Brand Spotlight

Introducing The Black-Owned Brands Gracing Our Shelves

By Janell Hickman

Filed Under

At A Glance

What It Is
Founded by Aurora James of Brother Vellies, the 15 Percent Pledge challenges major retailers to allocate a minimum of 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands. Individuals can also take the pledge and commit to purchasing more minority-owned brands in their day-to-day lives.
What It Does
This initiative gives Black-owned beauty brands economic equality, and forces retailers to re-evaluate the opportunities given to people of color in the retail landscape. Heyday joins major brands like VOGUE, Rent The Runway, and Sephora.
Why It Matters
Diversity and inclusion is a long-term game. Black people in the U.S. currently make up 15% of the population, yet Black-owned brands still lack visibility in the shopping arena. While systemic racism won’t be dismantled overnight, we believe this is a start towards leveling the socio-economic barriers currently in place.
Fun Fact
Out of the 7 new brands on-board, 100% of them are female-founded as well.

On June 15th, 2020, we shared our anti-racist action points with our community to discuss future-thinking plans both internally and externally. In addition to providing tools through training, creating safe spaces, cultivating diversity, putting a larger emphasis on higher Fitzpatrick-scale skin education, and a universal decency agreement, we are also increasing our shelf space to include more Black-owned brands by taking the 15 Percent Pledge.

A Statement From Our Founder

Heyday recognizes that committing more shelf space to Black-owned brands is just a start—future plans include continuously onboarding new brands to drive our product mix up to 27% from 17.5% where we currently stand.

“Signing on to Aurora James’s 15 Percent Pledge was an important initiative for us given the change afoot and specifically for our world, how personal skincare can be,” explains Heyday Co-Founder & Chief Experience Officer, Michael Pollak.

“Skincare is so personal and having brands and products that reflect our clientele is important, and we think this is a huge step forward for not only Black and POC representation in terms of brand owners, but for the overall quality of products and solutions we can offer our clients—from the heal-from-within tonics of Golde, to the melanated skin-focused sunscreens of Unsun, to the luxe self-care of Ode to Self, and more,” Pollak explains.

“Five years ago, we set out to make facials and the advice of estheticians more accessible. Our diverse clientele is a testament to that.” - Michael Pollak, Co-Founder

“While we wish the events leading to these changes nationally didn’t unfold in the way they did, we as a company are continuing to make positive change where possible—representation and visibility are critical to making lasting change,” Pollak adds.

Getting To Know The Brands

In addition to shelf space, education is equally as important. Heyday Skincare Educator, Glenise Gomez, says, “Our skin - ethnic skin, skin of color - should be treated in a different manner. We have to think about epigenetics, racial background, and how diverse our culture is. We should be made to feel comfortable with what our ancestors, our grandparents, and our moms bestowed on us.”

Within the product mix, Heyday is also reintroducing the Fitzpatrick scale to help estheticians identify ethnic background triggers for skin of all color and properly treat each distinct type.

“Everyone will be aware of what their skin is, what their Fitzpatrick type is, and how we treat darker skin types in a more progressive way,” adds Gomez.

Meet The Inaugural Black-Owned Brands

Get to know the first of many Black-owned brands that we’re excited to add to our shelves and can’t wait for you to try.

Absolute Joi

Originally created as a beauty solution for her teen daughters, Dr. Anne successfully built a clean beauty brand for women of color “100% based on science—not hype.”

Epara

With a focus on African botanical ingredients, Epara (founded by Ozohu Adoh) literally translates to “cocoon oneself” in the Nigerian dialect of Ebira. This soothing product line tackles everything from hyperpigmentation to dryness to aging.

**Gilded Body *Launching soon!**

Bodycare is the new skincare, according to founder Blair Armstrong. Her waitlist-worthy marble body brush will have you looking forward to bathtime daily.

Golde

Beauty is an inside-out journey, which is why Trinity Morton sought out to launch her line of superfood-inspired ingestibles (think: turmeric, matcha, and cacao) and most recently, complementary facial masks.

Hyper Skin

After the successful launch of Desiree Verdejo’s popular brick-and-mortar in Harlem, she knew a product line was in the cards. Now, her star product Hyper Clear is a staple in everyone’s skincare cabinet.

Ode to Self

Inspired to carve out space for herself, 20-year-old Kimberlee Keitt wanted to share her personal beauty practices with the world—and force us to slow down *just a little bit* through mindful skincare rituals.

UnSun Cosmetics

Finding the right sunscreen for skin of color has notoriously been a challenge, and Katonya Breaux was frustrated with the options available. Fast-forward to 2016 where she launched her own line of clean, no-residue SPFs for all skin tones.

Looking Ahead

The above brands are the first of many we’ll be adding to our shelves. Hint: Beneath Your Mask, Klur, KNC Beauty, LuvScrub, and Lauren Napier Beauty will be joining in the next few months.

While we’re here, we also need to debunk one myth: Black-owned beauty brands are not just for skin of color, they are for everyone.

“The thing with these brands is that they're really formulated for skin that's sensitive,” explains Gomez. “So, anyone of any skin type of any skin color will benefit from these brands because they’re using highly lipidic ingredients that will help restore the skin cell barrier and the skin's natural biome.”

“They're also filled with anti-irritants, preventing the skin from universal stressors. Anyone can benefit from using them, because we're dealing with the conditions at the core,” she adds.