Style
10 Skin Care Brands That Beauty-Obsessed WOC Will Love
Anyone's head can swarm trying to figure out what will work best for their complexion when beauty shelves are filled with so many skin care products. Yet somehow, deeper skin tones often find themselves left out, having limited selections of skin care brands created for people of color.
Aiming to fill the void, there are a handful of companies popping up with melanin on their mind. Take the Marjani Beauty Company for example, an e-commerce site designed for WOC that features multicultural ranges of hair, makeup, and of course, skin care stock. Shipping out samplings of products that work for a diverse range of customers, there are even beauty box subscriptions targeted towards ethnic women. Still, the skin care industry has a lot of expanding to do. Melanin-rich skin has its own specific concerns— among them, hyperpigmentation, uneven tone, eczema, and excess oil production. Considering skin care is no where near universal, speciality products that cater to deeper tones are in order.
Shaking things up in a major way, there are a gang of celebs, entrepreneurs, and dermatologists changing the skin care industry for people of color. Definitely worth several rounds of applause, these 10 game-changing brands are solving complexion woes for all beauties.
1Christal Cosmetics
Sebum Balancer Face Wash, $28, Marjani Beauty
Botanical skin care is what UK based brand Christal Cosmetics is all about. If oil control is the name of your game, their repertoire features many products with ingredients that help regulate sebum production, from the Clarifying Toning Lotion to the Sebum Balancer Moisturizer.
2Joliette
Joliette Caribbean Radiance Coconut Facial Scrub, $14, Marjani Beauty
Formulated without harsh chemicals or artificial colourants, Joliette skin care products smell like a dream. The Caribbean inspired brand uses natural ingredients like coconut and avocado oils, and plenty of yummy fruit extracts to transport skin to a tropical paradise.
3Bolden
Skin Brightening Toner, $19, Bolden
Created for and by women of color, Bolden facial products harness powerful antioxidants to combat the major woes of dark skin: discoloration from acne, dark spots, and inflammation. Their lineup also includes a variety of shea oils, au nautrel and rich in hydrating properties that protect against dryness, sun damage, and visible signs of aging. Simply ah-mazing!
4Nyakio
Global Beauty Secrets Discovery Kit, $38, Ulta
Get the best of skin care from around the world when you invest in Nyakio's stock. Founder Nyakio Grieco curated global beauty secrets to birth her eponymous brand, so you know its worth a shot. Sweet almond and shea oils cleanse, baobab and red ginseng moisturize, Kenyan coffee exfoliates, african black soap and chamomile treat; And that's just a few of the nutrient rich ingredients found in Nyakio's inventory.
5Darker Skin Tones By Strum Skin Care
Darker Skin Tones Enzyme Cleanser, $77, Molecular Cosmetics
When Dr. Barbara Strum, MD & actress Angela Bassett teamed up, the Darker Skin Tones sister brand to the Strum empire was born. The brand features ingredients like Vitamin C, enzymes, and hyaluronic acid to combat hyperpigmentation, refine pores, and even skin tone.
6Urban Skin Rx
Even Tone Essentials Starter/Travel Kit, $49, Urban Skin RX
Once American Idol Fantasia sang the praises of this brand, melanin-rich beauties got in on the action. Best known for their dark spot busters and tone correctors, Urban Skin Rx is a brown babe's gateway to a clear, radiant complexion. But it doesn't stop there. The brand has plenty of products to address dry, eczema ridden skin, oiliness, and signs of aging.
7The Afro Hair & Skin Co
Flow Perfectly Balanced Facial Oil, $26, The Afro Hair and Skin Co.
The star facial product from The Afro Hair & Skin Co. is the Perfectly Balanced Facial Oil. Its key ingredient is organic ylang-ylang flower, a balancing floral oil, to regulate sebum production that plagues skin with breakouts. With blackcurrant seed oil added to its formula, too, the effects of hyperpigmentation and environmental stressors are halted dead in their tracks.
8Unsun Cosmetics
SPF 30 Tinted Mineral Moisturizer, $29, Unsun Cosmetics
Gone are the days of getting an ashy cast from using the average sunscreen on a deep colored facade. Created by the mother of singer-songwriter Frank Ocean, Katonya Breaux, Unsun Cosmetics delivers broad spectrum face sunscreen that blends seamlessly into the darkest skin tones. Derived from natural ingredients like shea butter, vitamin E, and coconut oil, it provides soothing hydration while offering SPF 30 sun protection.
9Black Up
Ultra Matifying Rebalancing Fluid, $44, Blackup Cosmetics
A French brand that made its debut in the U.S. in Sephora, Black Up is known for its brown-girl friendly foundation shade range. But this brand goes beyond creamy bases, vibrant blushes, and pigmented lippies. Their skin care offerings include some of the best cocktails to brighten dull complexions and banish oiliness once and for all.
10Eben Naturals
Eben Bundle, $49, Eben Naturals
Miami based and founded specifically for people of color, Eben Naturals' main mission is to empower consumers to feel confident in their skin. That's easy to do when their products rich in botanical extracts refreshes and nourishes deep colored skin. Word on the street is their lineup smells just as amazing as it feels, too!
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The beauty industry could surely use a multicultural skin care renaissance. Fortunately, when people of color are ignored or mis-targeted by beauty giants, all-star brands coming through for the melanin do exist.
