The truth is, running a Black-owned beauty brand is tough. This 12 months, we’ve seen an onslaught of beauty brands shut down, file for bankruptcy, or be sold to acquisitions to stay afloat as a recession looms. Despite many Black beauty brands hitting record numbers in 2020—marked by the George Floyd protests and a rise in 15 percent pledges—the 2024 attack on DEI and a poor economy makes the present reality of minority beauty businesses more bleak now than before.

“All the things has turn out to be harder—raising capital, negotiating with retailers, finding authentic influencers, and ensuring we’ve got the best quality products available on the market at an affordable price,” co-owner of Black Opal Desiree Rogers tells ESSENCE. “Performance of independent makeup brands in the primary quarter has been mixed, especially those which are focused exclusively on the ethnic space.”

While we’ve seen an increase in melanated beauty brands amid the A-beauty craze  (think: Sabrina Elba’s S’Able Labs), attempting to mend the inequity gap may come at a difficult price. “I don’t think there’s a future for beauty brands that focus solely on the ‘melanin wealthy’ demographic,” esthetician and founding father of Black Skin Directory Dija Ayodele writes in a controversial post on Threads. “Not if you should go big,” she says, declaring a possible hurdle with area of interest brands. 

Nevertheless, a beauty brand is as big because the community supporting them, and with all odds stacked against us, it’s our job to assist one another break the barriers. In honor of National Black Business Month, three Black founders weigh in on how we are able to support their beauty businesses straight away.

Desiree Rogers and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, Co-Owners of BLACK OPAL LLC

“Firstly, buy the Black-owned brands that you simply love. Explore the products of others. African-American women spend more on makeup and  beauty treatments than every other segment. Yet, they make up lower than 2.5 percent of purchases from Black-owned brands. Ask yourself: ‘are not less than 15 percent of my products from Black-owned businesses?’”

As well as, they suggest you review their products online, interact with them on social media, and buy their products through their retailers. “We wish to listen to from you …We wish to remain within the locations we’re in. Shop our retailers and produce a friend,” says Rogers and McKissack.

Dorian Morris, Founder and CEO of Undefined Beauty

“I take a look at the momentum and excitement in 2020 and 2021, that ship has sailed … Not all retail is sweet retail, if I could return, there’s partnerships I might say ‘absolutely no’ to because I believe it was a conceit play and there wasn’t the actual intention to support Black-owned business.

After all, shop on our web sites because that’s typically essentially the most profitable for us. But you furthermore mght should support us inside our retail channels because that’s how we show the buyers that there’s velocity and we deserve the actual estate. Lots of it comes right down to productivity and it’s an actual estate game. There’s also things you may do outside of buying, like amplifying brands on social media, sharing with a friend, writing a review. Reviews mean a lot.”

Hannah Diop, Co-Founding father of Sienna Naturals

“My biggest learnings have really been in retail channel space as a brand and understanding the ability of the retailer and the way essential it’s to have product market slot in a given channel … what I saw time and time and time again was an actual skepticism within the marketplace about whether clean products can perform for textured hair. 

[Now] the buyer is rather more concerned about clean products and products which are helpful to your health. I believe basically, hair care is experiencing loads of growth straight away and an enormous influx of latest players into this space. I believe it’s elevated the category.”