The Quick Version
- Black owned beauty brands like Pattern Beauty, Mielle Organics, Camille Rose, Bread Beauty Supply, The Lip Bar and Buttah Skin have moved from niche shelves to mainstream retailers like Target, Ulta and Sephora.
- Buying from these brands directly supports Black founders and formulators, and this guide breaks down what each one specializes in so readers can build a routine around them this summer.
Walk down the hair care or skincare aisle at a major retailer today and the shelf looks very different than it did a decade ago. Black owned beauty brands that once sold almost exclusively through beauty supply stores and their own websites now sit next to the biggest names in the industry at Target, Ulta and Sephora. That shift did not happen by accident, and it gives readers an easy, practical way to redirect spending toward Black founders without sacrificing quality or convenience.
Why Where You Shop Actually Matters
Beauty is a massive category of everyday spending, and Black consumers have historically spent a disproportionate share of their income on hair and beauty products relative to the broader market. Choosing Black owned brands when that spending happens keeps more of that money circulating back into Black owned businesses, their employees and often the communities those founders come from. It is one of the simplest, lowest effort ways to make an economic impact, since it usually just means swapping one product for another during a routine you were already going to do.
Brands Worth Adding to Your Routine
Hair Care
Pattern Beauty, founded by actress Tracee Ellis Ross, built its name specifically around curly, coily and tight textured hair and now has a full line of shampoos, conditioners and styling tools sold at Ulta and Sephora. Mielle Organics, founded by Monique Rodriguez, started with a rosemary mint oil that became a viral favorite and has since expanded into a full hair care system available at Target and Walmart. Bread Beauty Supply, founded by Maeva Heim, takes a more stripped down approach with fewer, more concentrated products, and has built a loyal following since launching at Sephora.
Skin Care
Camille Rose blends natural ingredients across both hair and skin products and remains one of the more established names in the space, with a wide retail footprint. Buttah Skin, founded by esthetician Dorion Renaud, focuses specifically on hyperpigmentation and uneven tone, addressing concerns that mainstream skincare lines have historically underserved for deeper skin tones.
Color Cosmetics
The Lip Bar, founded by Melissa Butler, started as a direct challenge to the beauty industry’s narrow shade ranges and now sells a full makeup line at Target, with lip and face products formulated to perform well across a wide range of skin tones.
How to Shop With Intention
The easiest way to start is not to overhaul an entire routine overnight. Pick one category, hair, skin or makeup, and swap in a Black owned option the next time you need to restock. Checking whether a brand is independently owned versus owned by a larger parent company is worth a quick search too, since several brands that started independently have since been acquired, which changes where the profits ultimately go even if the founder stays involved. Apps and directories that track Black owned beauty brands can help verify current ownership before you buy.
Where to Find Them
Target, Ulta and Sephora have all expanded their Black owned beauty selections in recent years, often with dedicated in store and online sections that make browsing easier. Shopping directly through a brand’s own website is another reliable option and sometimes comes with exclusive products not available at retail. Either way, the infrastructure to support these brands now exists at a scale that simply was not there ten years ago, which means the only real barrier left is habit. Building one or two of these brands into your regular routine this summer is a small change that adds up.
