In honor of Juneteenth, we’re taking cues from the #NewBlackFriday initiative, which encourages shopping Black-owned businesses for your product and service needs to tactically address systemic economic inequality.
We’re dedicated to this cause across both our fashion and beauty verticals, and while we encourage you to buy Black now and forever, we’re prompting you to take a pause from shopping other huge retailers today, in particular. Instead, we invite you to explore, discover, and support the amazing shops and stores founded by some of the coolest Black innovators in the industry. Here, you can check out eight Black-owned boutiques and vintage shops for all of your fashion needs, and below, we’re highlighting three of our favorite Black-owned beauty retailers offering everything from makeup to haircare to wellness necessities.
Oh, and if you’re curious for even more retail opportunities to support, we suggest perusing our features on Black-owned fashion brands, beauty brands, and a list of additional Black-owned products we can’t wait to upgrade our regimen with. Keep scrolling!
Meet Blk + Grn, a luxe, all-natural marketplace founded by Dr. Kristian Henderson and brimming with everything you need to deck out your home and beauty regimen. Not only is everything the retailer carries created by Black artisans, but all offerings are also nontoxic, plant-based, and cruelty-free. Each artisan is carefully chosen by Black women’s health experts (so you know you’re shopping truly natural options that are good for both your home and health), and the marketplace has even created a helpful guide outlining 20 toxic ingredients you’ll never find on their shelves. (FYI: There’s free shipping on orders over $99 right now!)
According to the brand’s website, this invisible, featherlight sunscreen is one of Blk + Grn’s top-selling products. It boasts skin-loving ingredients like carrot seed oil, cocoa seed butter, and avocado oil, and the SPF 30–infused formula will never leave behind an unflattering white cast or any kind of “no thanks” residue.
Golde’s latte tonics have quickly gained a large and very loyal following. (They’re especially fab for anyone who doesn’t like coffee.) This handy set lets you get a taste for all three flavors: Original, Cacao, and Matcha Golde. You’ll get four travel-friendly sachets of each!
How dreamy does this jojoba oil and raw honey facial cleanser sound? It can work double duty as either a daily cleanser or a detoxifying treatment mask, and more than 90% of the formula’s ingredients are plant-based. (You also won’t find any ingredients from Blk + Grn’s handy Toxic Twenty List.)
For toe-to-head rejuvenation, we’re tapping this yummy-looking sugar scrub, which has a refreshingly short and readable ingredient list including sugar, grape-seed oil, sweet almond oil, honey, grapefruit essential oil, vitamin E, and rose clay.
Post-scrub, what could be more divine than a velvety application of this honeysuckle-scented body butter? Other luxe inclusions like shea butter, mango seed butter, beeswax, and oils from jojoba and coconut will keep skin lavishly well-nourished and soft.
Brimming with unique and nourishing ingredients imaginable (think Camelina seed oil, thistle oil, and poppy flower seed oil), this carefully concocted hair oil is designed to reinvigorate strands with shine- and scalp-boosting omegas and essential fatty acids.
We love Blk + Grn’s tagline for this popular curl-enhancing styling cream from Oyin Handmade: “BOING! make every coil count!” This moisturizing hair elixir is a coil-encouraging cream-gel designed to enhance the shape and elasticity of each and every curl and coil. Shea butter, coconut oil, and Irish moss work in tandem to retain optimum hydration without any curl-derailing crunch or stiffness.
As if the chic bottle weren’t enough, this chip-resistant nail polish is also 10-free, vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, and composed with zero artificial fragrances. If you need a brush-up, the 10-free label means this polish is void of all of the following toxic players: formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene, formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, triphenyl phosphate, tert-butyl hydroperoxide, and parabens.
Oh, and while we’re investing in the look and health of our nails, we’re grabbing one of these little pots of cuticle cream as well. Shea butter, argan oil, sweet almond oil, beeswax, vitamin E oil, and essential oil work harmoniously to keep dry cuticles in check while also promoting strong and beautiful nail growth.
This isn’t just a makeup-setting spray, nor is it just a highlight-imparting spray! According to Blk + Grn’s website, this sent-from-the-heavens elixir does indeed keep your makeup application pristine and it also feeds your complexion with hydration, smells amazing, and yields an ultra-flattering, lit-from-within finish. (Key ingredients include aloe, glycerin, vitamin C, and calendula flower extract.)
As the ultimate “Brown Girl Beauty Authority,” Marjani Beauty is a Black-owned beauty retailer with a focus on skincare, bodycare, and makeup. Founded by Kimberly Smith, Marjani Beauty aims to support Black-owned brands while also delivering a fun and memorable shopping experience to its customers. “Bringing international beauty and cosmetic products to the local consumer, and using this platform to empower Brown girls, across nationalities, age, hair textures, and shades to embrace and claim their beauty” is what Smith says it’s all about. You’ll get free shipping on orders over $50, and 10% of all June sale proceeds will be donated to the Black Visions Collective.
There’s something so deeply satisfying about a peel-off mask. This one is extra-special thanks to its hero anti-inflammatory ingredient, turmeric. Use it regularly, and you’ll likey notice a smoother, glowier, all-around healthier-looking complexion.
We can’t stop drooling over this nine-shade eye shadow palette. It features the ultimate collection of matte and shimmery shades that pretty much scream summer. The formula is also touted to be extremely long-wearing. (One of our top priorities when it comes to eye shadow.)
Inspired by Brazilian beauty traditions, this exquisite facial oil can be used after you cleanse and before you complete the rest of your skincare regimen. Or, the blend of maracuja oil, cupuaçu butter, rose-hip, and coconut oil can be used as a makeup remover.
If you buy one lipstick this summer, make it from AJ Crimson. We have our hearts set on this steamy shade of hot pink. It’s matte but formulated to ensure your lips won’t be left dry or chapped.
A beauty haul is simply never complete without a fresh Beautyblender, and we always snap up a few in one swoop.
A truly fabulous setting powder is hard to come by, but this one is the ultimate find. It boasts a micro-fine refining formula that helps to smooth, prime, and set your makeup all while looking natural. It also helps soak up any excess oil throughout the day and is flashback-free. Take a look around to find your best shade.
Found: Your new favorite eyebrow-defining tool, which has shades especially suited to deep skin tones. Here’s the 411: It’s a slender-tip retractable eyebrow liner that’s waterproof and perfect for effortlessly creating the look natural, face-framing arches.
If you’re not familiar, Antonia Burrell is regaled as one of the best skincare experts in the UK. And if you can’t actually experience one of her infamous facials IRL, this well-equipped facial set is the next best thing. The contents pair Burrell’s signature Facial Cupping Massage Technique with her 100% natural, organic skincare products.
We’re of the thought that a truly yummy body wash is one of the most underrated beauty must-haves. We’re prioritizing this Sugar & Spice blend next for ultimate skin pampering.
Quality vitamin C serums are highly sought-after, and this fast-absorbing pick has us truly excited. Overflowing with active ingredients strategically added to ward off free radicals, it also aids thirsty skin with hydration and will improve the tone, clarity, and natural luminosity of your skin over time. Thanks to the MVP ingredient, C-rich acerola cherry, the brand likens this serum to a cherry cocktail for your face.
As its name suggests, Inside Outer Beauty Market is all about nurturing beauty both internally and externally. Its wellness-focused brand and product spread is a true feast. Founded by Dixie Lincoln-Nichols, the retailer believes all women deserve to live their healthiest lives, and their mission is to make it both fun and unbiased.
“Each of our products is tested for a minimum of 30 days and ultimately hand-selected for their clean, high-quality ingredients,” the retailer notes on its website. “Every product that makes its way onto our shelves is measured against a list of potentially harmful, nonnegotiable toxicants so you never have to think twice about what you put on, or in, your body. We’re passionate about creating awareness, educating our customers about harmful ingredients, providing safer alternatives, and promoting BIPOC brands.” Currently, free shipping is being offered for orders over $50.
We’re throwing out our loofahs and immediately replacing them with the retailer’s very own sea sponge. (A luxurious bathing experience simply isn’t complete without one!)
The Honey Pot Company is quickly becoming one of the most in-demand and sought-after feminine wellness brands. The brand’s spread of products is impressive, and we’re enticed to add every single item to our carts. The products frequently sell out, so for the time being, we’re adding this best-selling wash to our stash. The formula is plant-based and specifically formulated for sensitive skin types—use it to help banish odor-causing bacteria, to help balance pH levels, and to keep everything moisturized and well-lubricated.
If you’ve never experienced the gut-improving magic of products from The Beauty Chef, you’re in for such a treat. From omega-rich oils you can use to supplement your favorite bevies or meals to topical skincare to dreamy powders and drink concentrates, it’s never been easier to support the well-being of your gut. I’ve been using this new oil from the brand for a while now. I’m almost out, so now is the perfect time to top up. (A little goes a long way, so it’s well worth the investment!)
Plenty of big-name skincare brands (like The Ordinary) have their own famous iterations of dreamy rose-hip oil, but we recommend swapping your current favorite for this one. According to the retailer’s website, this organic serum easily relieves parched skin and can also help heal blemished skin or problematic pores.
We’ll take freshly roasted coffee any way we can get it. Aptly named, this exfoliating bar soap is composed of organic and fair-trade certified oils to keep every inch of skin smooth, clean, and velvety soft. (And, obviously, it smells divine.)
Everything from LaBruna Skin Care is absolutely lovely (and very wish list–worthy), but we’re especially keen to try this circulation-boosting mask. French and Moroccan clays are used to lure out impurities while simultaneously sparking glow-enhancing blood flow throughout the complexion. While unsaturated fatty acids such as omega-6 and -7 help said circulation, astragalus root prevents expedited loss of collagen.
The limit simply doesn’t exist in terms of how many lip salves and balms one can own. Intensely potent and ready to repair, this pretty pot is formulated with Nilotica Reserve and peppermint oil to keep lips plump, smooth, and moisturized. (It also does wonders for persnickety cuticles!)
Ever since we began spending more time at home, it’s felt like we’ve been going through a bath bomb a minute. That said, we don’t think we’ve tried one quite so lovely as this charcoal-and-rose version. Designed as the ultimate detox, each sphere is handcrafted with activated bamboo charcoal, sea salt, and lush cocoa butter. (FYI: These sell like hotcakes, and you can also buy them directly from the Jacq’s Organics website!)
We count candles as the ultimate hybrid between beauty and wellness, and 125 Collection’s candle offerings are only made from the highest-quality oils, 100% soy in composition, and individually poured in small batches in New York. Predicted burn time is about 80 hours. This soy candle smells like a spicy blood orange.
Agent Natuer makes some of our all-time-favorite clean-beauty staples. (The brand’s collection of natural deodorant is also fab, just currently sold out on IOB.) This youth-enhancing serum is equally divine, though. It’s a skin-refining oil that, according to the brand, combines the highest grade of natural, non-GMO ingredients that are both organic and wild-crafted. It’s also worth mentioning each ingredient is sourced in Europe thanks to the higher standard or quality and supply. Up next: 8 Black-Owned Boutiques and Vintage Shops Fashion People Will Love
