10 Beauty Brands We’re Loving Made With Melanin Skin In Mind
The beauty market is more inclusive than it’s ever been before, but true diversity is a work in progress. Consider the makeup industry for instance, which has made major strides in recent years but when we look into skincare, a lack of diversity still persists. 456 Skin describes it as “the skincare-race gap”, which is seen in the industry’s dearth of melanin-specific skincare. As Sarah Irby, founder of Melē, reflects on her brand’s website, “Black and Brown women are major consumers and enthusiasts of all aspects of beauty, yet there is a lack of science-based knowledge and skincare in the market designed specifically for her.” However, recently we’ve seen promising change as more and more incredible POC-focused skincare brands are taking centre stage, gaining the recognition they deserve with many other exciting lines still underway, like Naomi Osaka’s KINLÒ.
Looking for a few extra gems to add to your summer beauty wishlist? Scroll down for a list of revolutionary beauty brands that are elevating education and representation in skincare, with scientifically-backed blends made for all shades of melanin.
456 Skin
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456 is “closing the skincare-race gap” with their clinically proven product offerings specifically curated and personalized for melanated phototypes: 4, 5, and 6.
Add to Cart: Tonic Oh! Treatment Lotion, $48
Any glow getters out there? Cause this is a literal skin glow-up in liquid form. Hyaluronic acid and alpinum flower leaf extract boosts hydration levels, bringing much-needed balance back to the skin. Paired with this skin-reviving duo is salicylic acid to keep clogged pores in check and improve your skin’s overall texture.
Epara
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A line of high-end skincare staples that merge science with Africa’s most lush organic ingredients, to help take your day and nighttime beauty ritual to new heights.
Add to Cart: Natural Cleansing Oil, $63
This holy grail item treats hyperpigmentation as you cleanse. Licorice root and plankton extracts elevate your skin’s glow while tackling dark spots for a brighter and more even complexion.
Rose Ingleton MD
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Dr. Ingleton creates a range of clean and straightforward skincare essentials that feed the skin with Jamaica’s most powerful nutrient-rich fruit extracts. From blemishes, dullness, redness, and dehydration, you’ll find a solution for all skin woes.
Add to Cart: Complexion Brightening Booster, $70
In this serum is Dr. Rose Ingleton’s hallmark Jamaican Juice Blend — a skin-rejuvenating cocktail of superfruits: bilberry, orange, sugar cane, lemon, and sugar maple topped with a superior serving of hyaluronic acid. It’s also infused with a powerful cocktail of peptides, citric, malic, and lactic acids to add plumpness back to your skin’s texture while working serious wonders for uneven tone too.
Melē Skincare
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Founders Esi Eggleston-Bracey and Sarah Irby joined forces with dermatologists of color and Unilever scientists to create a collection of science-based skincare formulations tailor-made for melanin-rich skin. From youth-enhancing formulations to traceless SPFs and dark spot correctors, there are liquids and lotions for all melanin skin challenges.
Add to Cart: Even Dark Spot Control, $26
If you’re looking for a solution to tackle your hyperpigmentation woes, Melē Skincare is a great place to start. Their award-winning dark spot serum contains 3% niacinamide, 0.3% pro-retinol, 1% vitamin E, and hexylresorcinol — a powerful combo that will slowly erase dark spots to even out skin tone. Use it both in the AM and PM for optimum benefits.
Topicals
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A brand that’s proudly giving the middle finger to toxic skin standards and encouraging us to embrace skin acceptance. Their formulas are peer-reviewed and scientifically backed — with great value placed on customer feedback to provide the most effective skin-renewing potions for all shades.
Add to Cart: Faded Brightening & Clearing Gel, $36
This skin-brightening serum gel consists of azelaic, tranexamic, and kojic acid, a powerful trio that helps inhibit excess production of melanin, lessening the appearance of discolorations. Over time, you’ll notice an improvement in your skin’s texture too, and this is due to skin-perfectors niacinamide and Centella Asiatica leaf extract.
Black Girl Sunscreen
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Black Girl Sunscreen bridges the SPF gap with its range of white-cast-free sun creams designed specifically for Black skin. Not only does BGS melt away seamlessly on deeper complexions, but their formulas also comprise of hydrating and nourishing natural ingredients to leave skin looking and feeling its best.
Add to Cart: Black Girl Sunscreen SPF 30, $19
An invisible everyday sunscreen that leaves zero residue. It’s super-moisturizing, which we love, and this is due to its blend of avocado, jojoba, cacao, and sunflower oil that put in the work to level up your natural melanin skin glow.
Ami Colé
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Created by Glossier alum Diarrha N’Diaye, Ami Colé is fresh on the scene but already making headlines with their Senegal-inspired clean beauty line made for women of color. This beautifully chic and sleek range consists of all the necessities that melanated huns require to blend out the perfect no-makeup makeup glam.
Add to Cart: Skin Enhancing Tint, $32
A face base that enhances your natural complexion as opposed to covering it up. Its satiny texture blends like a dream, leaving soft focus over blemishes while adding healthy and luminous dewiness. Key ingredients include baobab seed, hibiscus flower, and pumpkin seed extract to protect skin from the elements while keeping moisture, wrinkles, and fines lines in check.
Eadem
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Founders Marie Koudio and Alice Lin are “challenging the industry to push beyond tokenism,” with skincare that’s authentically inclusive. From their chemists, dermatologists, and community, women of color are the driving forces behind the brand, curating a range of clean beauty for “women like us.”
Add to Cart: Milk Marvel Dark Spot Serum, $68
This is their first product, and it’s already sold out (you’ll catch us in the waiting list too!). It consists of three Smart Melanin Targeters, amber algae, ethyl ascorbic acid, and niacinamide to help treat dark spots and slow down the formation of new discolorations.
Buttah
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Nature and science join forces in Buttah Skin — supreme skincare made for both women and men that targets melanin skin dilemmas with the end goal to achieve “glowing, healthy and renewed” skin. Founded by model and actor Dorion Renaud, this brand also has Beyoncé’s stamp of approval.
Add to Cart: Oil-Free Gel-Cream Moisturizer, $19
A gel-to-cream moisturizer that hydrates and nourishes skin deep within. Hyaluronic acid plumps and amps up moisture levels while DuraQuench IQ offers moisture-retaining properties, ensuring hydration is locked in all day. Grape seed extract is also incorporated in this blend to fight blemishes and keeps pores tight and clear.
Check out these other ah-mazing emerging black-owned brands you need to have on your radar.
Disclaimer: Every product we review has been independently selected and tested without bias by our editorial team. We never take payment to review products, although some brands allow affiliate links, so we may earn a commission if you purchase a product by clicking on one of our links.
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