- Jenica Barrett
11 Black-owned Green + Sustainable Skincare Companies
Updated: Feb 6, 2021
There are honestly hundreds of skincare companies out there which can make your choice quite difficult. If you're looking for skincare brands that are green, sustainable, and owned by Black women who support diversity in the beauty industry, this list is for you!
Below are 11 different brands all supplying skincare products from moisturizers to shampoos to hand creams to soaps! All are owned by incredibly talented Black women!
Looking for makeup rather than skincare? We've got you covered with 15 Zero Waste Cosmetic Brands and 6 Black-owned Green + Sustainable Cosmetic brands.
11 Black-owned Green + Sustainable Skincare Companies
1. Beelove
HQ Location: Chicago, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned, hire talented individuals with criminal convictions, social enterprise (under non-profit)
Products: chap sticks, lotions, creams, shower gel, and actual honey!
Description: Brenda Palms Barber founded Beelove as a social enterprise designed to address mass incarceration in the Chicago area. Talented individuals with prior convictions face higher barriers to employment in the general workforce which drove Barber to design a business that would be both financially successful and give back to her community. Beelove also has a podcast (which is quite fascinating!) discussing how they balance their social goals with running a business.
2. Kyra's Shea Medleys
HQ Location: Los Angeles, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned, vegan, cruelty free, give back program
Products: hair care, creams, moisturizer, soap
Description: Kyra Nicole began making body creams in college and founded Kyra's Shea Medleys with two other entrepreneurs from her community. For every purchase made, the company donates another one (or more) of that product to a shelter or group in need of these essential case products.
3. Shimirose
HQ Location: London
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned, vegan, plastic free packaging
Products: moisturizer, body butter, lip balm, hair care,
Description: Shimirose focuses on skin care products, each one containing shea butter that's sourced from a women's cooperative in North Ghana. The shea butter is combined with different essential oils and ingredients depending on its purpose. They are all chemical-free with no hidden ingredients.
The products are packaged in glass containers with aluminum lids. They ship in paper bags or reusable fabric bags with paper labels. They even go as far to say that they use wood and bamboo displays when marketing events!
4. Dirt Don't Hurt
HQ Location: California, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, women-owned, vegan
Products: facial oil, facial masks, body soap, oral care
Description: Dirt Don't Hurt was founded in 2017 by three sisters who wanted to create a line of body-safe products when they started having children. The company primarily focuses on oral care including toothbrushes, tooth powder, and tooth oil, but also have a small skincare line with a few products. The ingredients are all listed on the website in detail with the benefits of each one described.
You can purchase their products online and also find them at a few locations around the San Diego, California area.
5. Lalin et la Siren
HQ Location: New York, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned, organic ingredients, small batch, plastic free packaging
Products: body butter, facial masks, scrubs, bath bombs, deodorant
Description: Lalin et la Siren describes their products as inspired by their Afro-Caribbean American roots. Ingredients are focused on natural and organic with each item made to order to ensure the freshest and highest quality. The deodorant comes in a compostable cardboard tube making it completely plastic free and the rest of their products are primarily packaged in glass and metal jars.
6. Dehiya
HQ Location: California, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned, organic ingredients, 2% of profits donated annually
Products: lip + cheek tint, facial cleansers and moisturizers, lip balm
Description: The name Dehiya comes from one of North Africa's "most powerful warriors". To pull a quote from the website, "Queen Dehiya was a freedom fighter, an empowered female badass and the epitome of ancient beauty". The company Dehiya works to embody this spirit in its diverse and inclusive beauty products.
Dehiya sources its argan oil from Morocco where the oil is extracted by a local women's coop that supports the community. Although not all ingredients are certified organic (because of the cost of certification!), they assure customers that only natural ingredients are used and all are free of petroleum, synthetic materials, artificial fragrances, and other harmful chemicals.
7. Jacq's
HQ Location: Florida, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned, PETA certified, organic ingredients
Products: facial cleansers, masks, moisturizers, toners, solid soap bars
Description: Jacq's was originally launched when the co-owner discovered she had an ovarian tumor while expecting her first child and looked to find natural products safe for her body. Described as a brand that is "By women of color, for women of color" (emphasis my own), Jacq's recognizes how the beauty industry typically focuses on white skin and markets their products accordingly. According to their website, 75% of beauty products marketed to Black-women are considered toxic based on their ingredients.
Jacq's focuses on natural, organic ingredients with many ingredients sourced locally from around Florida. They also are part of the DIRTY30 campaign that assures customers none of the nasty 30 chemicals known to be toxic are included in any of their products.
8. Basebutter
HQ Location: New York, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, women-owned
Products: face jelly, makeup remover cloths
Description: Basebutter markets only two products: their radiate facial jelly and their makeup remover cloths. When you take a close look at their radiate facial jelly ingredients, you'll notice that aloe vera is the main ingredient!
Aloe vera has so many incredible properties and I personally add aloe vera to my homemade hand sanitizer and make my own aloe vera based moisturizer.
9. Nyakio
HQ Location: Unknown, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned
Products: anti-aging oil, cleansing oil. moisturizer, creams
Description: Nyakio makes a few different products all with Fair Trade Shea Butter. Nyakio products are available only at Target so you can't purchase them online via their website unfortunately. The products are also all packaged in plastic so I'd look for one of the other skin care companies on this list and then only purchase Nyakio if you already shop at Target.
10. Blade + Bloom
HQ Location: Chicago, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned, recyclable/reusable packaging, handmade
Products: candles, lip balm, facial oils
Description: Blade + Bloom make all of their oils by hand and package them in glass vials. They also make candles in glass jars and produce a few moisturizing lip balms as well!
11. Spiced Sugah
HQ Location: California, USA
Highlights: Black-owned, woman-owned
Products: haircare, facial masks, toothpaste, fragrance, glass packaging
Description: Spiced Sugah makes a wonderful collection of facial masks, body fragrance, haircare, and powder toothpaste. All their products are packaged in beautiful glass containers with simple logos.