By Ofe. O
The history of beauty and cosmetic would never be complete without these black women. They have made a great impact in the beauty world and have been a major inspiration to both consumers and aspiring beauty entrepreneurs. Their products are of the best quality which cannot be reckoned with.
Let’s take a peep into these great black women and their respective brands.
IMAN
Iman isn’t just a groundbreaking supermodel, she’s also an entrepreneur. In 1994, she became a black beauty pioneer with her namesake label — Iman Cosmetics — which caters exclusively to women of color who have a hard time finding products that match their skin tones. The brand is particularly celebrated for being the first to create a BB cream for deeper tones. By 2010, its influence was solidified with over $25 million in sales, and it is among the most popular in drugstores everywhere.
LISA PRICE
Thanks to Lisa’s ‘Carol’s Daughter’ which started in the kitchen table, curly coils are back in style. Lisa’s brand later grew to include body and skin care products that cater to a variety of Black beauty needs. Carol’s Daughter was in 2014 acquired by L’Oreal in a step to make multi-cultural consumers a priority.
MYLEIK TEELE
She founded CurlBOX; a mail -order subscription service that caters to natural hair. Teele specifically caters to curly hair girls and this shows that black beauty is part of the mainstream.
MIKO BRANCH
The Branch sisters- Miko and Titi (the latter sadly passed in 2014) who are of black father and a Japanese mother, created ‘Miss Jessie’s- a popular line of natural hair products. The business was highly successful because the two were already familiar with curly-girl life.
QUEEN LATIFAH
Queen Latifah is an award winning actor and producer, as well as the creative force and face of “CoverGirl’s Queen Collection”, a cosmetic line for women of colour. Thanks to her influence, the makeup line for women of color has grown over the years.
RICHELIEU DENNIS, NYEMA TUBMAN AND MARY DENNIS
The trio created Nubian Heritage over twenty years ago. It is an all-natural skin care line grounded by indigenous ingredients such as shea butter and African soap. Their parent company -Sundial brands has grown to shea moisture, a drugstore staple that has been used on fashion week runways. The brand, Shea Moisture has also become very popular in Nigeria.
KEYSHIA KA’OIR
The “Queen of Colored Lipstick”, Ka’oir makes wearing lipstick fun. Her Ka’oir cosmetics line is famous for sassy names like “Golden Goddess” and “Rude Girl”. Keyshia alongside running her business is also a model.
KIM ETHEREDGE AND WENDY LEVY
What started as a “silly idea” between two friends is now a lucrative line available both online and retail stores. Kim and Wendy who bonded over their multicultural backgrounds own the brand dedicated to removing frizz from natural curls- Mixed Chicks.
FLORENCE ADEPOJU
After years of working behind make up counters, which didn’t provide flattering options for deep skin tone, Florence with a degree in chemistry introduced her handmade lipstick , MDM Flow lipstick line. She was inspired by the hip-hop culture of the nineties, and today, she is on her way to being a major force in the makeup industry.
PAT MCGRATH
This influential makeup artist with unparalleled talent has made dominated and inspired the makeup world for many years. The launch of her “Gold dust” sent the social media world of beauty on fire last year. Pat Mcgrath is a major force on the international runways and campaigns for A-listers such as John Galliano.
Source: PopSugar Beauty
