One thing I talk about here a lot on The New Knew is choosing to vote with your dollar. If you keep buying Tide, you are creating a demand for Tide. Don’t do that. LOL.

By: Lisa Fennessy

Instead, I talk about creating a demand for ethical beauty, for sustainable goods, for non-health-compromising products by choosing to buy sustainable, organic, responsible and clean when you can.

The same goes for creating a demand for black-owned businesses. As The Green Business Network suggests, creating a demand for Black-owned businesses can do several things including: closing the racial wealth gap, strengthening local economies, fostering job creation and creating visibility and representation in the green economy.

As it stands in 2023, we still need more Black-owned representation in the ethical beauty space.

In the last few years, I’ve seen lists go up on the internet for Black-owned bookstores, Black-owned business to support, Black-owned clothing labels, Black-owned whisky distilleries, Black-owned restaurants and more. And as an avid skincare and beauty blogger, I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of Black-owned ethical skincare brands.

This list is a little bit different because it’s where Black-owned business meets better beauty. It’s not an exhaustive list of all Black-owned skincare. It’s not merely Black-owned wellness brands. This is only Black-owned, ethical skincare only. These brands are what I would consider to be better beauty according to TNK’s standards, meaning no phenoxyethanol, synthetic fragrance, GSE or hidden 1,4 dioxane to name a few which you can read more about in 12 Hidden Ingredients in Skincare and Makeup.

To compile this list, I looked through The New Knew archives as well as Black-owned brand recommendations by Jacq’s, Beauty Independent, Leahlani, Gianne Doherty and The Detox Market—and I was able to put together this list below. It was hard to find full ingredient lists for some brands, so please don’t consider this a complete list by any means. Just a place to start.

These brands are listed in alphabetical order. If you know of a Black-owned ethical beauty brand that is missing from this list, please comment below to add them in.

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100 Black-owned ethical skincare brands

1. Aba Love Apothecary – Handcrafted holistic skincare and aromatherapy.

2. Afiya Beauty – A brand centered around wellness and health.

3. Alchemy Body Shop – Body butters and oils.

4. Amenda Beauty – Formulated to be results-driven and effective. This oil looks super chic.

5. Andrelle’s Natural Skin Care – Handcrafted skincare by a clinical herbalist with minimum ingredients for the best results.

6. Angie Watts – Natural, vegan and cruelty-free skin food.

7. Anne’s Apothecary – Clean, sustainable, natural skincare.

8. Aseede – A small edit skincare brand formulated with simple, clean ingredients.

9. Asevida – Products that promote self care and mindfulness with natural ingredients.

10. Bee Happy – Made to order natural skincare products.

11. Bella Laine Naturally – Handcrafted natural skin and hair products.

12. Beneath Your Mask – Obsessed with her Remedy Conditioning Lip Balm. Chic. Effective. Smells amazing. So good.

13. Bibah Skincare – Curated botanical skincare for dry, sensitive skin. (OMG this line is super cute).

14. Biophile – A unique, efficacious microbiome friendly line that’s great for even sensitive skin.

15. BLK GRN – All natural marketplace by all Black artisans.

16. Body Be Silk – reality TV star of Mind Your Business on the OWN network, Greta is an indie artistan and bath & body junkie creating clean body care products.

RELATED: Girl Talk with Dana Jackson, founder of Beneath Your Mask.

17. Breed Love Beauty Co – Love their options for one-ingredient organic oils.

18. Briogeo – Yeah, it’s a haircare brand, but they have scalp care, which is *technically* your skin. Great for kinky-curly hair types.

19. Brosily Bath & Body – Nontoxic products that support your skin without harming your health.

20. Clean Rebellion – Transforming everyday castile soap into a premium soap used for your hair, face and body!

21. Champ De Fleurs Skincare – Check out these Caribbean inspired soaps.

22. Chloe + Chad – Vegan beauty products handmade in Brooklyn.

23. Dehiya – Simple, time-honored beauty with ethically sourced, highly-active, native and wild botanical ingredients from all over the world.

24. Demosea – Skincare products with botanical oils ethically and locally sourced delicacies from the deserts, mountains, and seas.

25. De Palma’s Hydrating and Clarifying Face Oil – Works to moisturize and help even skin tone.

26. Dutchess Beauty – Lip oils, scrubs and butters (I want to ask about the flavoring here : )

27. Ellie Bianca – Extra organic skin oils and bath salts.

28. Eu’Genia Shea – Sustainable shea butter in uber chic cutest tins.

29. Ezàpè Naturals – Balms, butters and oils.

30. Folie Apothecary – Prickly pear face and hair oils (one of my favorite ingredients).

RELATED: Biophile skincare review (+ why the microbiome of your skin is legit important).

31. Forever Wild Organics – A waterless skin, hair and wellness product line made from vegan and medicinal ingredients. Products are meant to treat especially severe hair loss, hyperpigmentation and various internal issues.

32. Free + True – Next-level, air-weight skincare products that get the job done. I am IN LOVE with Body Prophet. You HAVE TO try it.

33. FRIGG – CBD face oil from a former wellness company CMO, with a focus on de-stressing your skin.

34. Girl B Natural – Feminine wash and care.

35. Gloryscent Beauty – A pro-melanin skincare brand created to protect the skin from environmental pollution.

36. Golde Face Masks – Products that look good, taste good, and help you feel like your best self.

37. Hanahana Beauty – Body butters, soap and scrubs but check out their shea balm (so pretty).

38. Harvest Natural Beauty – Plant-powered skincare.

39. Healing Place Apothecary – I have my eyes on their Black Soap Gentle Face Cleanser.

40. Hello Wellness Naturals – A collection of handmade all-natural personal care products. These look beautiful. I did notice one product contains “fragrance,” which I would want more info on before recommending. All others look A+!

41. I + I Botanicals – CBD infused clean skincare.

42. INMYHEALS – A luxury natural bath and body brand focused on healing the mind, body & spirit.

43. Inua Skincare – Redefining ethical cosmetics, formulating powerful and effective natural products inspired by African beauty and health traditions.

44. IWI Fresh – Atlanta-based farm-to-skin line. Check out her most popular product; 14 Carrot Glow Balm.

45. IYOBA – One look at their artisan soaps and you will freak. STUNNING. Ingredients are not listed online but I chatted with the owner and they look great with a base of olive oil, organic coconut oil, safflower oil, spring water, sodium hydroxide and essential oils.

46. Jacq’s – Skincare for women of color by women of color. Organic. Vegan. Cruelty-free.

47. JD Bath & Co – Luxury bath care made for sensitive skin with the cleanest ingredients.

48. Kadalys – Organic, vegan skincare with an emphasis on the power of the banana plant.

49. Kaiem – A marketplace sharing products created by African artisans with people all over the world. 

50. Kaike – Because your skin should be celebrated.

51. Karite Shea Butter – Raw shea butter locally sourced from Ghana.

52. KNC Lip Masks – One word, ORDERED!

53. Kreyol Essence Haitian Black Castor Oils – Natural and ethical beauty products from Haiti.

54. LBB – Innovative products that combine quality, performance and convenience. I am always on the lookout for clean face wipes. I need to try these.

55. LIHA – Products are handmade in small batches.

56. Live Like You Green It – Sustainable skincare made from organic & wild harvested ingredients.

57. Lizzie’s All-Natural Products – Creates fresh, natural, toxin-free products for your home and body. Made from simple, plant-based ingredients that nourish your skin and body.

58. Loganne’s Love’s Bar Soaps – The brand was created to make body care products fun by reflecting the beauty of nature. Handcrafted in small batches.

59. Lotus Moon Pumpkin + Seabuckthorn Beauty Oil – Silky and soft beauty oil with 100% organic and vegan ingredients.

60. Loving Culture – USDA certified organic hair and scalp oil.

61. The London Grant Co – Body oils and polishes (and Atlanta-based!)

62. Lovinah – Time honored Ancient African beauty rituals for the modern day woman. 

63. Mawena – Utilizes the efficacy of the bark of Mimosa tenuiflora, a naturally antioxidant-rich ingredient found in Southern Mexico.

64. Make It Classy – DIY plant-based hair and skincare.

65. Marla Rene Skincare – Some ingredient lists were missing here but from what I could gather, this line looks clean!

66. Mary Louise Cosmetics – Soaps, hand sanitizers, serums, butters, face masks.

67. Matrescence – Safe skincare for motherhood.

68. Milked – OMG you HAVE TO check out these next-level soaps.

69. My Emollient – Multipurpose body butters packed with vitamins and antioxidants

70. Nolaskinsentials – Handcrafted, clean, crulty free. That Pumpkin Enzyme Mask tho!

71. Okoko Cosmetiques – Featured in our May 2020 Clean Beauty Box.

72. Organic Bath Co – Decadent butters, soaps and more. Boston founder Gianne Dohorty is also the founder of the WELL SUMMIT.

73. OUI THE PEOPLE – I love this beautiful rose gold safety razor engineered in Germany specifically for woman. It’s like a piece of jewelry for my shower and it was featured in my 2020 April Quarterly Faves.

74. Papa Rozier Farms – Real Castor and Moringa oil from scratch, from their family owned farm in Haiti, to your home.

75. Peak + Valley – Herbal supplements and medicinal wellness products.

76. Pholk – Skincare as a Diaspora Folk Beauty Culture where African-derived beauty wisdom is adapted with local ingredients. Soul food for your skin.

77. PiperWai – The original charcoal deodorant.

78. Plain Jane Beauty’s Chia Seed + Cranberry Beauty Oil

79. Pretty Well Beauty – A clean beauty and wellness retailer that features high quality, sustainable and clean products from brands all over the globe.

80. Purgasm Shop – Here to transform your skin. I checked on the fragrance here and it’s: “a blend of essential oils, plant absolutes and a small amount of certified organic fragrance from a company called Nature’s Flavors.”

81. R+R Luxury – Transforming one of nature’s purest and richest gifts – Shea – into the most enriching beauty products.

82. Redoux – Bottling memories through scent. Soaps and skincare with the prettiest packaging.

83. Roseman’s Remedies – Clean bath bombs and more in compostable packaging!

84. Rosen Skincare – Thoughtful skincare for people with acne-prone skin.

85. Sade Baron – Created by a mother-daughter duo.

86. SDot Beauty – Skin, body, baby, hair, hand, nails. Love the concept of their Day + Night Serum Duo.

87. Shea Radiance Raw Shea Butter – Love that this a one-ingredient unrefined product.

88. Skin Buttr – A tight edit ranging from $12-$25.

89. Son Shine Bath – Another Atlanta brand for the books! (This O’Honey Facial Cleanser is calling my name).

90. Swabu – 100% Plant Based Whole Body and Hair Care Healing based out of Ohio.

91. Temple Zen Skincare – Handmade, high quality for brighter, healthier skin.

92. Terra Tory – No B.S. bar soaps and butters.

93. The Established – Minimalist essentials for common skincare gripes.

94. True Moringa – Boston-based and one of the first lines I ever tried in clean beauty.

95. Unplugged Essentials – Hemp-infused soaks for the body and mind. (These look SO GOOD!)

96. Urembo Asili – African inspired plant-based skincare.

97. Unsun’s Tinted Face Sunscreen – Comes in medium/dark or light/medium.

98. Uthmos – A skincare line that focus on mature skin, sensitive skin and other unique skin challenges.

99. Well Beauty Lab – All about the basic elements that make skincare effective.

100. Wild Seed Botanicals – I didn’t make it past their beautiful bowl and brush set…

What brands are missing here? Comment below!

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