Beauty From Within: How Gloryscent Empowers Women of Color to Love Their Skin and Practice Safe Clean Beauty
Growing up, Rafaela Gonzalez faced the harsh reality of European beauty standards, leaving her feeling self-conscious about her textured hair and darker skin. Gonzalez’s journey to self-love and acceptance culminated in the creation of Gloryscent, a pro-melanin skin-care brand that aims to provide underrepresented women of color with safe and clean beauty products. Here’s a deep dive into Gonzalez’s journey and how her brand is uplifting women of color through effective care.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Gonzalez drew inspiration from her Caribbean roots to serve as the basis for many of her products. By highlighting ingredients from her ancestral home, Gonzalez hoped to honor her “beautiful island.” Her Behold Brightening Balm ($96) is made with neem oil, derived from trees that Gonzalez grew up seeing on the island. “When I was a little girl, we had two large neem trees in my backyard. I remember my late grandmother swiping them up into piles when they ripened and fell to the ground. It’s very memorable because being from el campo, our parents and grandparents are very serious about keeping the yard clean.”
Gloryscent’s mission is to stand for inclusivity in clean beauty, providing women of color with access to health and wellness products that are safe and effective. During the process of creating Gloryscent, Gonzalez learned that the majority of products catered towards women of color contained toxic ingredients. One study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that the negative impact of such chemical exposure is disproportionately impacting these consumers in comparison to white women. Gonzalez’s brand focuses on providing women with safe and clean beauty products, centering around the health and well-being of her consumers.
Gonzalez faced the challenge of figuring out the formulation for her skin-care items without formal training in the subject. She learned how to begin the process of sourcing her own ingredients by taking online courses, which helped her create effective care Gloryscent products. “I felt it was necessary to create and offer a skin routine rather than just one or two products,” Gonzalez says. “If someone wants to transition to clean beauty, they should have the entire collection. That was my train of thought at the time.”
In the beauty industry, women of color are often sidelined and their beauty needs are overlooked. However, Gloryscent’s mission of effective care is to provide them with healthier, tailored alternatives to the harsh and often damaging active ingredients in mainstream products while also uplifting women of color as they are. Gonzalez is working towards bringing awareness to healthier options of self-care, building up and encouraging women to love themselves. She aims to provide education and empowerment in order for them to make the best choices for their wellness.
Last year, Gonzalez’s biggest achievement was having Gloryscent in JCPenney stores, which was done through the Thirteen Lune ecommerce site, which boosts the visibility of POC-owned brands. This year, she’s particularly proud to be hosting a speaking series regarding inclusivity in clean beauty. The “Let’s Talk Inclusion in Clean Beauty” series will feature interviews with various founders and organizations, who will highlight the importance of raising awareness about the toxic ingredients in self-care products marketed to Latinx women and other women of color. Gonzalez says, “This is with the intention to simply educate and not fearmonger. Knowledge is power.”
Gloryscent’s product line includes the Behold Brightening Balm, Soothing Enzyme Cleansing Gel ($56), Total Body Serum ($63), Urbana Elixir ($54), and Manketti Oil Serum ($62), all made using natural elements that provide women of color with the safe and effective care they deserve. With Gloryscent, it’s all about beauty from within, empowering women of color to love their skin and practice safe clean beauty.
