The annual Black History Month celebration, held in February and October for the United States and United Kingdom respectively, has long served as a moment of recognition—a time for brands and businesses to acknowledge the contributions of Black pioneers across industries. In beauty, the month often comes with a predictable cycle of marketing campaigns spotlighting Black-owned brands, limited-edition product collaborations, and a wave of social media tributes. Yet, year after year, Black beauty entrepreneurs find themselves asking the same question—what happens when February ends?
The beauty industry, despite the diversity push of recent years, has remained largely inaccessible for Black-owned brands beyond surface-level inclusion. Systemic barriers abide. The barriers to success—funding, distribution, and visibility—persist, with many founders forced to navigate a system designed without them in mind. This has caused multiple calls to action to support Black and POC beauty entrepreneurs, asking the industry to move beyond gestures and into sustained, structural change.
The Real Barriers: What Black Founders Face Today
Funding, for one, has been a major pain point for Black beauty brands. According to Yandy Smith-Harris, founder of Black-owned Yelle Skincare, who tells BeautyMatter, “Black-owned beauty brands continue to face significant challenges, many of which have evolved but still persist. Access to funding remains a major hurdle.” The founder also says that “[However], beyond financial support, visibility, and distribution are ongoing struggles.” Although the industry made significant strides since the Black Lives Matter movement, BeautyMatter learned that the support has waned significantly, with experts opining that it was performative at best.
While funding remains a well-documented struggle, Black beauty founders emphasize that the challenges run deeper. “Funding is always the first thing people talk about, but beyond that, there’s an entire ecosystem that doesn't support us,” Noelly Michoux, co-founder of 4.5.6 Skin, says to BeautyMatter. “We are constantly navigating regulations that were never designed for Black skin, dealing with retailers who don’t prioritize our brands, and trying to educate a customer base that has been conditioned to think mainstream beauty brands are superior,” she continues. Regulatory challenges are particularly significant for brands innovating in formulation for darker skin tones. As Michoux highlights, the industry’s entire testing and product development infrastructure was built for white skin, making it harder for companies like hers to bring truly effective, science-backed solutions to market.
Beyond formulation, distribution remains a major obstacle. While major retailers have made strides in stocking Black-owned brands, shelf space does not equal long-term success. Worse still, the current administration has clamped down on initiatives that initially offered support to Black and POC-owned businesses, causing mass-market retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon to withdraw their DEI initiatives. “Yes, Sephora and Amazon have diversity programs, but how many Black founders actually know about them?” Olowo-n'djo Tchala, founder of a Black-owned beauty brand, Ayeya, points out to BeautyMatter. “The bigger issue is access to prime retail placement, real marketing investment, and long-term contracts. Many Black brands get in the door but don’t get the support they need to stay there,” he continues.
Smith-Harris is in agreement. “Many mainstream retailers still limit shelf space for Black-owned brands or categorize them separately, reinforcing the misconception that these products are niche rather than essential to the broader beauty industry,” she chimes in. “Black founders often navigate the industry without the same mentorship, strategic partnerships, or manufacturing access that non-Black brands receive. While there has been progress, with more diversity initiatives emerging, true equity and long-term industry backing are still lacking,” she continues. Even when Black-owned brands secure retail partnerships, the visibility challenge remains. In a beauty industry where marketing dollars determine consumer awareness, most Black brands operate at a disadvantage. Without multimillion-dollar advertising budgets, they often struggle to compete with larger brands that benefit from the industry’s skewed relationship with preferential skin color.
Moving Beyond Celebration: What the Industry Can Do
If Black History Month is to be more than a performative exercise, beauty conglomerates, retailers, and investors need to take concrete actions that create lasting change. Black entrepreneurs are clear about what needs to be done—they’re not just seeking support. They also want a shift in power dynamics. First, there’s an ardent need for investment in infrastructure, not just funding. “Often, Black entrepreneurs wear multiple hats—handling marketing, operations, product development, and more—because they don’t have the same resources as legacy brands. Greater access to education, mentorship, and industry connections could significantly accelerate [our] success,” Smith-Harris says.
The financial struggle for Black beauty brands is well-documented, but beyond investment, the industry must create structural systems that foster long-term success. Michoux argues that Black-owned brands often have to choose between doing what’s best for the consumer and what’s financially viable. “Do we invest in truly innovative formulations, or do we take the easy route and use existing lab formulas designed for white skin?” she asks. “Many Black brands end up white-labeling because it’s the only affordable way to get to market. That’s not innovation—that’s survival,” she says.
Black beauty founders and entrepreneurs want conglomerates and investors to move beyond grant-based support and invest in Black-led research labs, testing facilities, and manufacturing networks. Without this infrastructure, Black-owned beauty brands will always be at the mercy of an industry that was not built for them.
Then comes the marketing and distribution equality. Shelf space is no longer enough. Brands need sustained marketing investment to thrive. This means ensuring Black-owned brands receive prime retail placement, in-store promotions, and advertising budgets that match those of their non-Black counterparts. “We need to start thinking about distribution differently,” says Olowo-n'djo. “If you want Black brands to succeed, you have to give them the same marketing push as legacy brands. It’s not just about placing a few products on shelves, but also about ensuring they actually sell.”
Retailers and conglomerates must also commit to long-term partnerships rather than short-term diversity initiatives. Black founders have seen firsthand how the industry moves on once the spotlight dims. “[They can also] provide prime shelf placement and long-term contracts to help these brands sustain and grow,” Smith-Harris adds. “Creating accelerator programs that offer mentorship, networking opportunities, and access to top-tier manufacturers and distributors [is a step in the right direction].”
Consumers are not left out, as experts, founders and entrepreneurs say there needs to be a change in their mindset. While industry stakeholders have a responsibility to create opportunities, the Black and non-Black community itself plays a crucial role. Michoux argues that Black consumers need to recognize their economic power and shift their spending habits. “[A large percent] of the money Black people spend on beauty goes to non-Black brands. We say we want change, but we’re not backing it with our dollars. If we want to see more Black brands succeed, we have to make conscious choices to support them—whether it’s buying their products, recommending them, or amplifying them on social media,” she says.
Michoux believes that true industry transformation will not come from the top-down, but from the bottom-up. “The big conglomerates will not change unless consumers force them to. If the Black community collectively demands better, the industry will have no choice but to respond.” Smith-Harris believes that misconceptions abide around what "Black-owned" means. “One of the biggest misconceptions is that Black-owned means only for Black people,” she says. “Yelle Skincare was created to fill a gap in the market for melanin-rich skincare, but our formulations are designed to benefit all skin types. Black-owned beauty brands bring innovation and inclusivity to the industry, and it’s time they are recognized as an integral part of the beauty landscape, not just a niche category,” she adds.
Beyond February: A Call for Sustained Change
Black History Month is a moment of reflection, but the real work lies in what happens the other eleven months of the year. The beauty industry has spent years profiting from Black consumers while sidelining Black entrepreneurs. If it truly wants to create an equitable landscape, it must go beyond representation and into redistribution—of wealth, resources, and power.
As Michoux puts it, “Black beauty brands are tired of fighting for scraps. We don’t need another diversity campaign, we need real investment, real visibility, and real access. If the industry isn’t willing to do that, then all of this is just marketing.”
The challenge now is not just acknowledging the problem but implementing solutions that ensure Black beauty entrepreneurs are not just included, but empowered. Black History Month should not be a yearly reminder of an industry failing its Black creators—it should be a benchmark of how far the industry has come, even though at this point in time, it still has a long way to go.
