her to switch her major to journalism with a concentration in broadcast news.
Soon after earning her degree in the field, Walker decided she didn’t want to do anything related to hard news. Instead, she became involved in lifestyle content. She used her friends' love of hearing her stories to motivate her to get into podcasting.
The rest is, as they say, history.
“Before podcasts became what they are, I was in a living room with a microphone before ultimately moving to a studio and refining the show. I loved it and knew people were listening because I monitored the analytics and everything," she explains.
"When we decided to do a live show, the show sold out in two weeks, and I was so nervous. I was like, 'Are we ready? Are we gonna be able to sell out this venue?' We didn’t have any sponsorship. We were still independent and had to front the money for everything.”
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“When they sold out in two weeks, not only did I price my tickets too low, but I thought, wow, we’ve got something. I was like, people spent money to hear me and my co-host talking about our shitty love lives. This is wild, all from an idea in my head. It made me feel like I was on the right path and encouraged me to stop doubting myself. I have imposter syndrome," she reveals.
"Even to this day, I’m constantly biased. But it’s like, if not me, then who? And, like, why not me? If people can do it with way less and way more. I’ve been trying to encourage myself and other people to eliminate the doubt that we have in ourselves so we can do whatever it is we want to do. I love it. No matter how many sleepless nights I have, I will continue to have bags under my eyes until the end of time because I’m enjoying it.”
"I have imposter syndrome. Even to this day, I’m constantly biased. But it’s like, if not me, then who? And, like, why not me? If people can do it with way less and way more. I’ve been trying to encourage myself and other people to eliminate the doubt that we have in ourselves so we can do whatever it is we want to do."
In between garnering a strong social media presence for her work as a podcast host, lifestyle influencer, and beyond, Walker has managed to use her many gifts and talents, like cooking, and most importantly, giving a strong opinion about the things she does (or doesn’t) believe in to carve out a lane of her own.
As she embarks on this chapter as the host of xoMAN, where she has already spoken with actors Devale Ellis and Skyh Black and Dear Future Wifey podcast host Laterras R. Whitfield, Walker hopes that it encourages people, especially women, to look at their male counterparts from a different perspective.
“I hope that anyone listening can listen to the first few episodes, hear how different each man is, and learn to let down whatever preconceived notions you have about me or a specific man, whoever it is in your life," she says. "Just listen, talk to them, ask them how they feel, and listen with an open mind, without thinking that you already know what the answer is.”
“I just hope that people learn to, again, not put people in boxes and make the other person, whoever it is, men specifically for this show, but sit down and talk with an open mind and listen to understand, not to respond. Help someone feel safe.”
xoMAN officially launches on Tuesday, June. 17.
Feature image courtesy