Women of color have been kicking butt at entrepreneurship and taking up space across all industries for years. We’re coding and developing apps, running multi-million dollar corporations, shaping narratives and yet in the beauty industry, we’ve seemingly been relegated to the roles of blogging or styling. So I was excited to watch the launch of Princess Love’s make-up like Prella during episode 9 on this season of Love n Hip-Hop Hollywood.
Of course the launch was filled with the kind of reality TV drama the show is known for but there was a moment where stylist Zell Swagg spoke to a reporter and he said something we all needed to hear; “we need more women who look like us making make-up for us.” I couldn’t have agreed more, but surely Princess Love can’t be the only one making beauty brands for us. Who were the women already killing the beauty game? Well, my research led me to these five women and a lecture from my financial planner on only being able to wear one shade of lipstick at a time.
Kim Baker
Kim Baker is an OG in the makeup game. Her clients range from Queen Mother Angela Bassett to Ms. Toni Braxton. So it came as no surprise in 2017, she launched Glamazon Beauty Cosmetics. The line which caters to women across ethnic lines, offers a full range of products, including matte and liquid lipstick, blush, highlighter, face primer, liquid foundation, mascara, concealer and eyeshadow. Glamazon’s pride and joy is its second skin liquid foundation, which focuses on the lightest of porcelain to the deepest of ebony skin tones- and all shades in between.
Saadia the MUA
In 2018 Saadia founded KOALD Cosmetics. Their variety of beauty products that can easily be used by the most inexperienced of make-up users, like yours truly. KOALD offers every product from foundation to lipstick to mascara and gel lip liners. Saadia is a beauty educator, makeup artist and lash extension expert. Her passion is to help make women feel beautiful inside and out, which is why she is committed to making sure her products look beautiful applied, and leave your skin beautiful once removed.
Jerica Stacks
In 2018 Jerica Stacks founded Quora Beauty. An upscale beauty retailer in the heart of Detroit Michigan. Jerica believes that all women are beautiful and that make-up should enhance not overshadow that. She also believes in using all natural vegan products and attributes them to the lightweight look and feel of her beauty products. This summer Jerica also launched a line of homemade soaps and scrubs sticking true to her mission to provide women with the beauty they seek without the chemicals.
Lulu Cordero
Lulu Cordero is the founder of Bomba Curls and only one of three Afro-Latinas to own a beauty brand in this country. Considering 65% of the country has textured hair and many of us grew up going to Dominican owned hair salons my mind was blown by that stat. Bomba Curls is a new clean beauty line that caters to type 3 and type 4 curl patterns and was founded 2019. Lulu uses time tested hair care secrets and organic ingredients to naturally nourish the scalp, promote healthy hair growth and achieve luscious curls. She believes that natural unprocessed hair is best and wants to share the tightly kept Dominican beauty secrets used by generations of women to suit the needs of natural coils and curls without sacrificing the clean, pure and organic aspects of natural hair care.
These are just some of the stories I found on my quest to find beauty brands created for women of color by women of color. There are other brands- especially in make-up popping up ready to claim their spots like The 26th Lash and Beautifully Graced Cosmetics that I am thoroughly excited to see more of.
By Priya Williams
