5 Indigenous-Owned Beauty Brands To Know – Essence

Traditions founded in native ancestry are often repackaged into the latest trends– beauty rituals included. However, most Indigenous-owned beauty brands– and founders– do not get the visibility or credit they deserve for being the trendsetters they are. 

For one, Moskehtu Consulting preserves their cultural heritage with offerings like their beauty box filled with herbal medicines. As for Prados Beauty? The founder collaborates with other Indigenous artists– like Lauren Good Day and Steven Paul Judd– in addition to her main line of cosmetics which include eyeshadows, lashes, and lipsticks. Whereas Cheekbone Beauty is known for their Courage Cream Duo cheek and lip tint.

Below, in honor of Indigenous Heritage month, learn more about 5 Indigenous-owned beauty brands impacting the industry. 

Founder Cece Meadows calls the lands of the Piro-Manso-Tiwa Peoples in Las Cruces, New Mexico her home. Since 2019, she’s been working to amplify her roots by collaborating with other Indigenous people on her cosmetics brand, Prados Beauty. From an Indigenous marketplace– including body care– to her main line of lashes and skincare products, the beauty brand has been making their mark ever since. 

Ah-Shí Beauty (meaning “This Is My Beauty”) founder, Ahsaki Báá LaFrance-Chacher, made history on her Navajo Nation Reserve through a partnership with Macy’s. LaFrance-Chacher celebrates her peoples’ beauty rituals through foundations, powders, and bb creams. 

Moskehtu Consulting is more than just a beauty brand. Founded by Chenae Bullock, the Montauk tribe descendent started her cultural and heritage preservation firm, Moskehtu, in 2019. In addition to the educational impact of the firm, they also offer an opportunity to shop traditional beauty products through their beauty box. Full of herbal medicines to heal the respiratory system, boost immunity, and reduce stress, among other properties, the Moskehtu box is a cornerstone in ancestral health and wellness.

Cheekbone Beauty is a dream come true– literally. Jenn Harper founded the beauty brand in 2015 after a dream of young Indigenous girls covered in lip gloss. As an actualization of her vivid dream, the Harmony Lip Gloss was her first launch, which sits nicely amongst other fan favorites like the Courage Cream Duo.

Skwalen Botanicals represents the beauty of the land. Reclaiming Indigenous skincare techniques, the beauty brand takes back what’s theirs. Before green, clean products went mainstream, founder Leigh Joseph, PhD, known ancestrally as Styawat, has always had an ancient connection to cultivating and foraging plants for food, medicine, and skincare. Because of this, her brand honors the Squamish plant to balance, repair, and protect the skin.