Even with Black History Month behind us, it’s never too late to support Black-owned beauty brands making a difference 365 days of the year. From superfood, vegan-friendly face masks to moisturizing plant-based body washes, these 9 Black-owned holistic beauty brands are bridging the gap between external and internal wellness for all.
Rooted in traditional ancient Chinese medicine, holistic healing dates back 5,000 years ago (yep, prior to modern westernized medicine!) Ancient healers and spiritual gurus used the practice as a form of linking common illnesses and diseases to traumas within the body by intersecting wellness through a mind, body, and spirit connection.
“I think healing for our bodies is all about being intentional,” explains Abena Boamah-Acheampong, Founder and CEO of Hanahana Beauty. “With clean and holistic beauty intentionality is key, down to the ingredients being used to create said products. I believe if you are doing anything at any level of healing — you must be mindful that items, whether used internally or externally are intentionally made,” she adds.
“When it comes to Hanahana Beauty, we are international not only about the ingredients but also the overall process — it is the standard that all clean beauty should be. However, it’s also important to read and research what brands (and products) we’re using as customers because some things are just marketing moments.”
Using a similar approach within their beauty products, these Black-owned beauty brands have intertwined the scope of holistic healing by using all-natural and ethically sourced ingredients to help repair the body’s overall wellness from the inside, and out.
Whether you’re on the hunt for more Black-owned brands to support or simply want a new approach to how you experience all-natural beauty — ahead, are a few favorites that are more than just skin deep.
Golde
Trinity Mouzon, Founder, and CEO of Golde
Co-founded by Trinity Mouzon Wofford (and husband, Issey Kobori), Golde is the ode to all-natural self-care. From morning superfood smoothies to superfood facial masques, Golde wants to help change our relationship with wellness by focusing on internally and externally healing our bodies.
“Wellness is really a holistic pursuit that combines what you put on your skin and what you put in your body. At Golde, we make both ingestible superfood blends (like matcha, turmeric lattes, and collagen boosters) *and* topical skincare, because we know how connected the two inherently are,” adds Mouzon Wofford.
“I started Golde in 2017 on a mission to bring superfoods to everyone’s wellness routines. I was feeling caught between the ‘crunchy granola’ stuff I’d grown up with in my local health food store and the wave of ultra-premium wellness offerings just didn’t resonate. We’re all about making wellness easy and fun for all.”
The Review: “I’ve been following this brand since its inception and my forever favorites are the face masks. It’s like superfoods for your face! The Clean Greens Face Mask detoxifies my skin and clean out my pores while the Papaya Bright Mask takes me back to the islands and leaves my skin bright. Both give my face an au natural pick me up.” — ELLE.com Beauty Director, Danielle James
The Afro Hair & Skin Co
Ibi Meier-Oruitemeka, Founder of The Afro Hair & Skin Co
Dedicated to crafting ethically-sourced, organic products by hand, Ibi Meier-Oruitemeka wants to feed our hair and skin with positively charged ingredients that are healthy and sustainable. With kindness at the core of the brand’s mission, The Afro Hair & Skin Co believes self-care is the best way to heal our connection with ourselves and the world around us.
“When we are intentional about doing what it takes to truly support and heal ourselves inside out, we begin to understand where and how holistic beauty can play its part,” explains Meier-Oruitemeka. “The Afro Hair & Skin Co. is very much about distilling the magic of botanical, plant-based ingredients into everyday personal care products that, not only meet our practical everyday beauty needs as Black women, but also allow for us to develop rituals that bring us peace, pleasure and allow for us to re-center ourselves.”
The Review: “I’ve been using The Afro Hair and Skin company’s products for around 4 years now and love it! My favorite hair product is their ‘FLOURISH’ hair butter. This nourishing butter melts beautifully into my Afro, leaving it moisturized, and making detangling and combing a lot easier. Other than how beautiful it makes my hair look & feel, I fell in love with Flourish because of its natural ingredients which is great for my sensitive scalp.” — lawyer, legal tech and natural hair blogger, Comfort Nkang.
Jacq’s Organics
Barbara Jacques, Founder of Jacq’s Organics
After learning that she had an ovarian tumor while expecting her daughter, Barbara Jacques began studying green medicine and holistic plant botany as a way to cope with her illness. This later inspired the creation of her brand, Jacq’s Organics. Providing healing remedies to address unique skincare concerns that often plague Black women and women of color, Jacq’s is your one-stop destination for nontoxic vegan and sustainable skincare that promotes healthy healing the right way.
“The more research I did, the more concerns I had about the effects of ingredients on our overall health,” adds Jacques. “JACQ’S is on a mission to change the way the beauty industry sees skincare and women of color. Black, brown, hispanic, asian women, and everyone in between should be seen and to be seen as much more than props and profit margins. We’re creating a clean skincare line backed by science and fueled with probiotics, and plant activities to address the unique skincare concerns for melanated skin.”
The Review: “My favorite Jacq’s product is the antioxidant beauty balm cleanser. The cleanser immediately melts my makeup and doesn’t require excessive rubbing. My experience with Jacq’s was my first time using a beauty balm and I’m thoroughly impressed! My husband and I both enjoy using the clarifying masque. It leaves my skin feeling clean, tight, refreshed, and very smooth.” — beauty content creator, Nya Bryanna Henry
Beneath Your Mask
Dana Jackson, Founder of Beneath Your Mask
Committed to prioritizing health and overall wellness, Beneath Your Mask wants to change the interpersonal relationship you have with yourself behind closed doors. After being diagnosed with lupus and lupus nephritis, founder Dana Jackson wanted to find a way to repair her skin with nontoxic ingredients that wouldn’t further challenge her immune system.
“I’d become hyper-sensitive about what I was putting in my body and, subsequently, what I put on my body. I’d never treated my skin like an organ prior to my illness,” shares Jackson. “I began hand-crafting beauty that is safe to absorb and doesn’t compromise on any level. Beneath Your Mask is where a commitment to health and wellness meets a lifestyle of luxury and decadence. The name comes from the premise that you can’t truly be healed until you remove the mask you’re presenting to the world. This life-changing diagnosis forced me to remove my own mask — and I wanted to show others that there’s beauty on the other side of their own journeys.”
The Review: “I love this mask so much! Being a model and having makeup on and off my face all day means I have to take my skincare seriously and this mask felt so good and left my skin feeling so soft and healthy and cleansed. I have really sensitive skin so I have to be careful about the products I use and this product gave me NO problems.” —model and radio host, Danaé Reid.
Kaike
Keli Smith, Founder of Kaike
Founded in 2015 after battling with severe eczema, Keli Smith created her brand Kaike after noticing a lack of eczema-focused skincare products on shelves. Her brand Kaike provides all-natural concentrated skincare to help nourish and provide healing properties to dry, eczema-prone skin.
“Kaike’s mission is to celebrate our skin. Born from the belief that less is more, we create clean, indulgent skin and body care products to nourish your skin,” says Keli. “Skincare should be a piece of cake. Our concentrated skincare approach delivers decadent ingredients to feed your skin for a healed, healthy glow. What I couldn’t find on beauty shelves, I created with clean, nourishing products that treats dry, itchy, eczema-prone skin — skin like mine.”
The Review: “Kaike’s Melt Oil Cleanser literally melts away my makeup so effortlessly; it’s my favorite Kaike product, and it smells so good! Other makeup removal products don’t always cleanse my makeup entirely, but Kaike did a great job on the formula, especially with the apricot seed oil and watermelon seed oil.” — content creator and founder of Naked by Nature, Amber Williams.
Hanahana Beauty
Abena Boamah-Acheampong, Founder and CEO of Hanahana Beauty
Founder and CEO of Hanahana Beauty, Abena Boamah-Acheampong, believes beauty is more than skin deep. From ethically sourcing raw ingredients to providing transparent and accessible skincare for the body and face, Hanahana Beauty is changing how we experience natural, holistic skincare that heals both the body and the soul.
“Hanahana Beauty’s mission is to bring a level of humanity into the beauty space like never before seen,” explains Boamah-Acheampong. “Being able to create sustainable paths from the producers we work with to our community and customers. This can be seen through key points such as transparency and accessibility.”
The Review: “I hate being ashy, which is why I adore Hanahana Beauty products. You don’t have to work too hard for buttery smooth skin because Hanahana Beauty’s Shea Body Butter (in the lemongrass scent, of course) melts like a dream and leaves my extremely dry skin supple and gleaming.” — ELLE.com Beauty Commerce Editor, Nerisha Penrose
Plant Apothecary
Plant Apothecary believes magic is a mindset. With sustainably inclusive ingredients that derive directly from the earth, nature is at the core of the brand’s mission all while providing plant-based mood-enhancing formulations.
“When we blend the best of our worlds, we push boundaries and make beautiful things happen. It’s in the flowers that bloom, the lights that shine, and in the compass that leads us home. We lift each other to our highest of heights for an outcome that honors the very best in our nature — and nature as a whole,” explains brand co-founder Holly McWhorter.
The Review: “Having dry and sensitive skin and wanting to try all of the latest products doesn’t always end well for me, so I typically like to stick with brands that have natural ingredients. Plant Apothecary was a brand that I found on TikTok and I have been swearing by it ever since. My skin literally soaks up the Cloud Break cleanser every morning, which I use with my Foreo Luna cleansing tool. The cleanser is able to wash the impurities from my pores, without drying out or stripping my skin like most cleansers would, and that’s why it’s my go-to product.” — Beauty Content Creator and Founder of Kelsee’s Beauty Bible Podcast, Kelsee Majette.
The Healing Place Apothecary
Founded by Nubian Flunder, The Healing Place Apothecary provides plant-based formulations rooted in holistic wellness principles from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Handcrafted locally in small batches, The Healing Apothecary uses sustainable, all-natural ingredients that cater to all melanin skin tones.
“In bridging the gap between the modern world and the natural world, we believe in prioritizing our health and wellness while being chic, savvy, and totally fabulous. We believe in balance and vitality,” the brand shares.
The Review: “The Healing Place Apothecary’s Rose Water Hydrating Mist is a must-have for anyone looking for a versatile and effective skincare product. It not only hydrates, tones, and tightens the skin, but also calms irritated skin, and acne, and sets your makeup. I love how it leaves me feeling refreshed and rejuvenated all day long!” — HBO Digital Associate Producer, Kenia Reyes