Innovators in African-American Cosmetics

Let’s face it: African Americans influence pop culture.

Call their influence in pop culture fascinating, bold, audacious, off-beat, hot or sexy; whatever you decide to call it make sure you add innovator to that list.

African American ideas, style perspectives, images and attitudes are not only prevalent in the US they also color the globe.

Much of the style and color that the world enjoys is all thanks to these 21st Century innovators in African American cosmetics.

Learn more about the innovators of African American cosmetics below;

She’s young but don’t let her youth fool you. She’s a problem solver. Her up and coming, cosmetic line, LAMIK solves problems for African American skin.

Not only is she beautiful, she seeks to enhance the beauty of African American women everywhere and at a low cost too. Supermodel Iman founded Iman Cosmetics in 1994.

A true garage-to-Ivy tower story, Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter created her cosmetic line in the home. Her African American beauty products are organic and use only pure oils.

She’s not a mad scientist, but African Americans go mad-crazy for the skin care line she helped to create. Cheryl Burgess is a Dermatologist and helped to create Black Opals line of African American skin care products. The Black Opal beauty line is classified as dermaceuticals. Dermaceuticals are products that are coined by dermatologist as not strong enough to be called a prescription and not weak enough to be just only a cosmetic. Black Opals products are primarily formulated for skins of color.

Although BlackUp is not an African American brand, it is what’s up in the African American community that craves high end make up with artistic flair. BlackUp is a leading cosmetic Parisian brand that was founded by makeup artists for women of color. Prior to BlackUp there wasn’t a brand specifically for women of color in movies and BlackUp sought to fill that hole.

This innovator and his wife, Eunice flipped the script on how African American beauty products were sold and how stylists are trained. Dudley Cosmetics founded by Joe Dudley in 1969 because the company he was selling cosmetic products for could not meet demand, so he manufactured his own line to fill the gap. Instead of selling his products directly to retailers he sold them to salons. Dudley Cosmetics still profits from this innovation today.

In 1994, George Ellis Johnson founded Johnson Products and gave women of all colors what they craved the “Ultra Man”. The Ultra Wave a hair relaxer for men was George Johnson’s first beauty product. It was designed exclusively for the African American man. His product is revolutionary because all the other beauty products in the African American community target women but he targeted men.

What African American woman hasn’t enhanced their beauty with Fashion Fair cosmetics?

Recently departed Eunice Johnson, wife of publishing magnet John H. Johnson founded Fashion Fair cosmetics in 1973. Fashion Fair was the first leading cosmetic lines for African Americans sold in leading department stores. She created Fashion Fair cosmetics because of the challenges she faced finding cosmetics that matched the skin tones of African American models in her annual fundraiser. Her annual fundraiser, the Ebony Fashion Fair highlighted the works of African American designers.