African beauty, commonly referred to as "A-beauty,"is rich, opulent, and naturally rooted in family wealth and ancestry. The raw materials that go into making these products are crafted from the monarchy of the earth and are pure. They have also been through centuries of remedies, stories, and healing archetypes. It contains ingredients like shea butter, argan oil, coconut oil, marula oil, and baobab oil, among others which are good proteins for the skin. These oils are drilled out of the earth and blended in a way that honors a connection between the roots, a cycle of life, and a kind of synergy.
From Kenya to Nigeria, Senegal to South Africa, and many countries in between, a number of entrepreneurs are driving Africa's expanding beauty industry. Despite the fact that more significant foreign brands are exceeding in the beauty industry, more African brands are making enormous efforts to break free of the constraints imposed by the conventional cosmetics industry.
We have curated below, an A-list of African beauty brands worth knowing.
LIHA
LIHA is a skin care line that combines an African heritage with a British influence. LIHA includes products that treat and condition the skin with ingredients like idan oil and ivory shea butter. With its exquisitely formulated oils, butters, and candles, LIHA rejuvenates the skin.
ALAFIAA
ALAFIAA is a beauty brand that's unlike most others. It specializes in hair, face, and body-care products that incorporate handcrafted African ingredients. The brand defines itself as one whose success is not measured by profit, but rather by empowerment. Their incredible initiatives include their Maternal Health Project to fund pre-and-postnatal care, and their Bicycles for Education and Eyeglasses Projects to aid the elderly and empower Togolese youth. ALAFFIAS nourishing hair, body, and skincare items takes your skincare routine to another height while doing a whole lot of good for West African communities in return.
AGRESTAL BEAUTY
Agrestal means "in an unprocessed and raw state to grow wild in cultivated fields."This skincare brand founded by Emilia Ramos is rooted in history and grounded in the philosophy that as humans, we reflect nature and harness the energies it provokes. Through this journey, Agrestal promotes a culture of growth and falling in love with yourself through the use of its products.
MELYON
Melyon is a POC-focused skincare line that combines nature and science to tackle common dilemmas among melanated skin types while still being accessible and suitable for all.Diversity forms a huge part of the brands DNA.
SKINBUTTR
This brand has a range of decadent body care and all-natural skincare items for skin that glows from head to toe. At the core of their best-selling rich body butters is whipped shea for all-round skin-nourishing goodness, mixed up with essential oils and natural fragrances, like yummy ginger lemon and cocoa vanilla, for tropical smelling and glistening skin.
SKOON
SKOON (meaning clean) takes inspiration from African ancestral beauty secrets modernizing and refining them to create a minimalistic range of clean beauty that incorporates some of South Africas best skin-renewing botanicals like rooibos, buchu, and baobab, to name a few. 1% of the brands sales go towards The Baobab Foundation to support baobab harvesters in South Africas Limpopo Province.