Melanin-rich skin care


A NECESSARY MISSION


Hampered by a lack of scientific study and data, melanin-rich skin care is only just emerging. But mission-led brands are striving for change


T


he data is clear — the world is browning, and there are more and more of us with melanin skin,” Unilever North America’s COO of Beauty and Personal Care, Esi Eggleston-Bracey says, noting that 40% of Americans today are people of colour, “but there isn’t market research or quality products to take care of our melanin-rich skin needs,” she adds. This is the reason that Eggleston-Bracey created Melé, a skin care line for melanin-rich skin in a collaboration with dermatologists of colour. But the line was created in 2020 not just to push product, but push for change in the skin care industry, says Eggleston-Bracey.


It is an example of the progress that is happening in this space, which is slow, but sure. As new brands move in, their mission is to make melanin- rich skin care more accessible, but also to start to overcome the decades-long disparity in skin care for diverse skin tones, in an industry where in the US, less than 3% of dermatologists are black. “Unfortunately, melanin-rich skin care has been affected by the same bias that has affected this demographic over the years,” says Kamara Hakeem-Oyawoye, Brand Manager at The Red


DERMATOLOGY & THE LACK OF DIVERSITY: IN FIGURES


3%


of dermatologists in the US are black*


4.5% of images in


medical textbooks show dark skin**


*Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. **Source: Representations of race and skin tone in medical textbook imagery, P. Louie, R.Wilkes, 2018


Dr Naana Boakye


‘‘ 12 cosmetics business March 2023


Tree. “There are still limitations around the lack of science focused on skin with melanin. This includes the use of outdated systems such as the Fitzpatrick Scale which do not fully consider the structure of these skin types and thus, their needs.”


Affordable and accessible


This brand was a necessary launch that will benefit the black and brown community


tremendously Dr Naana Boakye, dermatologist for Loved01


The most recent entry in the category is Loved01, a new brand founded by singer-songwriter and entrepreneur John Legend. Having been an early investor in Bevel, the grooming brand for black men, and founder of Humanlevel, an initiative to supporting BIPOC communities disproportionately impacted by institutionalised racism, Legend’s latest venture is designed to be effective yet affordably priced mass market skin care for melanin-rich skin. The products were formulated in partnership with Dr Naana Boakye, who tells Cosmetics Business: “As a dermatologist who caters to melanin-rich skin needs specifically, the creation of this brand was a necessary launch that will benefit the black and brown community tremendously. Although there have been skin care lines launching for melanin-rich skin needs, there aren’t nearly enough. If you think about the amount of choice consumers have in other categories, it is easy to see the gap. John wanted to make sure we created products that filled a gap in the industry, rather than just add to an oversaturated market.” Yet creating melanin-rich skin care is a particular challenge. Dr Anne Beal, founder of Absolute Joi, a line that addresses common issues for melanin-rich


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