The MSR
Pigment Edit

No. 01

S'ABLE Labs

An esthetician's answer to the retinol she couldn't find.

Why it's on our radar

Sabrina Elba is a licensed esthetician, and she leads S'ABLE Labs as CEO. The brand she co-founded with Idris Elba grew from a frustration many melanin-rich clients will recognize: she has said she couldn't find a retinol that worked on her own hyperpigmentation, so she set out to make one. She credits her mother's Somali beauty traditions as an early influence on the brand's philosophy.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

S'ABLE Labs builds around Hyperprevent™, which the brand describes as a patented technology developed to act on melanin overproduction, alongside African-sourced ingredients including qasil, rooibos, and black seed. Hyperpigmentation sits at the center of the formulation rather than at the edges of it.

Products to know

• Okra Face SerumA retinoid serum with African resurrection plant, aimed at elasticity and barrier support
• Qasil Exfoliating MaskAn exfoliating mask with AHA/BHA and turmeric, built on the Somali cleansing leaf
• Black Seed Facial TonerA toner with ferulic acid and vitamins C and E

Visit S'ABLE Labs

No. 02

Skin by Brownlee & Co.

Thirty years an esthetician. Ten years building the line.

Why it's on our radar

Sylvia Brownlee has been an esthetician for about thirty years — Forbes put the figure at 29 in September 2024 — and she has spent roughly two decades of that in practice before launching her own line in 2015. Her own acne is what sent her to study skin science in the first place. The company focuses on the prevention and treatment of acne and hyperpigmentation, which on melanin-rich skin is really one problem with two halves: clear the breakout, then deal with the mark it leaves. She is self-funded, her products have reached Target shelves, and she has opened a storefront in Cincinnati.

She is also blunt about sun protection, telling Forbes that many Black women skip sunscreen because we “naturally have melanin in our skin” — and that it “doesn’t protect us against skin cancer.”

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

Skin of color sits at the center of the brand by design. Over decades in practice, Brownlee watched clients with deeper skin tones receive the least thoughtful care, and she built her line to change that.

Products to know

• Toned Brightening SerumA dark spot serum with kojic acid and niacinamide
• Vanishing Serum 5An exfoliating serum aimed at dark spots and breakouts

Visit Skin by Brownlee & Co.

No. 03

Aurganics

The gentle dark spot serum she couldn't find for her own skin.

Why it's on our radar

Sarah Houston started Aurganics in 2020, making all-natural bath and body products by hand in her kitchen — body scrubs, bath salts, lip scrubs — for friends and family while she was a student at Duke. The serum came later, and it came from her own skin. In her words on the brand's site: “Growing up as the ‘dark-skin girl,’ I never felt like skincare was for me. I struggled with dark spots, and most products were too irritating for my sensitive skin. I created AURGANICS as the gentle solution I desperately needed.” Today the brand makes plant-based dark spot care for sensitive, melanated skin, handcrafted in Durham.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

The brand builds specifically for sensitive, melanated skin, the combination where aggressive brightening can backfire. Its approach leans on gentler, well-known tone-evening ingredients in a fragrance-free base.

Products to know

• Alpha Glow SerumAn aloe-based, fragrance-free serum built on three actives the brand calls its Glowy Trinity: alpha arbutin to prevent new dark spots, kojic acid to fade existing ones, and licorice root to calm the skin while they work

Visit Aurganics

No. 04

epi.logic

A surgeon's precision, brought to the bathroom shelf.

Why it's on our radar

Dr. Chaneve Jeanniton launched epi.logic in 2019 because her patients kept asking for it. They wanted a simple daily routine that would hold their results between visits to her Brooklyn practice, Brooklyn Face & Eye. She answered with a tightly edited line of clinical actives, from retinol to vitamin C to growth factors, each paired with supporting ingredients meant to offset irritation. The brand also offers a concierge call with a professional for anyone unsure where to start.

She is a diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology who trained at SUNY Stony Brook, completed her residency at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s–Roosevelt, and holds two fellowships from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, where she still teaches residents. On the line itself she has been direct: “Skin of color is at the forefront of my formulation efforts.”

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

The brand describes its mission as safe, effective skincare for deeper skin tones, and says its products suit nearly all skin types including sensitive and post-treatment skin. Jeanniton names hyperpigmentation and dullness as what her patients most often come in with. Pairing strong actives with calming support speaks directly to the core tension in treating melanin-rich skin: getting the result without triggering new discoloration.

Products to know

• Clean Reveal Brightening Glycolic + PHA GelA brightening gel cleanser with glycolic acid and PHA
• Daily Dose Vitamin C + Multivitamin Defense SerumThe brand's rebuilt take on the vitamin C serum
• Double Feature Retinol + AHA Overnight FacialAn overnight treatment pairing retinol with AHA

Visit epi.logic

No. 05

EVE MILAN New York

An esthetician-built line that started in the treatment room, not the lab.

Why it's on our radar

EVE MILAN New York started with clients. Eden Gilliam spent more than a decade working hands-on with skin and kept seeing the same thing: people covering their concerns with makeup because they didn't know what their skin actually needed. She went on to study skin nutrition in London, then built a line around what the treatment room had taught her. Her Westchester spa is mobile: she and her team bring treatments to clients’ homes, and to hospitals, nursing homes and domestic violence shelters, so the line is being tested on real skin every week. Her father was her first investor when she was 19, and the brand name joins Eden's name with her daughter's.

"Wear make up because you want to, not because you have to"®

Eden Gilliam

What the brand is known for

The line is formulated without sulfates, parabens, phthalates, artificial colors, or fragrance. Products follow a numbered routine, from cleansers through toners, exfoliants, and serums and masks, with pre-built Simplicity Sets for anyone who wants the thinking done for them.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

EVE MILAN is a Black woman-owned brand, and its brightening products speak directly to hyperpigmentation, including the discoloration old breakouts leave behind. A signature ingredient is daisy extract, which the brand positions as an alternative to hydroquinone, paired with vitamin C and niacinamide.

Products to know

• Brightening Vitamin C + CoQ10 Sheet MaskWinner of Allure Best in Beauty 2021. A biocellulose sheet mask with daisy extract, vitamin C, niacinamide, and CoQ10
• The Lacial Masque, BrighteningA hydrogel masque with arbutin, Irish moss, licorice root, and chamomile
• Brightening Vitamin C Toner No. 215A toner with camu camu extract
• Brightening Vitamin C Pads No. 318Exfoliating pads for alternate nights, used with daily SPF

Visit EVE MILAN New York

No. 06

K+BROWN

K-beauty, finally made with melanin-rich skin in mind.

Why it's on our radar

K+BROWN began with a conversation between a mother and her daughter, a K-pop fan who felt the beauty world she loved had no place for her brown skin. Her mother decided to build one. With support from the Korean government, the team moved to Seoul to develop the brand inside the Korean beauty industry itself, and spent three years testing and refining formulas before launch.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

K+BROWN describes itself as the first K-beauty brand formulated specifically for melanin-rich skin, tested on phototypes III to VI. For anyone who has wondered whether a K-beauty product might lighten their skin or simply wasn't made for them, that's the question the brand was founded to answer.

Products to know

• Galskin Barrier SerumThe brand's barrier-focused serum and core product
• Galskin Barrier Floading MistThe newest launch: a portable toning mist for hydration on the go

Visit K+BROWN

No. 07

OROYO

From law to lasers, with melanin-rich skin at the center of both the studio and the shelf.

Why it's on our radar

Patricia O. left a career in law for beauty. She's now a licensed esthetician and laser hair removal professional who runs a studio in Little Elm, Texas, known for laser hair removal and corrective facials for melanin-rich skin. OROYO, her skincare line, carries that treatment-room focus into retail, and the brand also reaches customers in Nigeria.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

Laser work on deeper skin tones demands real caution and expertise, so a founder who does it daily brings rare perspective to product development. OROYO positions itself as precision skincare for melanin-rich skin.

Products to know

• Clear Pro PadsResurfacing and brightening pads, 50 count
• Even Bright SerumThe line's skin brightener
• Brilliance Serum20% L-ascorbic acid with vitamin E and ferulic acid
• Azelaic Soft CleanserA soothing creamy cleanser built around azelaic acid

Visit OROYO

No. 08

Brownkind

Two physicians, one idea: melanin-rich skin ages differently, so treat it differently.

Why it's on our radar

Brownkind was founded by a husband-and-wife team with decades of medical experience between them: Dr. Abhijit Desai, a dermatologist, and Dr. Gauri Desai, a pathologist. The brand was developed in India and brought to the United States, where the founders saw skincare for brown skin as especially underserved. The name carries two meanings: the skin they formulate for, and the kindness they believe it deserves.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

Brownkind's premise is one practitioners will recognize. In melanin-rich skin, aging often shows up first as uneven tone and dark spots, well before fine lines. Every product is built on the brand's Even Tone Defender blend of Indian gooseberry, rainbow algae, and cacao, designed to even tone without harsh lightening.

Products to know

• Sheer Facial Sunscreen SPF 40A broad-spectrum sunscreen the brand designed to wear without a white cast

Visit Brownkind

No. 09

UDODI Skincare

From the newsroom to the facial bar, built on a skin journey of her own.

Why it's on our radar

Before esthetics, OB Nwaogbe was a television producer and reporter in Washington, D.C. Her own experience with acne and hyperpigmentation pulled her toward skin, and she built a second career around it. She now has more than a decade as a licensed esthetician, teaches esthetics, and owns Oh Be You Facial Bar in Brooklyn, where UDODI Skincare grew out of her corrective work with clients. The brand also offers wholesale to professionals.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

UDODI is built around accessible, effective care, with particular attention to melanin-rich and sensitive skin. Its focus on breakouts and uneven tone reflects two concerns that so often travel together for deeper skin tones.

Products to know

• Reveal C SerumA vitamin C serum the brand positions for evening out the complexion
• Glycolic CleanserAn exfoliating cleanser with arbutin, tartaric and malic acids, which the brand positions for hyperpigmentation
• Breakout Control CleanserA niacinamide cleanser aimed at redness and blackheads

Visit UDODI Skincare

No. 10

Queendom Aesthetics

A kitchen-table soap experiment that became a New Orleans spa and a skincare line.

Why it's on our radar

Melissa Odum started making soap at her kitchen table because she and her children had eczema and nothing she'd tried had worked. Friends and family kept asking for more, so in 2015 she turned it into a business, then went to esthetics school and opened her first spa in 2017. Queendom Aesthetics now runs as a spa and skincare company in New Orleans, and its products ship internationally. Few founders on this list can say their line was tested on their own clients first and their own family before that.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

The brand's own focus is plant-based skincare for dark marks, acne, and hyperpigmentation, with corrective treatments it describes as safe for melanin-rich skin. Its products are formulated for multicultural skincare concerns, and dark marks and hyperpigmentation are the brand's signature category rather than a side note.

Products to know

• Turmeric Corrective Skin BarThe line's best-known handmade cleansing bar
• Green Tea Corrective Skin BarAn antioxidant-rich cleansing bar
• Original Corrective Skin BarA gentle everyday bar with shea butter, grapeseed, apricot, coconut, and tea tree oils

Visit Queendom Aesthetics

No. 11

House of Maryland

Luxury skincare built as a ritual, carrying a family name forward.

Why it's on our radar

House of Maryland describes itself as a Black-owned luxury skincare brand for melanin-rich skin, and its name is a family name its founders chose on purpose. The brand speaks often about love and legacy, and it treats skincare less as a list of products than as a practice you return to.

What the brand is known for

Its signature is the P.I.E. Ritual, a six-step system organized around three ideas: Protect, Infuse, Elevate. The line spans face and body, with a full body collection of cleanser, scrub, oil, and lotion.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

The brand is designed for melanin-rich skin from the start, and a structured ritual gives clients a consistent routine to follow, which is often where tone-focused results are actually won.

Products to know

• Balance Body LotionThe collection's body lotion
• Nurture Body OilA body oil from the ritual's nourishing step
• Purify Body CleanserThe body collection's cleanser

Visit House of Maryland

No. 12

Resilience Skin & Beauty

A retinol built by a dermatology PA who needed it herself.

Why it's on our radar

Omni McCluney works in dermatology as a physician assistant, and she built Resilience around a product she couldn't find. After a double-lung transplant in 2020, her skin became more sensitive, and she wanted a retinol made for melanin-rich skin that respected that sensitivity. The result is a focused, single-hero brand with clinical training behind it. She also offers free virtual skin analyses.

Why it matters for melanin-rich skin

Retinoids are among the most useful tools for tone and texture, and also among the easiest to overdo on deeper skin, where irritation can leave marks behind. A retinol formulated with sensitivity in mind addresses exactly that tradeoff.

Products to know

• Renew Retinol CreamThe brand's hero retinol, created for sensitive, melanin-rich skin

Visit Resilience Skin & Beauty