In the spirit of celebrating Latinx beauty and shifting power in the industry, here are 13 Latinx-founded brands that should be on your radar.
13 Latinx-Owned Beauty Brands to Support Now and Always
Each year, the U.S. observes National Hispanic Heritage Month, honoring the history, culture, and contributions of the country’s Latinx and Hispanic communities. Needless to say, there’s much to celebrate in the beauty realm, where Lantinx women have been cultivating distinct rituals and traditions for centuries.
That said, the beauty industry in the U.S. hardly reflects both the population—the U.S. Hispanic population has grown significantly in the last decade, from 50.5 million in 2010 to 62.1 million in 2020; it’s estimated that by 2050, 30% of the population will be Hispanic—and rich cultural impact of the Latinx community.
“In the beauty industry, the Latinx population over-indexes in consumption while being underrepresented,” explains Margarita Arriagada, founder of Valdé Beauty, who believes that what will ultimately move the needle is larger brand and retail institutions taking a more proactive approach to immersing themselves in Latinx culture to better understand the nuances. “We are seeing a rise of Latinx beauty entrepreneurs because they do not see themselves represented, so they are taking matters into their own hands,” she continues. “We are not one-size-fits- all.” Sonsoles Gonzalez, founder of Better Not Younger, agrees. “Hispanic founders have not gotten much attention, but I’d love to see more investment funds go toward them—when that happens, you will see more beauty brands properly addressing the Latino market.”
More representation is also imperative in battling the narrow beauty ideals that have dominated the beauty industry. “The Latinx community has a lot of spending power in the beauty industry, but overall we are rarely represented, and when we are it is by the lighter-skinned Latinas with more European features who fit into that ‘mainstream’ standard of beauty,” explains pop superstar Becky G, who launched her Treslúce Beauty line over the summer. “We are not a monolithic group, and we need more diverse representations of our community and for brands to develop products for our diverse needs.”
While there’s a long way to go, Latinx-founded hair, makeup, and skin-care brands are capturing attention, and in turn revitalizing the industry. “I wanted to create a brand that could fill the void in the market for authentic representation of the multidimensional demographic that is Latinx, while celebrating the richness of the Latin culture,” explains Babba Rivera, founder of clean hair-care brand Ceremonia. Rivera wants to see Ceremonia grow into a category-leading brand that helps other companies and founders understand the complexity and importance of today’s Latinx consumer, while also serving as a benchmark business for future minority founders. In creating her own brand, Becky G also wanted it to be an inclusive ode to her heritage. “Everything from the name of the brand to the colors and formulations of the products was inspired by my heritage,” she explains. “Our mission is to amplify the beauty and diversity of Latinx culture with the goal of advancing and influencing others’ understanding and acceptance of our cultura.”
This story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Lauren Valenti
