MARKETPLACE SETS OUT TO BE GOLD STANDARD FOR INCLUSIVE BEAUTY


 Marketplace sets out to be gold standard for inclusive beauty

BY TIA CAROL JONES

     Bridget Harris, Nathalie Day and Camille Walker are co-founders of Aurum79Beauty, a marketplace for beauty and wellness products owned by men and women of color.
     Harris said all the founders have a marketing background, started in the agency world and worked at the same agency. When Harris had the idea for Aurum79, she wanted Day to come with her. Day recommended Walker, who had transitioned from agency life to the beauty industry.
     Harris described Aurum79 Beauty as a curated selection of Black and Brown owned brands in haircare, skincare, nails
and wellness and self-care. The name Aurum, is Latin for gold, and 79 is the atomic number for gold on the chemical elements chart. Harris said on the one hand, “it represents the golden hues in Black and Brown skin, all melanin rich people. On the other hand, what we’re trying to do is become the gold standard when it comes to inclusive beauty and looking at it in a different way,” she said.
     The marketplace was created out of necessity, Harris said, and added that she was going on a trip and looking for sunscreen, without the white film. She found it online but couldn’t find it in stores. “I started looking more into other products that were made by people of color. And not all of them for people of color, but by people of color,” she said. “And, the fact that a brown person made this and I couldn’t get my brown hands on it and it was made for my brown skin, that’s a problem.”
     Harris said she and her co-founders started making a list of skincare, haircare and cosmetic products made by Black and Brown people. They did a survey of 100 Black and Brown women from cities like Miami, Los Angeles, New Orleans,
and the majority of the women had not heard of the products on the list.
     “It’s really about, there are so many amazing Black and Brown creators of these products, and they don’t have the
access to traditional retail space. We really want to create that space because they have dope products and they need
to make money, too,” Harris said, adding that it is really about bringing back money to Black and Brown people, especially when they make products that will benefit those communities.
     Harris said there is also a desire to create generational wealth for Black and Brown people. She added, the beauty
industry is a necessary evil.
   “We all want to feel beautiful, look beautiful. We need skincare stuff. Black don’t crack, but there is some maintenance that needs to be done with that. Our hair texture is different, so that was maybe the first category of products
made specifically for Black and Brown people,” she said. “We have been a second thought in the beauty industry for a very long time,” Harris continued, adding that it’s important to bring in Black and Brown people who see other Black and Brown people as a “first thought” when it comes to the creation
of these products.
    Harris said it is important to have a space where Black and Brown people are a primary thought, even down to the nail polish, which comes from a company called, People of Color. One of its main things is the skintones of Black and Brown people.
     Harris said they Instagram stalk products. They also have a form for brand owners to submit their brands. She said the primary products are skincare, then haircare and wellness, then cosmetics.
    “It’s really about finding those products that have natural, organic ingredients that are not found in traditional retailers,” she said, adding that none of the products in their inventory are
found in traditional retailer spaces.
     Harris said Fenty Beauty opened up the conversation for cosmetics around what inclusivity meant. She said a lot of
the skincare products Aurum79 Beauty carries are for women in the 35+ crowd.
     Harris said her favorite products right now are an eye brightening cream from InHarmony and a serum by Natural Mixologist, that has rosehip oil and papaya oil. She said the serum has been keeping her skin really supple.
     Because Aurum79 Beauty launched in November 2020, it was more the vendor partners who were affected by COVID-19. Harris said it slowed them down but not in a major way. She said what COVID-19 did do was to motivate people to start a business.
     “We’re in good company now, and everybody is kind of holding hands and saying enough. We spend so much money
in beauty, Black women in particular, billions of dollars. And [the] majority of that doesn’t go to Black and Brown owners, founders. So, it was a mental adjustment of realizing it wasn’t that we were getting spaced out, the space was opening up and there’s room for everybody.  It was an exercise,” she said. Harris said that she has learned the beauty industry is fickle and dynamic. There is always a new hot thing or new hot term, but there are challenges and opportunities that come along with that, she said.
    “It gives us an opportunity to always stay fresh, always be able to look for products and resources that are in the
current conversation, but also keep the foundational stuff, as well. She described it as a very smoke and mirrors type
of industry and made note of celebrity- backed products geared toward Black people. “People just need to do their research,
research needs to be done. Ingredients wise, as well, just be very careful and knowledgeable about what your face
and skin and hair are consuming.”
     Harris said overall, it’s exciting to be a part of the beauty industry. She said it is starting to cater more to Black and
Brown women. “It’s been a beautiful journey seeing all of these different products that really didn’t exist two years ago, and now they’re there and they’re there for us. I’m excited to see how it continues to develop in that spirit of people and brands that are putting us first,” she said.
    For more information about Aurum79 Beauty, visit aurum79beauty.com.

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