Today’s post is one I’m hoping you’ll enjoy! I’ve wanted to highlight a few of my favorite black women-owned businesses for a while, and I’m finally here to share! Since I post on Thursday and not Friday, we can just consider this post as me kicking off Black History Month a day early.
I have quite a few brands on my wishlist, but I wanted this post to highlight the ones I have already tried. It’s one thing for me to list businesses for you all, but I think sharing the ones I currently use will be more valuable. What good is sharing a brand if I can’t tell you whether or not it’s good, you know?
To help you get started, I’m also sharing a product I recommend from each business! Naturally, these are all beauty and fashion-focused. If you have any black women-owned businesses you love, please drop them in the comments below so I can add them to my wishlist!
5 Black-Women Owned Brands to Shop
1. Mielle Organics
Mielle Organics is a haircare brand I first tried at BeautyCon two years ago. Their Honey & Ginger Styling Gel was included in a swag bag from the event, and I immediately fell in love. The scent was incredible, and the product’s consistency was lightweight enough for my hair’s density. I remember coming back home and looking up the brand to see what other products they had because I loved the gel so much.
After discovering they were black-owned AND available at my local Target, Mielle Organics became a staple. Fast forward to present-day, and Mielle is still very much a staple in my hair care. I’ve tried literally every product from the brand that’s available at my Target–shampoo, leave-in conditioner, deep conditioner, hair milk, edge control, gel, and heat protectant. Literally.
The Founder: Monique Rodriguez
Where to Purchase: Mielle Organics website or Target
My Product Recommendations: I can’t narrow down the starter product to just one with Mielle Organics! I recommend the Honey & Ginger Styling Gel, the Avocado Moisturizing Hair Milk, and the Honey & Ginger Edge Gel.
2. Mented Cosmetics
Mented Cosmetics is a makeup brand that specializes in making nude lipsticks (and now nail polish and eyeshadow) that look beautiful on brown skin. I have my Twitter friend @TheChicTiff to thank for discovering this brand, so shoutout to you, girl!
It had to have been about a year and a half ago that we were live-tweeting while watching Insecure. I can’t remember if it was Issa or Molly, but one of them (probably Molly, you know her office style is fantastic!) had on a gorgeous rustic brown lip color. Naturally, I tweeted about it, wondering what lip color she was wearing because it was honestly stunning. Tiffany tagged a brand and mentioned they have a color that looks similar to what she was wearing. That brand was Mented Cosmetics.
I followed them after seeing they were a black-owned brand focused on creating nudes for WOC and I made a little mental shopping list for future reference. A few weeks later, Jackie Aina posted a YouTube video swatching all of the lip colors they had at the time. Talk about perfect timing! After seeing the lip swatches and getting a better idea of the colors, I ended up placing an order at some point. I immediately placed a second order after receiving the initial purchase, and then a third. Needless to say, their lipsticks were exactly as advertised. They were the perfect nude tones.
I still haven’t tried their new matte formulas or their eyeshadow yet, but I have liked every single shade I’ve purchased–Brand Nude, Dope Taupe, Send Nudes, Nude Lala, and Peach Please.
The Founders: KJ Miller and Amanda E. Johnson
Where to Purchase: Mented Cosmetics Website
The Product I Recommend: I think regular readers of the site already know which shade I’m going to say. BRAND NUDE. Brand Nude is my favorite nude lipstick, period. I love all of the shades, but Brand Nude is my go-to shade regardless of season or what I’m wearing. I recommend it if you are my skin tone or lighter. If you’re deeper, I would select Dope Taupe as the first choice.
3. Love, Cortnie Handbags
There’s a special place in my hear for Love, Cortnie Handbags. Cortnie is a style blogger and business owner I discovered several years ago. I’m talking about “the early days of blogging”, Blogger feed years ago. I loved her outfit pics and style, and somewhere along the way discovered that she also was making handbags. I added her leopard clutch to my Christmas list one year and my sister was kind enough to purchase it for me.
I clear out my bags pretty regularly because I grow tired of them or they’ll get dented and old, but her leopard clutch is still a favorite in my collection and one that I’ll never get rid of. If you’re looking for a new bag and want to support a self-taught black woman, shop Love, Cortnie.
The Founder: Cortnie Elizabeth
Where to Purchase: Love Cortnie Website
The Product I Recommend: The bag I have and love is The Ashleigh clutch!
4. Juvia’s Place
It’s so funny that I can remember how I discovered every brand mentioned today except this makeup brand! I know that I saw it on social media, but I can’t remember if it was through the Instagram Explore page or on Twitter. Wherever it was, I originally kept seeing their colorful palette.
If you know me when it comes to makeup, then you know a colorful palette is great to look at but not something I would use.
Once I saw The Nubian palette, I was ready to make a purchase. The challenge with online businesses is you never know how the shipping is going to go, and what the products will look like when they arrive. Luckily, I held off on buying from the brand for so long that they actually got picked up by Ulta during the holding period.
I stopped by Ulta the weekend before Desi x Katy’s second Dose of Colors collection dropped and saw the full Juvia’s Place display in person. Immediately, I was surprised by the huge size of the eyeshadow pans. I picked up The Warrior palette and have used it regularly ever since!
The Founder: Chichi Eburu
Where to Purchase: Juvia’s Place Website or ULTA
The Product I Recommend: The Warrior Palette!
5. Briogeo Haircare
Briogeo Haircare is a brand I discovered through Sephora. I was in need of some hair care products and wanted to try out some new brands, so I picked up one of those ‘Sephora Favorites’ boxes that come with a bunch of mini sizes of products from different brands. The one I picked up was targeted towards naturally curly hair, so it contained Deva Curl, Briogeo, and a few other brands.
I already knew I would like Deva Curl since I’ve tried their stuff before, but I was extremely surprised by how much I loved Briogeo! I’m sure those of you who wear your natural hair out can relate to the struggle of finding products you truly love. The sample box came with the deep conditioner and either the conditioner or a gel.
After trying out the products (which smell incredible, by the way), I went online to learn more about the brand and see what other products they sell. Once I found out they were a black woman-owned hair care line, I added the full-size product to my cart. It’s sold in Sephora which means that it’s pricier than your average hair care, but the brand truly has some amazing products! I felt like my curls were bouncy and hydrated while using their hair mask, and have repurchased their products whenever I want to treat myself.
The Founder: Nancy Twine
Where to Purchase: Briogeo Website or Sephora
The Product I Recommend: Don’t Despair, Repair Deep Conditioning Hair Mask
BONUS: The Lip Bar
I know I said I had 5, but I wanted to include this one as a bonus! It gets an honorable mention because although I’ve heard about it for over a year, I just recently found and picked up a few of the products at Target a couple of weeks ago.
The Lip Bar is a black woman-owned makeup brand I first heard about after talking with my sister. I don’t remember how it got brought up, but she told me about a black-owned brand that was on Shark Tank and got rejected but ended up having a successful business anyway. Similar to Mented Cosmetics, I followed them on social media and made a mental note to try out their products.
Last year at Beautycon, Target had a little pop up stand filled with a bunch of their beauty products. Even though you couldn’t purchase anything since they didn’t have inventory there, you were able to swatch a bunch of the products they had on display. The Lip Bar was one of the brands included, which I was super excited about. I swatched a glitter gloss and decided to check out my local Target when I flew back home.
Fast forward to present day, and my local Target finally sells The Lip Bar products! I stopped by for something unrelated and immediately picked up a few shades when I noticed they were in stock. I love the compact size and the shades they have to offer, so I will definitely be picking up a few more liquid lipsticks and glosses.
The Founder: Melissa Butler
Where to Purchase: The Lip Bar Website and Target
The Product I Recommend: Know It All matte liquid lipstick
As a recap, the five (six, including the bonus) black women-owned businesses you should support this month are:
- Mielle Organics
- Mented Cosmetics
- Love, Cortnie Handbags
- Juvia’s Place
- Briogeo Haircare
- The Lip Bar
Have you tried any of the brands I mentioned? Do you have any additional black women-owned businesses you love? Let me know in the comments!
FTC: This site contains affiliate links, meaning, I receive a small commission for purchases made through the links. Please show your support for this black woman-owned site by shopping the links! <3
Comments +