Gloryscent: A Pro-Melanin Skincare Brand Serving Women of Color
Rafaela Gonzalez, the founder of Gloryscent, knows firsthand the struggle of growing up with European beauty standards that often left her feeling self-conscious about her textured hair and darker skin. Gonzalez’s skin-care line, Gloryscent, is the culmination of her self-love and acceptance journey, born out of a desire to serve underrepresented women of color in a beauty industry that more often than not fails them.
Gloryscent calls itself a “pro-melanin skin-care brand” that doesn’t solely aim to center women of color but also focuses on providing women with clean and safe beauty products. During the process of creating Gloryscent, Gonzalez learned that the majority of products catered toward women of color contained toxic ingredients. As such, her brand’s mission expanded and evolved to stand for “inclusivity in clean beauty,” providing women of color with access to health and wellness products that are safe and effective.
Inspired by her Caribbean roots and her ancestral home in the Dominican Republic, Gonzalez highlights ingredients from her beautiful island to serve as the basis for many of her products. Her Behold Brightening Balm, for example, contains 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,” she says.
Other salient natural ingredients the brand features include arnica flower extract, willow bark, and organic ginseng, which soothe sun-damaged skin, promote exfoliation, and help soften fine lines. These ingredients are found in several skin-care products, including the Soothing Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Total Body Serum, Urbana Elixir, and Manketti Oil Serum.
“I felt it was necessary to create and offer a skin routine rather than just one or two products,” says Gonzalez. “If someone wants to transition to clean beauty, they should have the entire collection. That was my train of thought at the time.” While creating the healthy nutrient-packed products that would define the Gloryscent collection, Gonzalez faced the challenge of figuring out the formulation for said skin-care items without formal training in the subject. Despite the lack of resources at her immediate disposal, Gonzalez found an online school where she could work toward her diploma at her own pace.
In an industry that often exploits women of color and sidelines their beauty needs, 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 these women as they are. “I’m working towards bringing awareness to healthier options of self-care, building up and encouraging women to love themselves,” says Gonzalez. “I’m hoping to provide education and empowerment in order for them to make the best choices for their wellness.”
Gonzalez’s biggest achievement last year was having Gloryscent in JCPenney stores, which was done through the Thirteen Lune ecommerce site, boosting the visibility of POC-owned brands. However, this year, she’s particularly proud to be hosting a speaking series regarding inclusivity in clean beauty. The series, titled “Let’s Talk Inclusion in Clean Beauty,” will feature interviews with various founders and organizations that highlight the importance of raising awareness about the toxic ingredients in self-care products marketed to Latinx women and other women of color. There are currently five episodes available, and more are coming in late spring.
“This is with the intention to simply educate and not fearmonger,” says Gonzalez. “Knowledge is power.”
Gloryscent’s products are not only effective but also affordable, with prices ranging from $56 to $96. The brand is perfect for women of color who don’t want to compromise on quality, efficacy, or safety.
In conclusion, Gloryscent is a pro-melanin skin-care brand that caters to women of color, providing access to clean and safe beauty products. With its roots in the Dominican Republic and its commitment to inclusivity in clean beauty, Gloryscent is empowering women to love themselves and make the best choices for their wellness.
