Glossier, the beauty upstart, has always presented a diverse array of people—on both social media and in major marketing campaigns—using its products to convey an accessible image. In the wake of the 2020 racial reckoning, Glossier started to do more than just present an inclusive image by creating its Grant Program for Black-Owned Beauty Businesses to solve a deep problem within the industry: While Black beauty consumers spend $6.6 billion annually on beauty products (11% of the U.S. beauty market), Black-owned brands only receive 2.4% of that revenue.
While many companies’ similar initiatives saw budget cuts or were sunset entirely in 2023, Glossier expanded, bringing the grant program to the U.K., while continuing to fund it in the U.S., bringing the total it’s donated to $1.4 million.
Grantees include such companies as Soss, which makes products for Black men, and Flora & Noor, which offers halal cosmetics. These grantees and others have seen increased investment, won Allure’s Best of Beauty recognition, and scored distribution in Walmart, Target, and Ulta stores.
—Additional reporting by Ben Schiller
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