Our favourite pop star and all-round boss babe Rihanna has been reigning with Fenty Beauty this year. When she dropped the line on the 8th of September, she took the beauty market by storm. Best of all, launching 40 fantastic shades of foundation, RiRi made sure that everyone was included.
It looked like Rihanna changed the game, making other mainstream makeup brands take note and expand their offering trying to chase that melanin dollar! Well as much as we love RiRi, she isn't the only one making sure the make up market is open to black girls.
Here are five black-owned beauty brands that you need to know:
Vault Cosmetics
Vault Cosmetics was started by makeup artist Jackie Mgido. The Zimbabwean beauty boss wanted to make a range of cosmetics that could be used by every woman.
It's grown a lot since it began, and now sells so many different products, from lip gloss, to foundation, to brushes! Not only does it have a big range, but everything is allergy-tested, fragrance-free, and hypoallergenic. Pretty good, right? You can enjoy free shipping over $30 in the US. We think it's definitely somewhere you should make your new go-to!
Watch as Vault Cosmetics' founder shows you how to craft the perfect brows:
Danessa Myricks Beauty
This stunning shot is from Danessa Myricks Beauty, a New York-based beauty brand started by its namesake. Danessa started out as a makeup artist, and got to work on famous faces - literally - like Britney Spears, Madonna, and Ciara to name a few.
We just love the radiant glow that Danessa Myricks Beauty products can give! Danessa still does the make up for a lot of her shoots, and likes to photograph them too. This black-owned beauty business definitely deserves a shout out. Check out beauty vlogger Platinum D's review of Daness Myricks Beauty's foundation.
AJ Crimson Beauty
Another one of our favourite black beauty brands is AJ Crimson. It's slogan is "beauty for the everyday woman", and they really want to try and show that. Their featured collection, the AJ Crimson Artist Kit has all 18 shades of foundation.
AJ Crimson also has a LOT of lipstick and lip gloss shades - around 30 to be exact! With stunning colours the provocatively named S+M - for sultry and matte - lip line is bound to turn a few heads, for the right reasons.
We love this one, a metallic reddish lipgloss brilliantly named Dutty Wine.
Beauté Brownie
Beauté Brownie is all about spreading the magic of melanin and owning black and brown beauty. As well as posting inspiring messages on social media and talking about issues on their blog, Beauté Brownie has its own line of 'lip-quids' in eight different shades.
With those colours and at just $13, we're not surprised quite a few of the shades have sold out! Check out Beauté Brownie's lip line while you still can!
SHEEQ Cosmetics
Last but not least on our list of black-owned beauty brands is SHEEQ Cosmetics. Based in Beverly Hills, California, SHEEQ Cosmetics was founded by Melissa Hibbert, a make up artist originally from Jamaica.
We love the look of SHEEQ's Luxury Lip Collection! And this exfoliator is full of good nutrients that our skin needs. There's no doubt that SHEEQ Cosmetics should be added to your list!
What do you like out of these brilliant black beauty products? Are there any black-owned beauty business that you know and love?