BY: KIZZY COURTNEY
Are you tired of combing the makeup aisles only to be left disappointed with the lack of inclusion? For many women of colour, shopping for makeup is a more challenging experience than their fair-skinned counterparts. Well, I’m happy to say they’re many makeup brands that cater to women of colour, that were created by women of colour. If you have yet to learn about some of these amazing women and their companies I’d like to share my top five favourites.
- Juvia’s Place – Juvia’s Place was created by Nigerian-born wife and mother of two Chichi Eburu. The company was launched a little over two years ago and is known for creating eyeshadows that are very pigmented, colourful and blends easily. The company took its inspiration from Egyptian culture, their first two eyeshadow palettes called ‘The Nubian’ and ‘The Nubian II’ were inspired by Queen Nefertiti, an icon known for her strength, beauty and spirituality. The company is slowly expanding and now includes brushes and blushes in their collections.
- Beauty Bakerie – Beauty Bakerie is the love child of owner Cashmere Nichole. She is an African-American woman who overcame breast cancer and loss to ‘create a brand that contradicted the popular ‘bad girl’ persona the mainstream was pedalling – to show girls that there’s nothing wrong with upholding a sweet and friendly nature’. The brand is popular for its cruelty free/vegan ‘Lip Whip’ which is their long-lasting liquid lipsticks, and each product has a play-on-name like something you will find at a bakery such as their ‘EyesCream’ eyeshadows, their ‘GELato’ eyeliners, and their ‘BROWnies’ eyebrow gels, as well as their cute colorful packaging. Go ahead and check out their ‘Bake Sale’ and see for yourself.
- Colored Raine – Founded by Loraine Roberts Dowdy in 2013. After twelve years in the finance industry, Loraine had a desire for true beauty and dreamt of a cosmetics line that encourages self-expression and creativity. This is a company that boasts bold eyeshadows, lipsticks, closes and nail polishes. They recently came out with their highly in demand ‘Queen of Hearts’ eyeshadow palette.
- Sacha Cosmetics – Sacha Cosmetics is manufactured in Trinidad and Tobago, where curators work “tirelessly to successfully develop products that are flash-friendly on diverse skin tones.” They became mainstream popular when beauty bloggers started using their ‘Buttercup’ setting powder as an alternative to the ever popular ‘Banana Powder’ from Ben Nye. Buttercup was better suited for deeper skin tones and best of all was flash friendly. The company provides foundations, blushes and some very beautiful lipsticks in an array of colours to choose from.
- The Lip Bar – Founded in 2012 by Detroit native Melissa Butler, Lip Bar was designed as “a company that would introduce women of all shades to experience a lip colour that was not only bold in its shade, but also healthy in its intake.” This company is 100% vegan and cruelty-free. Their lipsticks, which not only have an array of colours to choose from, but each tube is filled with shea butter, coconut oil, avocado oil, and vitamin E. Talk about moisturising! Their Liquid Matte which claims to last 8-12 hours, goes on like a gloss, then dries down fully matte, and with Its secret ingredient (Sweet Almond Oil) it promises not to dry your lips out.
The amazing thing about these companies is you don’t need to be a person of colour to buy or use their products. They can be used on anyone. So why not pick up a liquid lipstick from The Lip Bar or order something from the Beauty Bakerie. It’s time we support a broader, more beautiful, inclusive, beauty industry. They’re so many more companies out there that were created by women of colour for women of colour, and if you’re interested in learning more about these companies check out some B.O.M.B challenge videos on youtube. Remember to support black businesses, better yet support black women owned businesses.
