South African Founded Beauty Brands

Independent beauty brands have re-imagined the beauty industry with the introduction of vibrant, innovative and inclusive beauty ranges that resonate with a new generation of make-up lovers and beauty devotees in a way that traditional, mainstream brands have failed to do. The international beauty community has witnessed the exponential rise of these brands, with the likes of Fenty Beauty, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Pat McGrath Labs, Glossier, etc. receiving valuations ranging up to $1 billion. Locally, we’re currently witnessing the rise of millennial geared, digitally savvy, independent beauty brands likely to experience the same trajectory to multi-million. Check out a few of our favourite independent South African beauty brands:

Chick Cosmetics

Chick Cosmetics is designed, curated and assembled in Johannesburg, South Africa. Chick Cosmetics was created in 2017, the inspiration and vision of its founder, Nomfundo Njibe. Described as one of the most innovative and fastest growing beauty brands locally, the brand’s extensive range aims to ‘change the world with products that break the traditional beauty rules’. “We create safe effective beauty products using cruelty-free ingredients, ethical marketing and sustainable practices mainly targeted to millennials and younger people. We’re known for our colourful schemes and innovations that have been used by industry favourites and well-known beauty influencers.”

Facebook, twitter, TikTok and Spotify: @chickcosmetics

Instagram: @chick.cosmetics_

Website: www.chickcosmetics.com

SwiitchBeauty:

SwiitchBeauty is a South African beauty brand founded by Rabia Ghoor. Inspired by international make-up YouTube channels at the tender age of 14, Rabia was moved to launch SwiitchBeauty after realizing that bigger international brands that were unavailable locally were constantly launching on-trend innovations in the beauty industry, while South Africa lagged behind.

In Rabia’s own words “I began researching, day in and day out - formulation, e-commerce, packaging, manufacturing, design, and everything else to do with this industry. The end goal in mind was to introduce a brand that spoke to girls, not at girls. I wanted to create an affordable product the South African girl / boy felt proud to purchase and use.

I ran the company whilst attending high school full time. It got to a point where I would be packing orders until 3AM, and waking up for school the next morning at 6AM. I was handling product research and development, marketing, imports, financials, as well as order fulfillment all while juggling exams, assignments and extra murals for schools. I dropped out of grade 10 in May of 2016 to run SwiitchBeauty full time, and I cannot say I have ever made a better decision. The SwiitchBeauty team has since grown to a solid 6 people, and working alongside them is everything I could've imagined and more.”

SwiitchBeauty has recently stood in solidarity of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and has offered a R50 000 cash grant to black-owned South African businesses, as well as R100 000 in the form of product to black, freelance up-and-coming make-up artists to build their make-up kits.

Instagram: @SwiitchBeauty

Twitter: @shopswiitch

Website: www.swiitchbeauty.com

Lash Me Baby:

Lash Me Baby is an originally African lash brand founded by South African beauty personality, content creator, self-taught makeup artist and entrepreneur, Thandi Gama. Thandi Gama has worked tirelessly to build her personal brand, which has attracted many international and local brands, and a loyal audience that rallies behind it.

With a highly engaged audience and a well-thought out market and brand positioning strategy, Thandi Gama has embarked on a journey of fusing her passion and entrepreneurial spirit to launch a premium lash product fit for women like her who are go-getters and are comfortable in their own skin.

Lash Me Baby has four products in its range, namely Tease Me, Dream, Fantasy and OMG.

Instagram : @lashmebaby_TG

Twitter: @lashmebay_TG

www.lashmebaby.thandigama.com

HEBE Beauty:

HEBE Beauty is a luxury brand born out of fascination with beauty and a passion for entrepreneurship. The founder of HEBE Beauty, Chané Fortuin, is fanatical about encouraging women to feel confident with their real beauty. For this reason, their intent is not to change much of who you already are, but simply enhance and accentuate the beauty you already have.

They debuted with their first product in September 2019 - a collection of cruelty free mink lashes. The superior quality of the lashes makes them durable and reusable up to 20 wears with the right care. The lashes are hypoallergenic, completely handmade and has no added chemicals or dyes.

HEBE Beauty currently boasts 9 different lash styles - ranging from natural length, natural and bold, wispy, as well as long 5D lashes.

Instagram: @hebebeautyofficial

Website: www.hebe.co.za

Hermosa Flor:

Founded by Mbali Sebapu, Hermosa Flor Cosmetics is described as an African brand for women and members of the LGBT community. Its purpose is to ‘accentuate the original beauty which already lives within’. The brand’s name is derived from the Spanish meaning of beautiful flower, the brand aims to ‘empower and radiate the strength that exists in consumer’s core existence one glowing beat at a time.’ Hermosa Flor recently released their Lily White collection, which achieved an impressive R 100 000 in sales within the first hour of launch.

Instagram: @hermosa_flor_cosmetics

Twitter: @_Hermosaflor

Website: www.hermosaflor.africa

Corium Skincare:

Founded byVuyi Zondi, Corium Naturals is a South African natural skincare range. Corium (pronounced Ko-Ree-Yum) is the Latin word for 'dermis' - the deepest layer of the skin. In its most raw meaning, Corium can also be translated to mean 'the truest skin'.

The natural skincare solutions that they provide are botanical. All the ingredients in their products are derived from nature, and as far as possible, in their most unrefined and natural state. Their recipes are inspired by traditional African, Himalayan and Ayurvedic beauty practices.

Their mission is to deliver natural skincare solutions which add value to their clients, and are competitively priced. They also undertake to make use of the purest ingredients in their product offerings, and to retail completely natural beauty products of the highest possible quality.

Instagram & Twitter: @CoriumSkincare

Website: coriumskincare.co.za