The role African Culture and beauty have played in the Beauty Industry is vast. But their impact on the skincare side of the beauty industry with Black soap, cocoa butter, and shea butter is impeccable.
It’s without a doubt that Africa is responsible for influencing the beauty industry on several levels. But the conversation that’s often excluded when it comes to the beauty community is skincare. While skincare is a huge part of the beauty industry, it’s only become popular in the media recently. This is thanks to influencers such as @SkincarebyHayram and other major influential creators (like @brownskinderm, @LaBeautyologist, and several others) that made it mainstream.
But once upon a time when the masses heard “cosmetics” or “the beauty industry” our minds immediately went to lipstick, foundation, or even Desi- Classic Blush (shameless plug!). But the influence that African culture has had on skincare cannot be overlooked any further.
Skincare Rooted in African Culture
Skincare for many African tribes and their people is an age-old tradition and it’s overflown into the States, thanks to Africans who have migrated here. Products like the well-known African Black Soap have been a pillar in perfect skincare. And everyone knows the key to a beautiful painting is a well-prepped canvas. The benefits of this soap allow the base of every face of makeup, the skin, to be well taken care of and hydrated.
The benefits of this soap include the anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that make it a safe choice for all skin types. After a full day of wearing our “Nell” Crème Lipgloss, Ohemaas Eyeshadow, and Bright Water Activated Liners Set (as displayed to the right), this cleanser will be your holy grail!
It doesn’t stop at Black soap, the ingredients within popular skincare products responsible for cleaning, hydrating, and prepping the skin are often from Africa. Another example is leading cocoa-producing countries are the Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria. And most raw ingredients for skincare products, specifically the ones catered to POC, are sourced from the “shea belt”. This belt runs from West to East Africa and is unique to the continent.
The main benefit of cocoa butter, besides being a great Alicia Keys song, is it’s a rich source of Vitamin E. This helps protect skin against the sun, moisturizes, and has healing properties for blemishes and acne. Shea butter shares these benefits and adds to them with anti-aging and anti-free radical agents, it provides relief to itchy and peeling skin and restores the elasticity of the skin.
All in all, we owe a great debt to the influence that Africa has played in skincare. POC with darker skin tones knows that skincare products, and the beauty community in general, are largely catered to white people. And these products give us a place in the beauty space to be catered to, melanin and all. So here's to the abundance that Mother Africa has given us and our new glowing skin!