Great Finds From Black-Owned Beauty Brands (As Seen On “Great Day Houston”)

February is Black History Month, so it’s the perfect time to celebrate some of the visionary black women behind today’s most inclusive, diverse, boundary-breaking, and exciting beauty brands out there! Yesterday, I stopped by KHOU’s “Great Day Houston” and chatted with my sweet friend Cristina about some must-haves from a selection of black-owned beauty brands. Check out the segment by clicking here and keep on reading for details on all the hotness seen on the show!

Relevant Skin One & Done Everyday Cream SPF 40

For years, many of black friends (and darker-skinned Latino relatives) have claimed that they don’t need to wear sunscreen as their melanin-rich skin offers them natural protection against the sun’s UV rays. And, while there is a grain of truth in that statement, it’s not 100% accurate — and, hence, this much-repeated myth can prove quite harmful. In truth, those with darker skin tones do enjoy some natural sun protection but, at most, it equates to SPF 13 — which is considerably less than the recommended SPF 30 amount.

So, regardless of how fair or dark your complexion, it’s vital to wear SPF daily in order to protect against skin cancer (particularly melanoma), prevent hyperpigmentation, and fend off visible aging signs like wrinkles and crepe-y skin. Here’s the challenge: many of the sunscreens on the market aren’t formulated with darker complexions in mind, and so they can wind up look chalky, leaving behind an irksome white cast.

Luckily, that’s changing thanks to truly inclusive brands like Relevant: Your Skin Seen, which was founded by beauty entrepreneur Nyakio Grieco, a first-generation American of Kenyan descent. Grieco has dedicated much of her career to championing diversity within the beauty space — in fact, she’s the founder of Thirteen Lune, a one-stop-shop that enables visitors to discover beauty brands created by black and brown founders.

True to her belief in creating products that truly work for everyone, Grieco created the Relevant One & Done Every Day SPF 40 ($38 at Relevantskin.com, Thirteen Lune, and JCPenney), a 4-in-1 product that works as a serum, moisturizer, sunscreen, and primer. The mineral-based formula contains a combination of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide to safeguard skin against UVA and UVB rays, and it’s carefully designed to suit all skin tones, blending in seamlessly and leaving no white residue behind., so it’s truly brown girl-approved clean. Moreover, thus multi-tasking product boasts a clean, cruelty-free, and vegan formula that’s packed with antioxidants like plum oil and green tea, as well as skin-strengthening and hydrating niacinamide, squalane, and hyaluronic acid.

Undefined Beauty R&R Night Serum

Harvard alumni Dorian Morris spent over a decade working in the beauty and wellness spaces — her impressive résumé includes stints at Kendo, Macy’s and Johnson & Johnson — before deciding to launch Undefined Beauty in 2018. Her goal was to create a skincare brand rooted in ancient plant wisdom but also informed by clinically-proven, powerful actives. Moreover, Morris sought to democratize the beauty space by appealing to all consumers — and that meant creating truly efficacious, clean products with affordable price tags (which, yes, tends to be a rarity).

As a black founder, Morris found herself thinking about how to promote inclusivity in every aspect of her company — from product development to pricing and marketing. Because representation is a core value for Undefined Beauty, the line’s packaging features stunning illustrations of people of different races, genders, and ethnicities. Moreover, Morris partners with female-founded, minority-owned, and LGBTQ businesses throughout her supply chain in order to empower these businesses and create a model of conscious capitalism.

One of the star products in the line is the Undefined Beauty R&R Night Serum ($28 at Target, Ulta.com, and Undefinedco.com). This reparative overnight treatment features plant-based retinol alternatives like backuchiol, moth bean extract, and carrot seed oil, all of which have amazing anti-aging benefits but are gentle and non-irritating. Moreover, the formula features: helichrysum extract to soothe skin; squalane to strengthen the skin’s moisture barrier; borage oil to moisturize and repair dry and damaged skin; rosehip oil to hydrate, brighten, and boost collagen production, resulting in improved firmness; and macadamia oil to nourish and replenish skin.

Since bakuchiol is a hero ingredient in the serum, and this powerful active is derived from the Babchi plant indigenous to India and used in Ayurvedic rituals for centuries, the corresponding packaging features an illustration of a regal South Asian beauty — a visual nod to the cultural roots of the serum’s star ingredients.

Bomba Curls Grow With Bomba Regimen

Bomba Curls is a green, vegan, cruelty-free haircare brand launched by Afro-Latina Lulu Cordero to celebrate and nurture the beauty of curls and coils of all kinds. All the products in the line feature ingredients that women in the Dominican Republic have used in hair care potions for generations, and so the formulations are a celebration of Cordero’s own Dominican heritage.

For a holistic approach to hair growth, Bomba Curls offer the Grow With Bomba Regimen, a trio of products designed to promote healthy hair growth.

The star product is the Dominican Forbidden Oil, an all-natural, silicone-free, multi-purpose oil that incorporates ingredients often used in Dominican haircare treatments — among them coffee and rosemary oils.

For a deep conditioning treatment, there’s the Forbidden Hair Mask, which features ingredients like raw cinnamon, pistachio and cupuacu butter to nourish strands from roots to tips. It also smells like the yummiest slice of Dominican cake, so you’ll be indulging your senses as well as your strands!

And to promote hair growth from the inside out, the bundle includes the Bomba Beauty Bites, which are gummy vitamins infused with collagen and biotin.

The bundle is available at BombaCurls.com or you can purchase these individually at Target

The Lip Bar Matte Liquid Lipsticks

Back in 2012, Detroit native Melissa Butler was working in Wall Street and living in Brooklyn, New York. During her down time, Butler began making vegan lipsticks in her kitchen, laying the groundwork for what would later become a thriving business. At the time, Butler was frustrated by the beauty industry’s myopic vision, by lip colors that weren’t bold enough to pop on all complexions (particularly darker skin tones) and which were loaded with toxic chemicals. She decided to take action and fill that void in the marketplace with her own brand of pigment-packed, high-impact lipsticks that were intentionally and purposefully made with safe, non-toxic ingredients. Three years later, she made an appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank to ensure start-up funding. Despite the inherent brilliance of her concept, the panel of investors rejected her pitch. Butler, however, was undeterred in her mission — and, ultimately, her perseverance paid off.

Nowadays, The Lip Bar is a full-fledged beauty empire that’s comprised not only of lipsticks but also concealers, tinted moisturizers, mascara, blush, and more. In fact, TLB is the #1 black-owned, vegan beauty brand at Target. Its offerings are available at over 500 Target stores, as well as on TheLipBar.com and fans include Taraji P. Henson and former First Lady Michelle Obama.

If, like me, you’re a sucker for a bold pout, you’ll love The Lip Bar’s Liquid Matte Lipsticks ($14 at Target stores). The shades are bold and unapologetic, and they’re truly designed to pop on a vast array of skin tones. The color pay-off is incredible, and they’re long-lasting, feel weightless on lips, and are non-drying thanks to hydrating ingredients like jojoba oil and vitamin E. For a powerful red lip, try the best-selling shade Bawse Lady, a blue-based red that’s ultra-flattering and has amassed over 5,000 5-star reviews.