Latinx-Owned Beauty Brands Doing it Pa La Cultura

Though there are plenty of Latinxs who are beauty icons (see: Selena Quintanilla and Cardi B, just to name two) the diversity of the community has not always been represented or catered to in the beauty industry Because of that, more and more Latinxs, including some of your favorite celebrities and influencers, are creating their own brands and expanding representation.

The Latinx community spans over 20 countries, includes a multitude of languages that isn't limited to just Spanish and English, and has a racial and cultural diversity that isn't often shown in media, so it's a tough job to try to represent all of that. But there are Latinx-owned brands and influencers who are doing that work to help promote a more inclusive image within the beauty industry. For example, in 2014, Carolina Contreras opened up her natural hair salon, Miss Rizos Salon, in the Dominican Republic to push more people to embrace their curls and kinks. On the makeup side is beauty influencer Monica Veloz (also known as @MonicaStyleMuse) who is constantly promoting beauty brands that serve darker skin tones, or what she calls "morenita-friendly."

Rëzo Haircare

In 2016, hairstylist Nubia Rëzo created her curly hair master class with Rëzo Academy to teach others how to care for and style various types of curls. Three years later, she launched her hair-care line, Rëzo Hair Care, with four main products — Curl Control Shampoo, Curl Control Conditioner, Curl Define Hair Gel, and Curl Define Hair Serum — which are formulated to help moisturize and condition curly textures. The brand also offers a collapsible diffuser and microfiber towel to dry your curls. In 2020, she took it a step further and opened her own salon in New York City, Rëzo Salon, where she offers her signature Rëzo Cut — a specialized haircut for curly textures developed to maximize length while also producing volume and shape.

Valde Beauty

The shades are beautiful, but the packaging is even better. Each bullet lipstick comes with two options for caps: simplistic gold with "Valde" embossed on the side, or the intricate Valde Armor (shown above) that comes in an hourglass shape and has many tiny but detailed feathers throughout. The Valde Armor is available in three colorways: black and gold, gunmetal, or gold on gold.

Vamigas

This isn't Christina Kelmon's first foray into the beauty business: She founded makeup brand Belle en Argent in 2016. But three years later, she joined Ann Dunning, and the duo started their skin-care brand, Vamigas. For each of their products, they source ingredients — like babassu, prickly pear, yerba maté, and maracuja — straight from Latin American countries. The brand's signature product is the best-selling face oil, Luz de Sur.

Costa Brazil

In 2016, after working as creative director for Calvin Klein for 13 years, Francisco Costa left and returned home to Brazil for a break and change of scenery. Two years later, inspired by his home country, he created skin- and body-care brand Costa Brazil. Of course, the brand incorporates ingredients native to Brazil, such as cupuaçu and murmuru butter, into its products. It also sells the Vela candle, which will transport you straight to the Amazon rainforest with notes of Brazilian vetiver, cypress root, and wild jungle flora.

Botanika Beauty

In 2019, Aisha Cebellos-Crump launched the hair-care brand Botanika Beauty. The brand sells shampoo, conditioner, and a selection of stylers and moisturizers, with are a few options specifically for curly hair, like the Hydrator Curl Cream. It's infused with several hydrating ingredients (shea butter and sweet almond oil are just two) to define and moisturize curly textures.

Thrive Natural Care

Thrive Natural Care, co-founded by Laura Arce and Mario Garcia in 2012, provides the basics for your skin-care routine with cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreen, and shaving oil. The brand's minimalist packaging definitely matches the simplicity of the products. Its Face Wash and Face Balm are offered in a version for sensitive skin types, but the brand's hero product is the mineral-based Daily Defense Sunscreen Balm.

Glamlite

Gisselle Hernandez founded Glamlite to celebrate her love for pizza and makeup, as well as to embrace self-love, after dealing with years of fat-shaming. Thus, the Pizza Palette, with its 18 eye shadows named after beloved toppings, was born. The brand sells other cosmetics inspired by food and desserts, like the cool-toned Glam Donut Palette or three-piece Chocolate Popsicle Lip Kit.

Honey Baby Naturals

Honey serves as the inspiration behind hair- and body-care brand Honey Baby Naturals — and that's evident right down to the packaging. Mama's Magic Moringa & Honey Oil looks just like a bottle of honey and provides hair with the moisturizing benefits from the sweet ingredient, too. The brand was founded in 2016 by Aisha Ceballos-Crump, who wanted to create products that would hydrate her three children's different curly textures.

Rizos Curls

After constant trial and error, Julissa Prado just wanted products that defined her curls — so she created them herself. The result was Rizos Curls. The hair- care brand offers four products made with hydrating ingredients — shea butter, olive oil, and aloe vera are just a few — to cater specifically to curly hair. Additionally, the brand also sells super cute hair accessories, like the rosy pink marbled Hair Pick.

Vive Cosmetics

In 2016, Leslie Valdivia and Joanna Rosario-Rocha came together to create Vive Cosmetics. The duo wants to ensure the brand is always promoting an inclusive image of the Latinx community, which you can see in the diversity of races, genders, and body types on the brand's website and social media channels. Its best-selling Que Matte Liquid Lipsticks come in gorgeous shades, such as the hot pink Prima or bright salmon Wepa.

Bomba Curls

Afro-Dominican Lulu Cordero created Bomba Curls to incorporate ingredients like pistachio and coffee seed oil from her island home into hair-care products. The brand currently offers only two: the delicious-smelling Forbidden Oil and the creamy Forbidden Hair Mask. After the Forbidden Oil (formulated using a combination of coffee seed, castor, and black cumin seed oils) is applied, dry and itchy scalps will feel sweet relief.

Beautyblender

There's truly no denying that Rea Ann Silva changed the beauty industry when she launched the Beautyblender. The little teardrop sponge transformed the way many of us do our makeup today, making blending easier and downright flawless. Since the creation of the Beautyblender Original, Silva has expanded her brand to include Beautyblenders of different colors and sizes, makeup brushes, and even foundation.

Bésame Cosmetics

Gabriela Hernandez combined her love for vintage beauty with her expertise as an artist and historian to build Bésame Cosmetics. Hernandez recreates staples of the past, whether it's producing Disney-inspired makeup collections or gorgeous classic red lipsticks inspired by the 1940s.

It's no wonder the brand caught the eye of ishonest editorial director Sam Escobar. "I fell head over heels for Bésame's aesthetic: the rusty red, the golden text, the vintage-inspired embellishments that encapsulated 'old- Hollywood glamour'," they say. "One of the brand's most intriguing pieces of makeup is the Mascara Cake. True to the technique and format used by women during the 1920s, this solid mascara may seem intimidating to some, but the dark, lush results are more than worth the effort — particularly for beauty lovers who enjoy the makeup application process as much as the effects."

Alamar Cosmetics

Created in 2017 by Cuban-born makeup artist Gabriela Trujillo, the vibrant colors Alamar Cosmetics is known for add a little sazón to the industry. One of my favorite products from the brand is the Colorete Blush Trio. The highly pigmented palette comes in three different combinations catered for three different skin tones: Fair/Light, Medium/Tan, and Dark/Rich. In addition to its blush palettes, Alamar Cosmetics has fluffy false lashes, shimmery lip glosses, and vivid eye shadow palettes.

Melt Cosmetics

What began as a brunch conversation in 2012 between Lora Arellano and Dana Bomar ended with the creation of Melt Cosmetics. The duo wanted to create matte lipsticks in bright, bold colors, which, at the time, was a rarity. Soon after, they expanded to eye shadows, lip glosses, highlighters, and more.

Reina Rebelde

Founder Regina Merson drew from her experiences growing up in Mexico and later in the United States to create Reina Rebelde, which includes a variety of eye products, lipsticks, and brushes. The bold and pigmented indigo Reina Rebelde Liquid Eyeliner was created in collaboration with Boricua influencer Kay-Lani, also known as Viva Glam Kay. The blue shade was inspired by the influencer's Puerto Rican heritage, and its fine-tip applicator lets you create a whisper of a line or a powerful cat-eye.

Sigma Beauty

Until you've tried Sigma Beauty's brushes, you don't know how good a makeup brush can be. OK, maybe this is a bit dramatic, but Sigma Beauty's brushes are truly the holy grail. The F64 Soft Blend Concealer Brush is my personal fave because you can use it blend out any concealer formula or to set the undereye area with powder.

The brand was founded back in 2009 by couple Simone Xavier and Rene Xavier Filho. What started with one brush ended up expanding into multiple brushes of different shapes and sizes, and makeup products like its long-lasting liquid lipsticks.

Luna Magic Beauty

In creating the shade names for the Uno Shadow Palette, Luna Magic cofounders and sisters Shaira and Mabel Frias looked to their culture. "As Latinas, we love vibrant colors that make us stand out, music that makes us dance the night away, and we always have an apodo (nickname) for everyone," Shaira Frias tells ishonest. Three of the shades are called Salud, Dinero, and Amor, inspired by Walter Mercado, a famous Puerto Rican astrologer, who would end each of his readings with "Les deseo salud, dinero, y amor."

Artist Couture

Angel Merino (also known as Mac Daddyy) knew what he was doing for us highlighter lovers when he made Artist Couture. When my fave Jackie Aina did a collaboration with the brand to create two Diamond Glow Powders — two loose powder highlighters — I knew I needed it.

With the pigment on the Diamond Glow Powders, I cannot stress how much a little goes a long way to make your highlighter gleam. The Conceited shade is a beautiful bronzy-gold that's great for a highlight, eye shadow shimmer, or to brighten up the inner corner of your eyes.

Necromancy Cosmetica

Lipstick lovers rejoice: Necromancy Cosmetica is here for you with almost every shade imaginable. The Puerto Rico-based brand was created back in 2015 by couple Desiree Rodríguez and Salvador Pérez to provide consumers with moisturizing matte lipsticks in the wildest shades you could imagine, like the metallic hunter-green Ophidian or the lavender Witches Brew.

I'm a big fan of the brand's dark hues in particular. When I tried the Morgue lipstick, I knew I was in love. This true deep black lipstick glides on your lips and won't fade the moment you take a sip of your coffee or tea.

Read more on: beauty