The Beauty is in Knowing
Beauty Brands in South Africa You Should Know About
Words by Phethagatso Motumi
With our beauty routine filled with products shipped abroad, there are so many incredible local ones flying under the radar. From skin care to new products to get your face beat, creams that defy time and place to get the full body treatment, we explore the best homegrown beauty brands in South Africa.
Corium Skincare
“If God didn’t make it, you won’t find it in our jars”, and true to their word, Corium has made their skincare range all-natural. Giving an unrefined version of African Black Soap, Body Scrubs, Luxe Pure Oils, Cleansing Bars and more - all their recipes have been inspired by traditional African, Himalayan and Ayurvedic practices. Being socially responsible as well, they are supporting emerging farmers around Southern Africa through educational assistance, working at every point to give you your true skin.
Lulu & Marula
With the mindset to create skincare that works with your skin and not against it, Lulu & Marula pride themselves on being ethically produced and 100% natural. Against animal testing, perfumes and preservatives - they are responsible for a number of fresh faces around the country, offering a range of products from Mask & Polishes, Facial Kits, Bath Oils and more. Letting you choose products based on skin type, they use botanical and plant-derived ingredients to give a sensory experience, they hope will become part of your ritual.
Esse Skincare
Certified organic since 2005, this award-winning vegan range makes use of probiotics to shift all the ecology on your skin. In laymen’s terms, they create an environment on the skin to keep the glow up going forever. Treating you like an ecosystem, they take care to understand the long-term consequence of each ingredient that makes up their skincare range. They use no synthetic chemicals, pesticides or genetic modifications, developing a range of skincare that includes deep moisturizers, exfoliators and anti-ageing products. Esse manages to shift the standard of beauty products while making sustainable goods, what’s not to love?
Sorbet
Solidifying itself as a beauty therapy hub, Sorbet has become the go-to place - not only for mani-pedis but also for their range of treatments and products. Enticing you with an offer of facials, massages, eyebrow shaping, waxes, skin care therapies and more; they even opened up Sorbet Man for his and her self-care at the same time. Now you can indulge at home too with an array of nail polishes, foundations, bath products, creams and more. At Sorbet, you will definitely leave feeling taken care of.
Africology
Committed to blending pure and natural ingredients that embrace the essence of the continent, Africology is an easy choice. Elevating your experience, each product is enhanced with scented extracts from distilled oils to pure plants. Take everything in, from an aromatherapy range, fragrances and foot scrubs, charcoal soaps, skin conditioning and shower gels, to a skincare that includes serums, exfoliators and more in their all-natural collection. You can trust that you will finish using their products with all their divine intention poring through your veins.
Swiitch Beauty
Embracing lazy girl make-up since 2015, Swiitch Beauty was created because of the gap in South African beauty products, way back when. Giving a high quality, cruelty free range that is also easy on your bank balance, get ready to slay with products like warm toned eye palettes, cream pigments for the face, stencil kits for your brows, primers and powders for the face and bold matte lip crayons for your lips. They are also great at skincare and make-up brushes. With something for everyone, be sure to turn heads.
Afro Botanics
With a hair care journey that ended in too much frustration, Afro Botanics began as a solution to treating hair in the most natural way possible. Honoring the earth and every individual, the brand has a range of products to treat, wash and condition different hair types. With natural, botanic inputs sourced from women in rural areas - the aim is to empower communities while creating a service for you and your scalp. From the Black Pearl collection, to ones for relaxed and natural hair; what may have began as hair products, has moved onto skincare and a collection for babies as well.
Bonnie x Yardley
For the first time ever in the history of the brand, Yardley has collaborated with SA Actress, Presenter and TV Personality Bonnie Mbuli to create a beauty range that is positioned to “express your uniqueness”. On her new entrepreneurial journey, Mbuli tells Cape Talk presenter Kieno Kammies that on the business side of things, she had to wait for the right time for her ideas to align with her passion. “I have been sitting on a couple of ideas; some that I have tried and some that have failed”, she exclaims. “This has always been my mission; to get to a place where I own the stuff that I create - and also where I can create avenues for other people to grow and to create jobs”. In sharing the news about this new partnership, it was revealed that the range would include seventeen color cosmetic products that reflect the star’s personality and poise simultaneously. “When Yardley approached me, I thought ‘this is perfect!’ Our values aligned so much. It is such a classic and credible brand”. The #BonnieXYardley bespoke makeup range is now available for retail in selected stores including: Clicks, Dischem Pharmacies, Edgars Beauty, Foschini and Takealot Online Shopping.