Every year we spotlight new women of color-founded beauty brands (make sure to check out 2024 and 2025) and this year we have an exciting lineup of makeup, skincare, and body care companies you’ll definitely want to try. Chandra Beauti, Kenatae, and Lètap Beauty are three innovative brands that let their heritage inspire their products, using peptides, botanicals, and antioxidant blends to help skin look its best. More than just a collection of products, each brand is thoughtful, carefully crafted, and rooted in culture and community.

Get to know these three captivating brands below.

Chandra Beauti

Founded by model Kelly Gale, Chandra Beauti harnesses botanicals to firm and hydrate skin  with a particular focus on tightening to reduce the appearance of cellulite.

Why did you decide to create Chandra Beauti? 

Kelly Gale: I launched in May last year, building on recipes I’ve been making since I was 14 which I learned from my mom. She taught us to cook all our meals from scratch and make our own skincare products at home. We also lived in Ghana from when I was three to six, where she picked up traditions like using shea butter.

I started modeling at 12, and at 13 my agency told me I had cellulite and wouldn’t get booked unless I got rid of it. I tried every product on the market with little success. My mom was frustrated I was using chemical products, so together we researched plants and herbs that support lymphatic drainage and skin health. The first scrub we made gave instant results, far better than anything I had bought. My cellulite significantly diminished, and I used it throughout my career before shoots and Victoria’s Secret castings.

Other models started noticing. They’d see me applying the scrub and wrapping my legs, ask what I was doing, and want to try it. Eventually I was making the scrub and serum for many of the girls on the show.

The turning point came when my husband found me sitting in an empty bathtub covered in the black scrub. After I explained everything, including that other Victoria’s Secret models were calling me to get it, he pushed me to sell it. His logic was simple: if you have a product you’ve used your whole life that works better than anything else on the market, you need to sell it. That’s how it started.

What does the name Chandra Beauty symbolize? 

I’ve always felt a strong connection to India, even though I’m half Australian, born in Sweden, with a mom who was adopted there from India at age five. Whenever I visit, it feels like home. My mom doesn’t know her biological parents but we both share this pull toward India. We’ve been researching her biological family over the past five years and discovered that her biological father was a doctor and her biological mother was a nurse, which feels meaningful given that my mom became a doctor and cancer researcher herself.

I have the same intuitive sense in the kitchen and with the things I make. There’s an instinctive knowing with plants and herbs, how to use them to take care of myself. When I’ve had gut issues, I’ve naturally reached for celery juice or peppermint. I’m not sure where it comes from, but I connect it to that Indian heritage.

That’s why giving the brand an Indian name mattered to me. Chandra means glittering or shining, depending on whether you’re looking at Hindi or Sanskrit. The moon is feminine, and glittering moon just felt right, and it felt like mine.

What are your hero products and what do they do? 

There are two products: the Super Scrub and the Super Serum, both based on the recipes I developed at 14. They’re designed to work together.

For targeted concerns like ingrown hairs or acne, the scrub alone works well. For hydration and firmer skin, the serum on its own is enough. However, for stubborn issues like cellulite and stretch marks, you want both. The botanical extracts in the serum are also in the scrub, so together they create a complete ritual: the scrub two times a week, and the serum as daily maintenance.

How does your background and being a woman of color founder influence your work, if at all? 

Growing up in a wealthy, almost entirely white part of Sweden, I was the only non-blonde, non-blue-eyed kid in my school from age five to thirteen. I was bullied for my skin color, and reflecting on it now, that kind of language from young kids usually comes from their parents. There was a lot of racism in that area.

I think it sparked a drive in me to prove myself and prove I belonged. That’s actually why I got into modeling. I was always told that I was ugly so I thought if I could model, maybe people would think I was pretty, and maybe then they’d want to be my friend. The whole time I was searching for some sign that I was enough. That experience taught me to believe in myself, because often no one else did, and to work hard for everything I wanted.

I also grew up without role models who looked like me. When I started modeling around 2009, you might see one dark-skin model on a runway. That was it.

Being mixed has meant never fully belonging anywhere. In Sweden I wasn’t Swedish enough, in Australia not Australian enough, and even in India I’m seen as not quite Indian. So now what drives me is the hope of being an inspiration for other mixed girls and young women who feel the same way, to show them there is a place for us.

What’s next for Chandra Beauti?

So far it’s been just me and one other person handling operations. What I’m most proud of is staying true to my values throughout.

The core principle has been creating products that are genuinely good for women, not just effective on the surface. We live in a world saturated with options like Botox, fillers, and various treatments that may deliver visible results but don’t necessarily support your overall health. I wanted to find a different path: one where the visible results come from actually taking care of yourself, not at the expense of your health.

That carries through to everything in the pipeline. But beyond the products, I want Chandra to be a community where women feel inspired to slow down, connect with their intuition, and understand that body care is a full lifestyle. It’s how you breathe, what you eat, how you sleep. The products are part of that, but they’re not the whole picture. That’s the brand I’m trying to build.

Kenatae

Inspired by Ethiopian beauty rituals and ingredients, Kenatae reimagines ancient traditions for today’s consumer.

Why did you decide to create Kenatae? 

Yemi Yilma: Honestly, it started with my everyday life. I was born and raised in Ethiopia, surrounded by natural beauty and wellness rituals that were simple, intentional, and incredibly effective. Our mothers looked to nature to nourish and renew their skin. Coffee, honey, flaxseed, fenugreek, butter — staples that cared for both body and skin. Not because it was trendy but because it worked.

As I fell in love with skincare and began understanding ingredients more deeply, I realized that much of what we call innovation is really timeless wisdom rediscovered. Kenatae is a return to what truly works; honoring those practices and elevating them with modern science to create natural skincare that delivers visible results.

What does the name Kenatae symbolize? 

Kenatae is very personal to me. The name comes from the Amharic phrase “ke ena te,” which means “from my mother.” And that’s exactly what it represents — beauty and knowledge passed down from one generation of women to the next. It speaks to rituals, wisdom, and care carried through time. Long before anything came in a bottle, our mothers understood the power of natural ingredients and how to nourish the skin. Kenatae is my way of honoring that lineage and carrying it forward.

What are your hero products and what do they do? 

Our products are inspired by Ethiopian beauty rituals and time-honored ingredients, elevated through modern formulation.

Our flagship is Radiant Shield™ Green Coffee Antioxidant Complex, a lightweight oil-serum that transforms green coffee’s supercharged antioxidant power into something silky, fast-absorbing, and incredibly effective. It’s built around our signature antioxidant blend — green coffee, caffeine, manuka honey, ferulic acid, and vitamin E — to help defend against daily stress, support firmness, and restore natural radiance. It’s really that one simple step that nourishes, protects, and gives your skin that lit-from-within healthy glow.

We’re also launching two masks that build on the same philosophy. One focuses on deep hydration blending in flaxseed hydro-jelly, ceramides, and barrier-supporting botanicals. The other focuses on brightening and clarity, blending Ethiopian favorites like fenugreek and teff peptides, rich in amino acids, with modern botanicals like Kakadu plum and licorice.  

Everything is designed as part of a ritual, not just a routine; nourishment first, allowing the skin to renew itself naturally and deliver visible results over time, without ever shocking the skin.

How does your background and being a woman of color founder influence your work, if at all? 

It influences everything but in a very quiet, grounded way. I didn’t set out to create an “ethnic” beauty brand. I set out to create products rooted in natural ingredients and rituals that have always worked, thoughtfully refined for today. My upbringing completely shaped how I see beauty and wellness.

For us, beauty was always about care, nourishment, and ritual, something passed from mother to daughter and woven into everyday life. Coffee ceremonies. Honey. Butter. Natural botanicals. Community. That mindset is deeply cultural for me. So being a woman of color founder isn’t just representation, it’s perspective. It’s the lens through which I build everything.

Kenatae carries that heritage forward in a way that feels universal and welcoming to everyone.

Lètap Beauty

Founders and friends Chilka Patel, Rinku Patel, Dhara Patel, and Rema Patel share the same last name and vision for beauty — fast, intuitive, skin-first products without overthinking the process.

Why did you decide to create Lètap Beauty?
Rema Patel: Lètap Beauty was born from a shared passion for makeup and a desire to create products that felt both high-performing and deeply personal. Each of us came from different professional backgrounds — from biology and healthcare to finance and artistry, but we were united by the same vision: to build something of our own that reflected our standards, our creativity, and our lived experiences. What started as a dream during the stillness of 2020 quickly turned into years of hands-on development, testing, and persistence. Lètap is the result of that journey, built intentionally, from the ground up, with purpose behind every decision.

What does the name Lètap Beauty symbolize?
All: The name “Lètap” is “Patel” spelled backwards, a personal nod to our heritage and family roots. It represents the duality of honoring where we come from while building something forward-thinking and modern.

What are your hero products and what do they do?
Chilka Patel: The Set The Vibe Finishing Duo is a 2-in-1 balm foundation and setting powder that creates a seamless, skin-like finish while offering buildable coverage and long-lasting wear. It’s designed for ease, making it perfect for on-the-go application.

The Correct Me Please Color Corrector is a standout innovation, offering an inclusive shade range that exceeds industry standards. Its creamy, full-coverage formula works to neutralize discoloration, brighten under-eyes, and create a smooth, even complexion. Together, these products reflect our commitment to inclusivity, functionality, and effortless beauty.

How does your background and being a woman of color founder influence your work, if at all?
Rinku Patel: Our backgrounds shape everything we do. As women of color, we understand the importance of representation, inclusivity, and creating space for diverse voices. Beauty, for us, has always been more than surface-level — it’s tied to identity, culture, and self-expression.

What’s next for Lètap Beauty?
Dhara Patel: This is just the beginning. As we continue to grow, our focus is on expanding our product offerings while staying true to our core values of quality, and intention. We’re excited to deepen our connection with our community, introduce new innovations, and create experiences that bring the brand to life in meaningful ways.