Meet the 2021 Glossier Grantees

In May, we announced the renewal of our Grant Program for Black-Owned Beauty Businesses as part of a $10M, five-year commitment to driving equity and inclusion in the beauty ecosystem, and opened the call for applications. Today, we’re thrilled to introduce the ten 2021 Glossier Grantees. These visionary founders are leading their businesses with intention and innovating with ingenious products spanning afterbirth care boxes for the fourth trimester, to the first U.S.-made, plant-based braiding hair, to ‘skinimalist’ body care products, to a skincare-makeup hybrid with botanicals that treat acne and eczema. 

Glossier’s rally cry has always been to democratize beauty—who can participate in it, what defines expertise, how industry power is structured; supporting the next generation of beauty startups and entrepreneurs is essential to realizing that vision and why we were inspired to create the Grant Program last year, which provides $500K in funding and six months of internal and external advisory support, among other elements. In 2020 we saw firsthand the meaningful impact that access to mentorship and expertise can have on a growing business and are passionate about sharing our knowledge gleaned from building Glossier. 

We’re excited to double down on these efforts in 2021 and expand on programming from 2020 with $50K in funding each ($500K total), dedicated Glossier advisors from our senior leadership team for 1:1 mentorship, monthly community-building calls with fellow grantees, and expanded business programming and Office Hours with functional experts across our team, including our Founder and CEO, Emily Weiss, and CFO, Vanessa Wittman. We’re also introducing Fireside Chats with industry leaders like Sharon Chuter and Tristan Walker, mentorship opportunities with members of our Board of Directors, and an alumni network for Grantees past and present to stay connected.  

A final note to all of the businesses that applied for this year's Grant Program: thank you for sharing your visions with us. Our panel—consisting of team members across Creative, Brand, Finance, and Into The Gloss—was blown away by the caliber of submissions we received. To our 2021 Grantees: we can’t wait to get to know you more and are honored to play a small role in your journeys. Congratulations!

Meet the 2021 Glossier Grantees: 

SKINCARE

Ceylon (@ceylonskincare) offers simple, effective, science-backed skincare to help men with pigmented skin achieve their best possible skin. Founder and CEO Patrick Boateng II was inspired to create his line of products after struggling with daily breakouts and finding nothing that specifically catered to men from different ethnic backgrounds with melanin in their skin.

Nuekie (@nuekie) is an innovative health and beauty company founded by Eunice Cofie-Obeng that combines traditional African medicine and modern science to develop products to meet the needs of those with skin of color. Formulated with a dedicated scientific approach, Nuekie’s products cater to people of color to help solve their distinct skin-related problems. 

MAKEUP

Range Beauty (@range_beauty) is a makeup brand that uses clean ingredients (like botanicals) created by Alicia Scott, who began her career in the fashion industry. After working at runway shows and noticing the lack of makeup available for Black models, Scott was inspired to create her own line of cosmetics for the “forgotten shades” and specifically formulated for eczema and acne-prone skin. 

HAIR

RadSwan (@radswan) is a line of premium synthetic lace wigs designed by black women, for black women. Founded by Freddie Harrel in 2019, RadSwan provides an overdue upgrade for the Black hair experience, with a socially conscious aim: they use 0% human hair, which can be an unregulated and ethically exploitative market.

Rebundle (@rebundle.co) is a plant-based hair extensions company with an emphasis on comfort and less waste. Founder Ciara Imani May’s passion for sustainability and experience as a Black woman wearing braids led her to create a non-toxic, biodegradable hair extension alternative that’s good  for scalps and the environment. 

SKIMDO (@skimdo) is a minimal haircare brand for textured hair types with a single hero product: Original Cream, a thick, nourishing, non-toxic styling gel-cream that holds curls for up to a week without washing. Founded by Kimberley Cowans, SKIMDO’s mission is to reprepresent curly hair as effortless, luxurious, and polished. 

Young King Hair Care (@youngkinghaircare) is a multicultural beauty brand for young men founded by Cora and Stefan Miller in 2019. The pair were inspired by their son Kade to create plant-based products (like their bestselling Kids Leave-In Conditioner and Curling Cream) that promote textured hair health and growth, all with the goal of redefining male grooming by encouraging young men of color to take pride in their self-care. 

BODY

The Established (@theestablished) is a line of plant-powered, multifunctional body care products for the minimalist beauty enthusiast. After struggling to find relief from a long-standing battle with keratosis pilaris, founder Essence Iman launched her product line (including hero product Elixa, a luxurious body oil serum) centered around simple, yet efficacious formulas that help solve some of the most nagging skincare issues. 

Fourth Phase (@fourthphasebox) is a social impact maternal wellness brand that creates luxury afterbirth care gift boxes to help mothers during their Fourth Trimester. Founded by two friends, Marcia A. Cole and Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo, to address the lack of postnatal attention paid to new mothers across the world, the brand currently offers two boxes (a Vaginal Birth Box and a Belly Birth Box) that cater to delivery method. Both are filled with products a new mother needs, from perineal and lactation support to mental wellness and body care essentials.

SKNMUSE (@sknmuse), founded by Ezinne Iroanya-Adeoye, is a luxury beauty brand with a mission to elevate the beauty experience for the modern black woman. She was inspired by the clean beauty practices of West-African women to create body creams and oils packed with nutrients that protect, heal and maintain the skin to give everyone (especially Black women) their highest form of self care.