There is still so much to learn when it comes to the BIPOC experience with beauty. Buying from brands with a wide foundation range or supporting Black creators is important, but so is learning more about the experience of non-white people who have largely been left out of the conversation when it comes to many industries including beauty and wellness. Whether you’re looking for podcasts that more closely reflect your own experience, or you’re looking to learn about the beauty industry through a new, often underrepresented lens, these podcasts, all with hosts of color, are a great starting point.
BeautyMe With Charisse Kenion
Freelance beauty writer and photographer Charisse Kenion’s podcast, BeautyMe, covers different facets of beauty including the industry itself, interviews with makeup artists and other professionals, plus product recommendations and beauty tips (shout to Charisse for turning me onto the game-changing Surratt Autographique Eyeliner). You’ll get plenty of practical beauty advice, but the podcast also dives deeper into issues like microaggressions in the workplace, why “having it all” as a mother and a business owner is largely a myth and more industry-related topics like whether or not celebrity skincare is worth the hype.
Episodes range from about 15-45 minutes each.
By Name Beauty
Creator and host of By Name Beauty, Jocoby Junious, is by day a fashion buyer for the TJX Companies which include TJ Maxx, Homegoods, and Marshall’s, and by night a podcast host. She grew up surrounded by beauty (her aunt owned and operated a hair salon in Houston, TX), and she found herself frustrated by a lack of understanding and credit given to Black creators and consumers who popularized many of the “trends” covered in mainstream media (box braids, lettuce hems, and sneaker culture, for example, all started in Black communities).
By Name Beauty grew from this seed of frustration; the podcast covers everything from hair, to why Black women are responsible for much of the profit generated in the beauty industry but are so lacking in ownership (in beauty specifically, the spending power of black women in the United States is $7.5 billion, per Forbes) to how the pandemic changed her beauty routine, and so much more.
Episodes range from about 30 to 90 minutes each.
The Beauty Authority
Cosmetic dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon, Vicki Belo, who, with almost three million Instagram followers, is a household name in the Philippines where she owns her own practice, Belo Medical Group — joins forces with yoga instructor and holistic health, Katrina Razon in The Beauty Authority podcast. Episodes cover tops of skincare topics including maskne, botox vs. fillers, and hyperpigmentation. This podcast is an interesting blend between beauty and wellness, with certain episodes touching on mental health topics like the tendency to compare oneself to strangers online and how damaging that can be.
Each episode is under 40 minutes.
Naked Beauty
Created and hosted by Brooke DeVard (who by day does product marketing for Instagram) the Naked Beauty podcast challenges listeners to confront their own preconceived notions about beauty and dive deeper into products and wellness tips that actually resonate with their own unique lives. The podcast is often in conversation with people in the beauty and fashion industries (like Sheena Yaitanes, founder and CEO of clean cosmetics brand, Kosas, or Erica Chidi, author and co-founder of LOOM, a platform that educates women and nonbinary people on sexual and reproductive health). In addition to an honest look at all things beauty and wellness with amazing product recommendations to boot, the show covers important cultural issues like stopping Asian hate or overcoming codependency.
Episodes range from 20 to 90 minutes.
Hello Beauty
Los Angeles based makeup artist, Joyce Platon, hosts Hello Beauty, a podcast that features Platon in conversation with beauty, wellness, and lifestyle experts like Grace Harry, the “Joy Strategist” who helps adults embrace joy and play in their stressful lives, or Krupa Koestline, a clean cosmetic chemist and ayurvedic practitioner. It’s the perfect podcast when you want tangible beauty advice like how to heal damage from crown extensions, the best sunscreens for Black skin, or how to avoid blue light damage, blended with health and wellness-based conversations like when’s the best time to freeze your eggs or why adaptogens may be the secret to a calmer you.
Episodes are between 35 and 45 minutes each.
Black Hair Care, No Chaser
Black Hair Care, No Chaser is, as the name suggests, a podcast devoted to all things Black hair. Host Kanisha Ti is a trainer cosmetology instructor and founder of Tutus and Tennis Shoes, a haircare education website and course with classes on teaching white adoptive parents to care for their Black children’s hair. The podcast focuses on both the science and the socio-political implications of having Black hair.
It covers both beauty advice like what oils are best for hair (hint: not coconut, according to Kanisha) or a deep dive into deep conditioners, as well as societal topics like growing up with Black hair or how Black women need to be given space to be leaders in the haircare industry.
Episodes range from just one minute to around 40 minutes each.
The Hue Report
Created by Olivia Hancock (who is also an associate editor with Byrdie) The Hue Report celebrates all things Black beauty. In addition to interviews with people in the beauty industry like curly hair expert, Candace Witherspoon or writer, editor, and beauty insider, Briana Arps, the podcast features engaging discussions around beauty topics like scalp care or clean nail polish.
Episodes range from 20 minutes to just over an hour each.
Friends In Beauty
If you like Guy Raz of NPR’s, How I Built This podcast, you’ll love Friends In Beauty, a podcast that features beauty industry creatives talking about how they grew their businesses. Host and creator Akua Robinson is a makeup artist and beauty educator and the podcast features her in conversation with other industry professionals including celebrity stylist, Brian Robinson, or professional makeup artist and creator of OMGLO cosmetics, Joelle Phillips. It’s equal parts beauty and business and it will motivate you to act on that big idea you have swirling around in your head.
Episodes range from 11 to 90 minutes.
