Beauty shoppers of color have long been underserved by mainstream shade ranges and formulas, and they now seek brands built around deeper skin tones. The brands that serve them sell inclusive makeup, sunscreen without a white cast, skincare for melanin-rich skin and grooming for textured hair. Examples include Mented Cosmetics, Scotch Porter, Black Girl Sunscreen, House of Tara, Zaron Cosmetics, Epara Skincare and Ami Colé. Studying their ads shows how representation, shade range and formula performance are turned into persuasive creative. You can see what proof matters most and how founders and communities shape the message.
Many have struggled to find their shade or a formula that works on deeper skin. Being seen in the range is a strong buying trigger.
No white cast, true undertones and suitable textures are practical requirements, not extras.
They respond to models, founders and voices who look like them and understand their routines.
The audience spans the US, Africa, the UK and beyond, with different brands and retail habits in each market.
Men with textured hair and beards look for products made for their needs, which mainstream grooming often overlooks.
Recommendations from friends, creators and makeup artists carry real weight in deciding what to try.
Ami Colé was a New York-based clean beauty brand founded in 2021 by Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye, designed specifically for melanin-rich skin. Distributed through Sephora and backed by investors including Greycroft, G9 Ventures, and L'Oréal, the brand raised over $3 million and became a celebrated example of culturally specific inclusive beauty. Ami Colé earned fans including Kelly Rowland and Mindy Kaling. Despite strong brand equity and critical acclaim, the brand announced closure in July 2025, citing unsustainable market conditions, rising tariffs, DEI funding rollbacks, and economic pressures on indie beauty brands. Founder N'Diaye-Mbaye subsequently joined Skims as EVP of Beauty and Fragrance. Also searched as Ami.
Black Girl Sunscreen is a Los Angeles-based sun-care brand founded by Shontay Lundy in 2016. The brand formulated SPF products that leave no white cast on deeper skin tones, addressing a glaring gap in the market. Distributed at Target, Ulta, and CVS, it built a loyal community through representation-first marketing. Also searched as Black.
Earthly Derm creates natural skincare products with clean, earth-derived ingredients.
Founded in 2017 by Nigerian entrepreneur Ozohu Adoh (Oxford MBA), Epara ('to cocoon oneself' in Ebira) is a London-based luxury skincare brand handcrafted specifically for women of colour. Using precious African botanicals — moringa oil, marula oil, neroli and mango butter — combined with advanced UK lab science, Epara addresses chronic under-service of melanin-rich skin in luxury beauty. Also searched as Epara.
Florasis is a Chinese cosmetics brand selling makeup products including lipsticks, eyeshadows, and complexion products with packaging and branding drawing on traditional Chinese aesthetics. It sells primarily through e-commerce platforms in China and internationally. The brand advertises on Meta to reach beauty consumers.
Flower Knows is a Chinese cosmetics brand selling makeup products known for elaborate, fantasy-themed packaging design across eyeshadow, blush, and lip lines. It sells primarily through e-commerce platforms across Asia and internationally. The brand advertises on Meta to reach makeup and beauty consumers.
Founded by Tara Fela-Durotoye in Lagos in 1998, House of Tara is Nigeria's first modern professional makeup brand and beauty education institution. The brand operates studios, franchises, and beauty schools alongside a growing DTC product line formulated for African skin tones. Also searched as House.
Mented Cosmetics is a New York-based color cosmetics brand co-founded by KJ Miller and Amanda E. Johnson in 2017. The brand launched to fill the nude lipstick gap for deeper skin tones and expanded into full-face color products, distributed DTC and through Target and Ulta. Also searched as Mented.
Scotch Porter is a Newark-based premium men's grooming brand founded in 2015 by Calvin Quallis. Born from a barbershop serving predominantly Black and Hispanic men, it grew into a multi-million-dollar DTC and retail brand addressing the unmet grooming needs of men of color with clean botanical formulations. Also searched as Scotch.
Founded in Lagos in 2011, Zaron Cosmetics creates makeup and skincare formulated specifically for African skin tones. The brand has expanded to 15 African countries and built a loyal following through inclusive shade range messaging and pan-African beauty campaigns. Also searched as Zaron.
Zeesea is a Chinese cosmetics brand selling makeup products such as eyeshadow palettes, mascaras, and lip products, often featuring museum and cultural-heritage-themed collaborations. It sells through e-commerce and beauty retail across Asia. The brand advertises on Meta targeting makeup shoppers.
Show the product on skin that matches the buyer. Swatches across a full shade range, application on deeper tones and honest lighting do more than any slogan. If the ad shows only one or two skin tones, the audience notices and moves on. Prove the performance problem is solved. Black Girl Sunscreen speaks to the frustration of a white cast, and a quick demonstration of the product blending in makes the point instantly. Mented Cosmetics and Zaron Cosmetics center shade range and formulas built for deeper skin. Epara Skincare and Ami Colé position around melanin-rich skin and clean, luxurious or modern approaches. Scotch Porter extends the idea to grooming for Black and Hispanic men. Let founders and makeup artists speak. Personal stories about the gap they saw in the market add credibility, and tutorials from artists like those in House of Tara's audience show real use. Local context matters too, since Nigerian and wider African markets have different retailers and language than the US. Make the next step simple with shade finders, sample sets or clear return policies.
Study how each brand talks about inclusion. The strongest ads treat it as product substance, not a slogan: a range developed for undertones, a formula tested on deeper skin, a texture suited to the hair type. Notice which brands name their audience directly and which let the creative carry it. Compare proof formats. Swatch grids, before and after application, founder explainers, creator tutorials and customer testimonials each fit a different stage of consideration. Watch which of these persist across time. Avoid tokenism in your own creative. Inclusion that appears only in a single campaign, or imagery that does not reflect the product's real range, can backfire. Be specific about who the product is for and why. Use AdLibrary to compare makeup, skincare, sunscreen and grooming ads side by side. You will see that the buying trigger differs: shade match for foundation, no cast for sunscreen, texture and beard care for grooming. Adapt the proof to your product and keep the message grounded in what the formula actually does.
Brands include Mented Cosmetics for inclusive shade ranges, Scotch Porter for men's grooming, Black Girl Sunscreen for no-white-cast sun care, House of Tara and Zaron Cosmetics for makeup in African markets, Epara Skincare for melanin-rich skin and Ami Colé for clean makeup.
They show products on deeper skin tones, demonstrate performance such as blending without a cast, and feature founders and artists who share the audience's experience. Shade finders and samples help buyers choose with confidence. Compare swatch, tutorial and founder-led creative in AdLibrary to see which proof each brand uses for its product type.
Avoid showing only a narrow range of skin tones, treating inclusion as a one-off campaign or making claims the formula cannot support. Be specific about who the product is for and show real use. Compare swatch, tutorial and founder-led creative in AdLibrary to see which proof each brand uses for its product type.
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