11 Black Celebrity Beauty Brands Running The Beauty World

Black celebrity beauty brands are on the rise. From Fenty Beauty by Rihanna to Cécred by Beyoncé, celebrities are bringing their A-game to the beauty industry in the skincare, haircare, and fragrance lanes. With their business savvy, access to the best chemists, dermatologists, and distributors, celebrity beauty brands have become top-notch offerings that feel luxurious.

According to Nielsen, celebrity-founded brands hit $1.1 billion in sales for the first time last year. Fenty Beauty generated sales of $602.4m globally, in 2023, proving there is a lucrative market with Black women who want quality products and are willing to spend their coin while supporting their favorite Black celebrity beauty brands.

Black Celebrity Beauty Brands

Fenty Beauty’s influence is evident in the brand’s social media presence. In the words of her Roc Nation big bro Jay Z, “Men lie, numbers lie, numbers don’t.” With 12 million followers on Instagram and an annual revenue of $582.8 billion, (beating out Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics) it is the world’s most successful celebrity beauty, according to Cosmetify. Fenty Beauty proves Black women are influential and have massive buying power. 

Beyoncé, Ciara Tracee Ellis Ross, Taraji P. Henson, Gabrielle Union, and more have invested years (and plenty dollars) into their brands to make the best products and we appreciate them for doing the work for us. Most recently, Beyoncé made her foray into the black celebrity beauty brands space with her ritual-based brand that has been years in the making.

Our favorite stars captivate us on the big screen and the center stage, and they’ve made their way to our shelves. Here are 11 Black celebrity-owned beauty brands leading the beauty world.

COSMETICS 

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna  

That Rihanna reign refuses to let up, and we’re not just talking about music. Fenty Beauty is currently the biggest celebrity beauty brand. Valued at $2.8 billion, per Forbes. Rihanna owns 50 percent of the company’s value. Fenty Beauty is the blueprint.

Since the launch of her cosmetics and skincare company Fenty Beauty, customers have flocked to her wide range of carefully curated products. That’s why it’s no surprise that the brand is going global. The singer-turned-mogul recently announced that the company is entering the Asian market, and will be available in Korea and China. 

“Fenty Beauty by Rihanna was created for everyone: for women of all shades, personalities, attitudes, cultures, and races. I wanted everyone to feel included. That’s the real reason I made this line,” Rihanna said in a statement to LVMH.

Some of our favorite (and most viral) products from the brand include Fenty Skin’s Butta Drop Whipped Oil Hydrating Body Cream Mini and Fenty Beauty’s Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer in Fuschia Flex. 

SKINCARE

Keys Soulcare By Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys made headlines when she decided to go makeup-free, in 2016, when she was rebelling against her own dependence on makeup. The “If I Ain’t Got You” singer was transparent about her struggle with acne and other skin ailments. Fast-forward a few years and Keys launched her own skincare brand, Keys Soulcare. Keys Soulcare encourages you to embrace your beauty philosophy through ritualized skincare. Alicia Keys teamed up with leading dermatologist Dr. Renée Snyder to offer a skincare line close to your soul.

In an interview with OprahDaily, Keys detailed her inspiration behind the skincare brand. “Soulcare was born over the years as I started to value myself more and recognized how important paying attention to the spirit and the soul is in order to find yourself in a place that feels good. There has to be this inward dialogue and inward attention paid to what surrounds us, and how to be brave enough to choose ourselves—and that’s what Keys Soulcare is all about.”

With products like her recently released Firm Belief Smoothing Peptide Cream that harnesses the power of the peptide complex.

OAM Skincare By Ciara 

Ciara has been gracing us with her natural beauty since debuting on the music scene more than a decade ago, and she blessed us again with skincare goodies (see what I did there) with her On A Mission clinical skincare brand in 2022.

OAM Skincare is a clinical collaboration with a team of skincare experts, research scientists, dermatologists, and an MIT engineer, per the singer. 

We spoke to Ciara, in 2022, about the launch of the collection and she told a room full of beauty insiders,

“The texture was really important to me on top of having the right chemical dosage,” Ciara explained how hands-on she was in the creation process. “I wanted for the soap to lather up in your hands a certain way. I wanted the serum to pour into the skin a certain way. It’s got that nice silky texture when you rub it on your face it’s an experience.”

The vitamin C-packed range includes the Vitamin C Hydrating Cleanser, Vitamin C Brightening Pads, and 20% Vitamin C Brightening Serum. 

KINLO by Naomi Osaka 

Naomi Osaka has captured the world’s attention as one of the most successful tennis players in recent history, often duking it out under the sun’s harsh rays on outdoor courts. That’s why she launched her own suncare brand, KINLÒ, specifically for Black and Brown skin. 

According to the KINLÒ website, the brand is inspired by Osaka’s “multicultural heritage.” “KINLÒ” is derived from both the Japanese and Haitian words for “gold.” With Black women owning golden Hour, we see how that fits. 

“I had learned so much about the importance of sun care first because I needed to, based on my own exposure to the sun, but also seeing that people with darker skin tones are often under-marketed in this area,” Osaka told Allure. “It became a passion of mine to not only make a product I could be proud of and use, but also use it as an opportunity to educate and promote skin care in those communities.”

My top pick? The Golden Rays Sunscreen is a winner in my book because of its clean formulation that includes nourishing Safflower Oil and other antioxidant-rich ingredients. 

FRAGRANCE 

FOREVR by Jackie Aina

Jackie Aina is everyone’s go-to beauty Youtube maven for a reason. She is a trusted voice in the beauty and business world. The influencer recently expanded her lifestyle brand, FORVR, known for its pop culture-phrase-inspired candles to include body scents.

Earlier this year, Aina launched her first fragrance range, with four unique scents that have the Tik Tok girlies debating which one smells the best. 

Ce Noir 

As if a billion-dollar-generating world tour wasn’t enough, Beyonce released her most recent fragrance, Ce Noir in 2023, much to the delight of fans who want to smell like Queen Bey.

Ce Noir is the ultimate collector’s item. If you’re a part of the Beyhive, getting your hands on one of these elixirs is an accomplishment. With a statement chrome bottle – it is a marker in time for her Renaissance reign.

It’s described as a sweet floral experience with top notes of Honey and Clementine; middle notes of Jasmine Sambac and Rose and base notes are Amber and Myrrh.

HAIRCARE

Pattern Beauty by Tracee Ellis Ross 

Tracee Ellis Ross has been the bestie in our heads for nearly twenty years through her masterful portrayals of relatable characters on-screen. But admittedly, we’ve been fans of her mane just as much as her talent. Luckily, she’s sharing her hair secrets via her haircare company, Pattern Beauty. Launched in 2019, Pattern Beauty is a beloved brand in the natural hair space. 

Pattern has continued to grow and is currently carried by major retailers like Ulta, Sephora, and Amazon among others. Most recently, Tracee expanded her brand to include a Pattern blow-dryer ($189), which comes with four attachments specially designed for textured hair. The ultra-hydrating Leave In Conditioner is a mainstay for wash day.

“We wanted to create a blow-dryer that was cutting edge yet intuitive,” Tracee told FastCompany. “It has a professional-grade engine inside of it, but it’s not so big that it’s a professional dryer that only a professional knows how to handle. If you didn’t go to beauty school, you can use this on your own head, and it will function properly and be a tool that actually works and isn’t going to get so hot on the low setting that you unexpectedly burn your hair—I’ve had that happen!”

Flawless By Gabrielle Union 

Gabrielle Union entered the haircare market in 2017 with her brand, Flawless by Gabrielle Union. The collection, which can be ordered on Amazon or in Sally’s, features hydrating and protein-rich haircare products for afro-textured hair.

Union was one of the first trusted Black celebrity beauty brands because we trusted her thanks to her vulnerable natural hair posts leading up to the launch. Many Black women could resonate with Unions’ curl pattern, length and struggle with length retention following IVF treatments.

After finding success, the beloved actress relaunched the Flawless brand in 2020 with her friend and master hairstylist Larry Sims who she credits with restoring her “hair back to health.”

” He was the only person I trusted with my hair during that process, so it was only right we re-launched the line together. We worked together experimenting on so many different ingredients — we came to realize the harmful ones that were in products that I’ve used previously. In this new and improved collection, we incorporated ingredients such as Brazilian bacuri butter, Himilayan moringa oil and African shea butter that are healthy for hair and scalp heath,” she told Fashionista.

Sienna Naturals By Issa Rae 

One thing about Issa Rae, her natural hair is going to be laid. For years, the actress-producer-writer and overall boss has donned stunning hairstyles, so it only made sense to co-launch her own hair product brand. Issa joined the brand, which was founded Hannah Diop, and it’s been on ever since.

Offering up wash care as a ritual, Sienna Naturals turns Issa’s hair rituals into an accessible washday for you with her “salon in a box” ($98). The step-by-step box contains Sienna Naturals’ H.A.P.I. Shampoo, Plant Power, Dew Magic, and Lock & Seal – all formulated with clean ingredients. 

“I hope people feel seen and appreciated and are curious enough to see if [Sienna Naturals] products will work for their hair,” Rae told Glossy.

TPH By Taraji P. Henson 

Academy Award-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson electrifies the screen when she steps on set, but it was her struggle with her hair behind the scenes that inspired her haircare line TPH By Taraji. TPH aims to help us achieve our inner Taraji with every application.

“When I first started the TPH line, I was thinking more about women who wear protective styles, but with the explosion of embracing your natural hair, I broadened my range,” explained the TPH founder in an interview with MarieClaire.

Taraji is her product’s biggest fan, which says a lot because she requires only the best treatment. “TPH is all I use. I can’t use anything else. I tried to use other stuff, and I’m like, “No.” I don’t put my name on things I don’t actually use.” she told Allure.

The clean and effective products were created to provide root-to-tip care, and feature products that specifically address the scalp, including the popular nourishing mask and cooling serum. 

Cecred

Inspired by salon haircare professionals, Beyoncé’s Cécred haircare collection is a love letter to Black women and their crowning glory. Cécred encourages users to approach haircare from a spiritual lens and transforms the regular wash day to a ritual day that leaves you feeling like you’re pouring much-deserved love into your tresses.

“As a Black founder, it was important to me to concentrate on where I saw the greatest need for healthy haircare and to place scientific innovation and product performance above all else. We started by prioritizing the needs of textured hair like mine, along with other types and textures that need more moisture and strength,’ said Beyoncé in an official press release.

The successful 2024 launch, which preceded Queen Bey’s country takeover, proved Beyoncé can do anything and everything well. Cécred garnered rave reviews for its founding eight products and packaging. Beyonce also gave Cécred an extra boost when she shared her natural hair, leaving critics who questioned her hair length on mute.

Kenya Moore Haircare

Kenya Moore puts the hair in hair care. Since her days as an actress with credits in films and TV shows like Waiting To Exhale and Martin, Moore has been known for her beauty. She parlayed the interest in her mahogany skin and flowing tresses into Kenya Moore haircare.

The launch was well-documented on Bravo’s “Real Housewives Of Atlanta,” including her iconic entrance to Marlo’s party with a “Kenya Moore Haircare” chanting marching band. Kenya Moore Haircare is a prime example of a successful Black celebrity beauty brand. You can find Kenya Moore haircare at dozens of retailers like Sally Beauty to Ulta Beauty, Walgreens, and CVS.

Kenya dropped the tea about plans to open her own luxury hair spa, during the 2023 Bravocon. “I want my guests at the Kenya Moore Hair Spa to experience total luxury, from the hair care products to the atmosphere,” she told the audience. “This is going to be my legacy for [my daughter] Brooklyn.” 

The ‘RHOA’ star never met a goal she couldn’t reach and recently celebrated the opening of the glamorous salon in Atlanta, for women who want to experience an upscale experience. 

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