Guys and gals with sensitive skin can have a harder time finding black-owned gentle skincare products to add to their skincare collection. Not to worry, I’ve gotcha covered! Here are 18 amazing black-owned + fragrance-free skincare products and collections to indulge your skin with:
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1. AbsoluteJOI
This first brand is an absolute joy to use *pun intended*. AbsoluteJOI was founded by Anne Beal who created this brand to offer skincare products that are sensitive skin-friendly and inclusive of the unique skin problems that women of color face.
“About 70% of women of color say that the products currently available don’t work for them, 60% of women of color have sensitive skin as compared to 35% of white women.” She continues, “As a physician, I focus on skin health and, when I came back to the United States to start my brand, I began researching clean beauty.”
AbsoluteJOI founder and physician Anne Beal
Absolute JOI offers a small but powerful collection of skincare formulated to target hyperpigmentation, dark marks, and brighten skin (but not lightening). The majority of their products are priced at $15 which means that they can easily fit into any beauty budget! They also have a rewards program that offers special deals and a free birthday gift 😎.
2. Angella Irving
Angella Irving is lovingly handcrafted by the extremely talented Christine Irvinlyn. She created this brand in 2019 to launch clean, simple, and enriching skincare formulas out into the world! The entire line is vegan and is handmade in small batches in NYC.
Angella Irving is a relatable brand which applies moisture to a dry and cracked world.
About Us
These formulas focus on enriching oil bases that will hydrate and support even the driest of skin textures! Got flaky skin? This is just the brand for you! Many of their products feature black cumin seed oil which is a seriously underrated yet powerful ingredient that has anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and antioxidant properties.
View this post on Instagram@christineirvinlyn Here! Anyone Masking While Working ✋🏾This Girl Is! I bounce between Clay Masks, Sheet Masks & Overnight Hydrating Masks! Oh! and Face-Covering Masks for protection (#covid19)! It’s important when using a clay mask to moisturize & hydrate after since it can be drying! . . . . . . . #face #facemasks #masks #claymasks #skincare #skin #wfhlife #naturalskincare #veganskincare #melanin #melaninskincare
3. Buttah Skin
Buttah Skin was founded by Dorion Renaud in 2018. He discovered the amazing benefits of using shea butter during his modeling career which eventually led to the creation of Buttah Skin. Just look at that glowing complexion; I’ll have what he’s having!
Unfortunately, not the entire Buttah Skin collection is fragrance-free but they do have a lovely spread of options for those with sensitive skin:
- $24 Charcoal Detox Mask – Powerful yet gentle for soft, clean and renewed skin.
- $29 Whipped Body Butter – Deep moisturizer, packed with vitamins A, B and E to help with uneven skin.
- $19 Facial Shea Butter – Buttah’s rich, non-comedogenic facial moisturizer is designed to hydrate the skin while protecting it from environmental assault
4. Hyper Skin
As you might guess from the name, Hyper Skin is a skincare brand that has set out to stop hyper-pigmentation in its tracks!
Desiree Verdejo was inspired to create the brand after struggling to find effective products to treat crazy breakouts after her first pregnancy. Hormonal acne is one of the most difficult skin conditions to tackle, but it happens every day to billions of women!
Hyper Skin’s namesake and the very first product launched is Hyper Clear, a vitamin C serum with a blend of vitamin e, kojic acid, turmeric and bearberry. It is vegan formulated and cruelty-free.
5.Ilera Apothecary
Next up is Ilera Apothecary! Founder and CEO Chinonye Akunne has a Master’s in Public Health, specializing in Environmental Health Science so it’s no surprise that ILERA Apothecary puts a tremendous focus on giving back to the community and utilizing ethical and fairtrade sources for all of their ingredients. They have partnered with the Global Shea Alliance that works to improve the livelihoods of rural African women who process shea.
You will find an extensive range of fragrance-free skincare products including face masks, cleansers, toners, oils, and more! They also offer unscented versions of their body butters! 🙌 It is next to impossible to find fragrance-free body butters so this brand is a tremendous breath of fresh air. Check out the Clarifying Face Mask below:
5% of all sales are donated to Jasper House Haiti, a nonprofit in Jacmel, Haiti that provides education + vocational training for women.
6.Kanti Skin
Kanti Skin has a simple motto, they are clean, black-owned, and homegirl approved! 🤎🤎🤎
kanti was created to un-komplicate skincare for people of color and help them to find their glow. we are a modern, homegirl approved skincare brand, katering to the needs of melanated millennials.
kanti website
The first product launched and hopefully the start of a growing collection is their likuid gold luxury glo oil. It’s formulated with a one-two punch of pure baobab oil and 24 karat gold. These ingredients are packed with antioxidants & essential fatty acids that moisturize, fight inflammation, help skin cell turnover, and improve uneven skin texture.
7.Klur
Founder Lesley Thornton spent three years perfecting her formulas before launching Klur in 2014, so you know a metric ton of determination, science, and thoughtfulness went into the creation of this collection.
The story behind the name:
I think this is such a well thought out, well curated brand, and it’s well considered in every single way. Klura is a Swedish expression where they say ‘this is thought out. This is pondered.’ I just dropped the A.”
Essence.com interview
All Klur products are free of parabens, sulfates, fillers, fragrance, and dyes + are vegan and cruelty free. Explore the full collection here!
8. Lana Ogilvie Cosmetics
This next brand was created by a Canadian supermodel who went from being the very first black model contracted by Covergirl to being the CEO of her very own skincare company!
My skin has been the foundation of my decades long career and with the launch of my own line, I hope to help women realize their best skin.
Lana Ogilvie
Founder Lana Ogilvie has 30+ years of experience modeling and is no stranger to the ins and outs of nourishing and preserving the appearance of healthy skin. She has suffered from eczema and has allergic reactions to many synthetic dyes and fragrances so creating a clean, effective, and naturally formulated skincare line was a no brainer. Peruse the full collection here.
All products are free from parabens, silicone, synthetic dyes or fragrances, petrolatum, and mineral oil.
9.ROSEN Skincare
ROSEN Skincare was created by Jamika Martin while a student at UCLA! She graduated early to continue pursuing her dream of creating skincare that treats real skin problems that young people face every day.
My tagline for ROSEN is “Clear skin. Clean ingredients. Confidence.” and it’s really just that. ROSEN is a natural skincare line that is aimed at millennials and Gen Z-ers who care about the brand and ingredients behind a product but also need it to work for our young skin.
Jamika Martin 2018 Interview w/ The EveryGirl
Here are some fragrance-free products from ROSEN that you need to try right now:
- $20 TROPICS MOISTURIZER – Formulated to help hydrate and fade, this cream is geared for folks with slight breakouts, texture and scars to fade.
- $18 TROPICS TONER – Hyaluronic and Kojic Acid pair together to treat breakouts and uneven skin texture.
10.Shani Darden Skincare
Indulge your skin with products created by LA-based expert esthetician Shani Darden. She developed a passion for creating skincare after sending clients home with custom concoctions, and now you can try out these luxury skincare products at home!
Find the perfect solutions for your personal skin concerns using the Shani Darden collection. The entire Shani Darden lineup is fragrance-free except for the Sake Toning Essence, but even still the formula is very tempting!
11. skinBUTTR AuNaturale – Indulge yourself with shea butter!
AuNaturale is a fragrance-free shea butter based moisturizer from the brand skinBUTTR. This is a simple yet powerful blend of shea butter, cocoa seed butter, castor oil, and coconut oil. Here are a few more sensitive skin friendly options from skinBUTTR that you can indulge your skin with:
You’ll find very affordable pricing throughout this collection! skinBUTTR formulates their products without parabens, dyes, and without animal testing. Everything is handmade and is also cruelty-free + vegan!
12.Epi.Logic
Epi.Logic was created by Chaneve Jeanniton, MD. Her credentials are far too extensive to properly list here, so TLDR she is a board-certified oculofacial plastic surgeon and serves on the teaching staff of Mount Sinai Hospital. Be rest assured, your skincare needs are in good hands!
My goal is to elevate our skincare regimens with high-impact, no fuss formulas. I believe it to not only important to look your best, but to feel your best.
Dr. Chaneve Jeanniton
This is one of the priciest skincare collections that you will find in this recommendation list, but if you have room in your skincare budget you will not be disappointed by these powerfully formulated products. Everything is paraben, sulfate, artificial fragrance, and dye-free. These are simple science-based formulas created with only skin benefits in mind and none of the frilly fads of the skincare market.
13. Black Girl Sunscreen
This next brand is a cult favorite, and for good reason! Black Girl Sunscreen has solved the oh so annoying issue of chalky sunscreens that leave a white cast. “Sunscreen made by women of color for people of color, because we get sunburned too.”
Both spf products available are fragrance free and reef safe! BGS also has recycling program with free returns to limit package waste, check it out here.
14. Golde
Founded in 2017, Golde is an independent, Brooklyn-based brand focused on creating superfood-boosted essentials for health and beauty.
Golde was born from the idea that wellness should feel *good* — and that it should be accessible to all.
Co- Founder Trinity Mouzon
There are currently two superfood face masks up for grabs on the Golde storefront. Clean Greens is made with chlorella, spirulina, and mango juice while it’s counterpart Lucuma Bright features lucuma, papaya, and sea buckthorn berry.
15. BeautyStat Cosmetics
Cosmetics Chemist founder, Ron Robinson founded BeautyStat Cosmetics to help the everyday consumer cut through the clutter of the over-saturated beauty market and find products that actually work and address the everyday skin concerns of men and women.
BeautyStat Cosmetic’s star product is the Universal C Skin Refiner. Watch it in action in this fascinating oxidation experiment using a sliced apple:
BeautyStat also has a refreshingly simple line of other skincare products to treat yourself with, be sure to look over the full collection!
16. hunnybunny Boutique
hunnybunny was founded in 2015 and is a mother designed and daughter-approved beauty boutique based out of Washington DC. They have a brick and mortar location as well if you happen to be in the area! They’re featured on the BLK + GRN marketplace but you can find the best pricing on their homemade skincare at their website here.
The owner Leigh Byers, created the brand with her daughters in mind. She wanted to create a safer and natural alternative to the often harsh formulas found at the drugstore.
“She had very sensitive, dry, itchy skin when she was a baby,” Leigh says. “So we started taking a look at the ingredients we were putting on her, and we were alarmed by that.”
Check out some of hunnybunny’s fragrance-free skincare options:
- $10 Marula & Bamboo | Face Moisturizer
- $10 Rosehip & Bamboo | Face Moisturizer
- $8 Rose Clay Facial Mask
- $8 Sea Clay Facial Mask
17. Marla Rene Beauty & CO.
Marla Rene is a completely synthetic fragrance-free brand and mostly essential oil free skincare line. It took me less than a minute of perusing these ingredient lists to fall in love with their skincare philosophy.
The Black Honey Cleanser went straight into my cart after I saw its amazingly simple formula. It’s made with honey, activated charcoal, white willow bark extract, and calendula flower extract. They use raw locally sourced honey (that’s the best kind FYI). I’ve spent years trying to find a truly fragrance-free honey cleanser and I legitimately did a happy dance upon finding this.
That is only one of the dozens of amazing skincare formulas that you can treat your skin to. Check out their full collection here!
18. Chloe & Chad
Chloe & Chad (named after the two children of owner Aisha Besson) was created in 2016 by an accountant turned skincare whiz. Every product is made to order in artisanal small batches to ensure that you are receiving the freshest products as possible! Everything is organic, vegan, and cruelty free. 😍
Some products have shorter shelf life spans compared to what you will find in typical drugstore formulas due to the fresh and organic based formulation process. I recommend keeping freshly created skincare products like these in the fridge, or even better yet store your skincare goodies in a skincare fridge like one of these!
Here are our top picks from Chloe & Chad:
- $28 Unscented Face Serum – A rich oil based moisturizing serum.
- $16 Hibiscus Face Toner – A botanical toner packed with antioxidants!
- $18 Aloe Face Mist – Mist your skin with this aloe, coconut, and cucumber infusion.