Black Fishing Beauty Brands: Beauty Brands that Pretend to Be Black Owned

We have already discussed the growing phenomena of White Women smothering themselves in make up, literally painting themselves, and, in more severe cases, tanning themselves beyond recognition to appear as a person of color, all while receiving brand sponsorships and opportunities while actual women of color are often overlooked.

But what happens when it is not only individuals, but brands who not only dress up as Black Owned, but do it at the expense of actual Black Owned brands?

Let’s step back for a minute and consider this; how many truly Black Owned beauty brands can you name? Vera Moore, one of the first Black own brands, established her own line of skincare products for black women in 1979. Iman’s eponymous brand, which has been proudly serving “women with skin of color,” officially launched in 1993. I shared a few brands here not that long ago, but in comparison to the number of brands that exist who market toward the Black Demographic but are not, in fact, Black Owned, the number is staggeringly low.

“If you thought of Black Opal, Black Radiance or black|Up, the gag is they’re not actually black-owned.” says Jasely Molina, writer for The Fader. “And though they do make products designed for black skin, many black-owned beauty brands have suffered from a lack of…