Minority Women Who Changed The Beauty Industry
By Ella Neve
The beauty industry has undergone a monumental push within the last decade for body positivity, equitable representation in media, diversity, and inclusion.
This push has forced companies and entrepreneurs within the beauty industry to look at not only what, but who, their products are made for. Hair care, skin care, and makeup are advertised to improve the self and smooth out insecurities. But in an industry dominated by what is trending, how can it center minority voices and creators in its production? The answer: to give platforms to the artists and producers working to promote inclusivity. These creators are consciously working to make everyone who uses face masks, brushes their hair, or applies eyeliner, feel like they can find a product made perfectly for them. In a country that predominantly finds value in white skin, thin bodies, and straight hair it is natural that beauty trends will reflect that, and consequently the beauty industry will produce, market, and cater to these trends. Below we are naming our top five creators that are working towards producing more loving and accepting beauty standards within the industry. These five companies are breaking the mold that is “the beauty standard”, and creating products to make every person feel at home and beautiful in their own skin.
Nancy Twine - Founder of Briogeo
Briogeo is a hair care company dedicated to creating natural products that provide visible results. Founded by Nancy Twine, “Brio” is the Italian meaning for beauty and full of life, while “geo” means “of earth and nature”. Both of these root words represent Twine’s inspiration to form her company. When Twine moved to New York City in her early twenties, she found her store bought hair care to be lacking in its promises of protection, health, and hair beauty. Having some experience from her youth in crafting homemade hair products, knowledge passed down through generations in her family. Twine created Brigeo in 2013, “A refreshing deviation from a market saturated with products backed by big-name celebrity stylists and deep-pocketed corporations, Briogeo takes it back to basics, offering a high-performance, hair care collection that is naturally based, yet performance driven to provide visible results.”
Briogeo Editor’s Picks
Chichi Eburu - Founder of Juvia’s Place
Chichi Eburu tried every makeup brand, from high end to drug store, before she settled on creating her own. Eburu found that most products were lighter or grayer on her skin and rather than enhancing her beauty, these products muted it. Growing up in Nigeria, Eburu still rarely saw beauty products advertised for black women. This reinforced the idea that it is nearly impossible to feel beautiful with the assistance of an industry that doesn't make products that are suitable for you. Eburu grew to realize it was not her skin or beauty that was the issue, but rather the industry. Following this, Eburu began selling makeup tools in order to save up the means to begin her own company, the goal being to create products that emphasize and highlight black beauty in all its forms and shades. Her products are created with the intent to push back against the monolithic pillars that the beauty industry was formed on.
Julia’s Place Editor’s Picks
Sarah Lee and Christine Chang - Founders of Glow Recipe
Glow Recipe produces and uses its products to promote sustainability, inclusivity, and individuality. Which is where founders Sarah Lee and Christine Chang say that their customers will find the beauty they are seeking out. Lee and Chang made a point to be transparent with their products’ ingredients in order to provide their customers with clean, vegan, and cruelty free skincare. In a beauty industry that advertises perfection, Glow Recipe pledges to never advertise their products as bringing perfection to their customers skin. Instead, they embrace the imperfections that come naturally, and create products that emphasize natural beauty rather than advertising unrealistic expectations by using words like “poreless”, “flawless”, or “ageless”. All of which is in effort to show the beauty of real, unfiltered skin: rarely celebrated in today's era of social media and photoshop. Their mission statement reflects all of this: “We Take it Day by Day, Skin by Skin”.
Glow Recipe Editor’s Picks
Deepica Mutyala - Founder of Live Tinted
Live Tinted was launched in 2018 as a beauty product line that creates products for all shades of skin. Its goal is to explore the beauty and diversity that ranges from all skin colors, and give platforms to minority groups who are underrepresented in the beauty industry. Live Tinted also showcases how skincare and makeup intersect with culture and identity, and when beauty products incorporate culture they help customers to feel more beautiful in their own skin and identity. Deepica Mutyala is a south asian beauty guru and businesswoman. Mutyala founded Live Tinted after a video of her putting red lipstick under her eye bags went viral; currently reaching over ten million views. This was then the first product her makeup line produced in 2019 called the “Huestick”. This multistick product is meant to balance things like hyper pigmentation, eye bags, and acne. The “huestick” was an ode to the past, as Mutlaya recreated the product that got her the platform to begin her company.
Live Tinted Editorial Picks
Christina Kelmon & Ann Murray Dunning - Founders of Vamigas
Christina Kelomon and Ann Murray built Vamigos, as an inspirational and safe space for latina women. Murray struggled with fertility issues in her 30’s and found research showing that latina women suffer from more fertility issues due to hormone disrupting chemicals typically found in beauty products. She found that research speculates these findings are due to the fact that latina women use 30% more beauty products than any other group. The lack of beauty products for latina women created by latina women, motivated Murray and Kelomon to found Vamigas. Their clean and green products are made and marketed for latina women, unlike other truly “clean” products, Vamiga produces skin care that accounts for chemical imbalances in Latina women in order to improve their health.
Vamigas Editor’s Picks
