Female-Owned Beauty Brands to Check Out!

For my final article as the beauty editor of SWATCH, I will be sharing a few female-owned beauty brands that I love. This diverse collection of companies exhibits the unique stories of female-run businesses; these women are admirable for so many reasons, including being advocates for beauty laws, inclusivity, and other philanthropic missions.

Beauty Bakerie was started by Cashmere Nicole in 2011 with a strong mission at the forefront of her brand. As she was battling breast cancer, she wanted to create a line that had the highest quality ingredients while being completely environmentally friendly and cruelty-free, without sacrificing the girly and fun aspect of her brand. Inclusivity is a very important part of Beauty Bakerie, and their products are meant for everyone. Nicole is also very focused on philanthropy, as she founded the Sugar Homes initiative that supports the needs of orphaned children worldwide.

Pattern Beauty is a Black-owned and founded brand (created by Tracee Ellis Ross) with a mission to ‘fulfill the beauty needs of the curly, coily & tight textured community’. They focus on empowering women to embrace their natural hair, while providing the products to best help nourish and care for textured hair types. Their products can also be used on men and children. Not only do they sell hair products, but they also offer hair accessories, with a line of pouches and an adorable candle that goes with their whole aesthetic.

One Love Organics has a very unique story, and I can’t wait to try out some of their products! Suzanne LeRoux, founder and CEO, said that her time in law school led to a deepened interest in skincare products to satisfy her need for self-care at the end of a stressful day. This led her to study aromatherapy, herbology, and cosmetic chemistry, resulting in her brand One Love Organics. Here, you can find products that are ‘effective, luxurious, elegant and supportive of a healthy and happy lifestyle’.

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Glow Recipe is a really fun brand that has definitely risen in popularity thanks to social media! I first heard of this brand when they released their ‘Watermelon Sleeping Mask’ that caused the internet to go wild. This brand was launched by Sarah Lee and Christine Chang in 2014, followed by an appearance on SharkTank in 2015 where they were able to present their ideas and products to a larger audience. Since then, they have grown in so many ways: hosting international pop-up stores, becoming cruelty-free certified, and even partnering with Netflix’s ‘To All the Boys I Have Loved Before’. This brand has a large range of products, and there is truly something for everyone on their website!

Finally, we have BeautyCounter, which is a favorite brand of mine. In fact, I’ve mentioned some of their products in my previous posts! With clean beauty at the forefront of their mission, BeautyCounter was founded by Gregg Renfrew in 2011. She advocated for stronger cosmetic safety laws and is redefining the way beauty products are sold, as her brand invites women to become ‘consultants’ and work from home, while advocating for change and selling clean products at the same time. BeautyCounter offers a wide array of products, and on their website you can find everything from skincare to makeup to sun protection!

There are so many other great female-owned brands that I could not include, and I would definitely recommend doing some research for yourself as well! I was so excited to learn that so many of the products I already have and love were created by women. It is always so inspiring to learn from each other and hear the stories that led these women to create their brands.

Thanks for Reading! – London Reeves