Celebrate Black History Month with these 14 products from Black-owned beauty brands
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Graphic by Lauryn Jiles; photos Amazon
We've officially made it through January and into Black History Month. And as a Black woman who loves beauty, I for one will be taking this month to support and celebrate Black-owned brands. While it's important to celebrate Black-owned beauty brands all year long, I have so many personal favorites that I always go back to every February.
Black women have been setting beauty trends for decades. From beauty staples like dark lip liners and long acrylic nails to hair trends like gelled-down edges, braids, huge afros and the 90s-style short pixie cut, beauty is embedded into Black culture. Black-owned beauty brands have become trailblazers in the industry within the past few years, creating a new standard of what beauty looks like. From Tracee Ellis Ross's haircare brand to Rihanna's Fenty Beauty, these are the products that I am always using — and ones that are currently in my shopping cart. Happy shopping and, of course, happy Black History Month!
This Pattern Beauty leave-in conditioner provides intense hydration to dry curls and leaves your hair smelling like coconut and almond.
>> Buy the Pattern Beauty by Tracee Ellis Ross Leave-In Conditioner for $28 on Amazon
Boast luscious and defined curls with this Pattern Beauty strong hold gel, which is formulated for 3A to 4C hair textures and smells just like a field of flowers.
>> Buy the Pattern Beauty Strong Hold Gel for $28 on Amazon
Combat that 'I just woke up' look with these Topicals under eye patches. They depuff, hydrate and brighten up the eyes.
>> Buy the Topicals Faded Brightening Under Eye Patches for $17.60 (20% off) on Amazon
Clear and reduce hyperpigmentation and dark spots in just weeks with the Topicals Faded Brightening and Clearing Serum.
>> Buy the Topicals Faded Brightening and Clearing Serum for $18 on Amazon
Sport that same lipgloss that Rihanna herself wears and support her Fenty Beauty brand with this long-lasting gloss bomb. It delivers shine and hydration, and it's a personal favorite of mine that I always keep stocked in my purse.
>> Buy the Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer for $21 on Amazon
I absolutely adore the pigmentation and natural finish of this Juvia's Place liquid blush. Plus, this TikTok viral blush is a favorite among Black beauty influencers and makeup artists.
>> Buy the Juvia's Place Liquid Blush for $17.99 on Amazon
Prime and protect your face with the Black Girl Make It Matte SPF 45 Sunscreen. Not only does it hydrate and smooth the skin, but it also protects it against harmful UV rays.
>> Buy the Black Girl Sunscreen Make it Matte SPF 45 Sunscreen for $19.99 on Amazon
For a lightweight foundation that serves medium coverage, this Mented Cosmetics foundation stick leaves a radiant, natural and non-cakey finish.
>> Buy the Mented Cosmetics Stick Foundation for $30 on Amazon
Infused with natural ingredients like jojoba oil and vitamin E, this two-pack of velvety matte lipsticks delivers on hydration and bold pigment.
>> Buy The Lip Bar Nonstop Liquid Matte Lipstick 2-Pack for $14.99 on Amazon
Revitalize the skin and lock in moisture with the Buttah Skin CocoShea Revitalizing Cream, which improves the appearance of aging and retains essential skin moisture.
>> Buy the Buttah Skin CocoShea Revitalizing Cream for $21 on Amazon
Restore growth and nourish the hair with this almond cherry scented Camille Rose Cocoa Nibs and Honey Hair Growth Serum.
>> Buy the Camille Rose Cocoa Nibs and Honey Hair Growth Serum for $14.99 on Amazon
Known as the most influential makeup artist in fashion, according to Vogue, Pat McGrath's makeup brand is used by celebrities and models worldwide. Achieve a flawless look with the brand's smooth satin medium coverage foundation.
>> Buy the Pat McGrath Labs Sublime Perfection Foundation for $66.90 on Amazon
This Oui the People body serum leaves your skin smoother and more radiant, working overnight to dissolve dead skin cells, unclog pores and brighten dark spots.
>> Buy the Oui the People Resurfacing Body Serum for $45 on Amazon
I use this Mielle scalp oil on my hair several times a week. Not only is my hair left smelling minty fresh, but this oil strengthens my strands and soothes my scalp.
>> Buy the Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil for $9.99 on Amazon
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The sound was dense and murky (Sly was among the first musicians to use drum machines), the mood reflective ('Family Affair'), fearful ('Runnin' Away') and despairing: 'Time, they say, is the answer — but I don't believe it,' Sly sings on 'Time.' The fast, funky pace of the original 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' was slowed, stretched and retitled 'Thank You For Talkin' to Me, Africa.' The running time of the title track was 0:00. 'It is Muzak with its finger on the trigger,' critic Greil Marcus called the album. 'Riot' highlighted an extraordinary run of blunt, hard-hitting records by Black artists, from the Stevie Wonder single 'Superstition' to Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' album, to which 'Riot' was an unofficial response. But Stone seemed to back away from the nightmare he had related. He was reluctant to perform material from 'Riot' in concert and softened the mood on the acclaimed 1973 album 'Fresh,' which did feature a cover of 'Que Sera Sera,' the wistful Doris Day song reworked into a rueful testament to fate's upper hand. By the end of the decade, Sly and the Family Stone had broken up and Sly was releasing solo records with such unmet promises as 'Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back' and 'Back On the Right Track.' Most of the news he made over the following decades was of drug busts, financial troubles and mishaps on stage. Sly and the Family Stone was inducted into the Rock & Roll of Fame in 1993 and honored in 2006 at the Grammy Awards, but Sly released just one album after the early '80s, 'I'm Back! Family & Friends,' much of it updated recordings of his old hits. He would allege he had hundreds of unreleased songs and did collaborate on occasion with Clinton, who would recall how Stone 'could just be sitting there doing nothing and then open his eyes and shock you with a lyric so brilliant that it was obvious no one had ever thought of it before.' Sly Stone had three children, including a daughter with Cynthia Robinson, and was married once — briefly and very publicly. In 1974, he and actor Kathy Silva wed on stage at Madison Square Garden, an event that inspired an 11,000-word story in The New Yorker. Sly and Silva soon divorced. He was born Sylvester Stewart in Denton, Texas, and raised in Vallejo, California, the second of five children in a close, religious family. Sylvester became 'Sly' by accident, when a teacher mistakenly spelled his name 'Slyvester.' He loved performing so much that his mother alleged he would cry if the congregation in church didn't respond when he sang before it. He was so gifted and ambitious that by age 4 he had sung on stage at a Sam Cooke show and by age 11 had mastered several instruments and recorded a gospel song with his siblings. He was so committed to the races working together that in his teens and early 20s he was playing in local bands that included Black and white members and was becoming known around the Bay Area as a deejay equally willing to play the Beatles and rhythm and blues acts. Through his radio connections, he produced some of the top San Francisco bands, including the Great Society, Grace Slick's group before she joined the Jefferson Airplane. Along with an early mentor and champion, San Francisco deejay Tom 'Big Daddy' Donahue, he worked on rhythm and blues hits (Bobby Freeman's 'C'mon and Swim') and the Beau Brummels' Beatle-esque 'Laugh, Laugh.' Meanwhile, he was putting together his own group, recruiting family members and local musicians and settling on the name Sly and the Family Stone. 'A Whole New Thing' came out in 1967, soon followed by the single 'Dance to the Music,' in which each member was granted a moment of introduction as the song rightly proclaimed a 'brand new beat.' In December 1968, the group appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' and performed a medley that included 'Dance to the Music' and 'Everyday People.' Before the set began, Sly turned to the audience and recited a brief passage from his song 'Are You Ready': 'Don't hate the Black, don't hate the white, if you get bitten, just hate the bite.'
