South Africa may have a high youth unemployment rate, but there are still those who try to bridge the gap by creating beauty brands.
The beauty industry is increasingly becoming diverse.
After years of being ignored by mainstream beauty and skincare brands, black women have decided to take things into their own hands.
Over the past few years, there has been a rise in beauty brands in South Africa, where we have seen an increasing number of South Africa’s young beauty entrepreneurs coining it.
So, to close off youth month, we celebrate the young change makers within the beauty industry.
Mbali Sebapu
Sebapu, from Soshanguve, worked at the South African National Defence Force before starting her cosmetic brand, Hermosa Flor.
The brand name means beautiful flower in Spanish was inspired by her name, Mbalenhle.
Sebapu, who has always loved make-up, said her beauty journey started when she was still in primary school, where she would enter beauty competitions.
“I loved getting dolled up for those competitions. Although that’s where the love for beauty started, I started fully embracing it in high school,” she told lifestyle digimag, The Throne.
Since the brand’s inception in 2019, Sebapu has launched a wide range of products, including lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes, make-up brushes, face washes, serums and most recently, eyelashes.
Boity Thulo
Boity Thulo went from being a TV presenter and rapper to being a budding beauty mogul.
In 2020 she partnered with Halo Heritage, a company that makes natural hair and fragrance products, to launch a haircare range and a fragrance.
Thulo first launched Boity Pink Sapphire Eau de Parfum, which was then followed by eight hair products under her label.
Speaking of her products, she said that she has always dreamed of having her fragrance line. “It has always been a lifelong dream to create a range of fragrance and haircare products that truly represent African women.
Now, more than ever, black African women are creating a unique identity and playing increasingly important roles in almost every aspect of life in Africa-from government to business and more.
Creating a brand that is specifically designed for powerful modern African women made this collaboration with Halo Heritage a natural fit,” she said.
Masego Kunupi
Kunupi, one of the pioneering women in the beauty industry, has franchised her cosmetics brand, Chique Beauty, across South African provinces.
To celebrate 10-years in the beauty business, Kunupi recently launched 12 Chique Beauty franchises.
Her decision to expand her brand was inspired by the gap she saw within the beauty industry.
As such, she then created job opportunities for the youth of South Africa. "I have already built an established brand.
So I thought, why not empower these young women that want to start something of their own,” said Kunupi.
Nomfundo Njibe
Founder of Chick Cosmetics, Njibe, has always loved beauty from a young age. In her childhood, she enjoyed playing with her mother’s make-up and playing dress-up with her peers.
She launched her brand in 2018 after having lost her make-up brand during a short visit to London.
"I had to shop for new beauty essentials. Coming from South Africa, I had never seen so many beauty retailers selling all the affordable products from indie brands I knew from the internet and magazines.
“Being a curious cat at heart, I started researching and learning more about this independent beauty industry I wanted to be a part of.
“The rise of brands on Instagram fuelled my passion to start Chick Cosmetics,” she said in an interview with Digital Beauty.
Amanda du-Pont
“Skeem Saam” actress Amanda du Pont has also entered the beauty industry by launching a vegan skincare range, Lelive.
Pronounced leh-lee-veh, the vegan skincare range that is made up of 95% natural ingredients was launched in April this year.
The name was inspired by the model’s unofficial Swati name meaning “of the nation or world”.
Du Pont added that what makes her products unique is that they are unisex. “We thought it was important for us to create a skincare range that wasn’t specifically marketed to any gender but rather focused on targeting how your skin feels and what it needs the most,” she said.
Amanda Manku
Actress and sports presenter Manku also launched a fragrance line. Manku, who portrays the character of Lizzy Thobagkale on Skeem Saam launched Amascent Fragrances in May when she was grieving the passing of her grandmother.
Taking to Instagram, she said: “I'm so excited to finally take this step in growing my baby. @amascent is a concept that came about in 2017 after I had my bundle of joy with the aim of assisting those who wanted to have an extra income and of course those who love to smell good. @amascent we have a variety of fragrances for men and women inspired by some of your popular scents.”
Vuyi Zondi
Zondi, a Management Consultant by profession, started her natural skincare brand Corium Naturals by creating skincare elixirs for herself and close friends. After receiving good feedback, she then started researching natural skincare and traditional skincare practices of African and Indian people.
To create her unique products, Zondi sources raw materials from Africa. For example, her African Black Soaps are imported from Ghana and carry approvals from the Ghanaian Standards Board.
About her brand, she said: “Our brand is built on the hallmarks of simplicity, purity and credibility.
“The natural skincare solutions that we provide are natural and botanical. In other words, every ingredient in our products is derived from nature, and as far as possible, in its most unrefined and natural state.
“Our recipes are inspired by traditional African, Himalayan and Ayurvedic beauty practices.”
Lea Botha
Botha, the owner of Le Naturel, was inspired by South Africa’s indigenous medicinal plants to create her range of luxury, natural products with these unique indigenous oils.
Handcrafted in Franschhoek, Western Cape, Le Naturel products are rich blends of advanced natural skincare with organic and herbaceous ingredients used to craft everything from bath oil to shampoo.
“I’ve been an entrepreneur at heart. I love empowering people, learning new skills and growing the community around me and sharing good vibes,’ said Botha.
