Black Opal
In September of 2019, Black Opal shared that it became officially Black-owned after being acquired by Desiree Rogers (CEO) and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack (president). Despite not initially being Black-owned, the company has dedicated more than 20 years to providing makeup and skin-care products specifically for people of colour, especially Black women. The brand currently offers an array of complexion products, a few colourful lipsticks, and enough skin-care goodies to supplement your existing routines.
Star product: The creamy True Color Skin Perfecting Stick Foundation SPF 15 glides like butter onto the skin to cover up dark spots and provide a flawless base for the rest of your makeup. These affordable foundation sticks come in 19 shades that can also be used as concealer and contour to sculpt your face.
Uoma Beauty
Uoma Beauty (“uoma” means beautiful) is here to disrupt the prestige beauty space with a lineup that celebrates inclusivity by way of the African diaspora. CEO Sharon Chuter is a Nigerian beauty executive who spent over a decade in the game working for big-name companies. She took her expertise in the space and applied it to launch her own brand in April 2018, coming out the gate strong with a 51 shade foundation line.
Chuter used the Fitzpatrick scale to ensure each shade caters to the unique needs of the skin, based on the colour groups it falls into. Uoma carries all the products you need to execute a whole look, inspired by Black female icons, rebellion, and self-expression. The brand offer lipsticks, eye shadows, liners, brow products, and more.
Star product: The Best of Beauty-winning Say What! Foundation is a versatile, buildable base available in six formulas with easily-adjustable coverage.
The Crayon Case
We love a beauty brand that stays to the theme, and The Crayon Case does in the most adorable way possible. Taking inspiration from the classroom, The Crayon Case’s products include many makeup kit staples: brushes, eyeliner, eye shadow, lashes, and more, all packaged to emulate No. 2 pencils, rulers, erasers, Sharpies, and other memorable school supplies.
Founder Raynell Seward (aka Wuzzam Supa/ Supa Cent) started the brand in 2017. Her social media popularity helped propel her venture, as well as one of her first products, the Box of Crayons Palette, which went viral soon after it was released. In 2018, her company grossed $1 million in revenue in just about an hour during its Cyber Monday sale.
Star product: The Matte Book palette is filled with 26 different matte eye shadows to give you as many colour options as a crayon box. It comes with 20 vivid hues and five neutral shades to create any eye look you desire.
The Lip Bar
Melissa Butler hasn’t let the brutal rejection she received on Shark Tank get in the way of her dream of building a beauty brand that represents all women. Butler, a former Wall Street stockbroker, founded the Lip Bar for those seeking edgy lipstick shades with healthy ingredients. The formulas include organic shea butter, organic avocado oil, and coconut oil, and are 100 per cent vegan.
These days, the brand carries everything you need for a full beat in minutes: foundation, mascara, blush, highlighter, eyeliner, and more.
Star product: It can be hard to find a bronzer that actually shows up on darker skin tones, but Lip Bar solved that problem with its 2020 Best of Beauty-winning Fresh Glow 2-Layer Bronzer + Blush Duos.
Beauty Bakerie
We love an Instagram baddie beat, but a makeup lover needs choices, and Cashmere Nicole, founder of Beauty Bakerie, is happy to offer one. When she created her brand, Nicole wanted it to promote an alternative to the bad-girl images that young people are often exposed to, especially on social media.
Sweetness is what Nicole wanted to bring back to the game, and that mission is reflected in so many elements of the brand. The packaging keeps a confectioner’s theme. The hero Lip Whip tubes have that signature swirl that makes it look like the lipsticks were filled using a frosting pipe. Certain items, like the Neopolitan Eyescream Palette, look good enough to eat. And its Milk & Honey Palette is so good, we gave it a Best of Beauty award two years in a row.
Star product: The Lip Whip, a liquid matte lip colour that’s a hit with the brand’s massive Instagram following.
For more information please read: https://www.allure.com/gallery/black-owned-cosmetic-brands-to-watch