Rafaela Gonzalez is a remarkable entrepreneur who created Gloryscent, a brand that caters to the skin-care needs of underrepresented women of color. Her journey began with her personal experiences of dealing with the European standard of beauty that praised sleek hair and fair skin and overlooked her textured hair and darker complexion. To overcome these self-doubts, she started her self-love and acceptance journey and soon began focusing on creating a brand that celebrates women of color, making them the inspiration and priority rather than the last thought.
Gloryscent is a “pro-melanin skin-care brand” that centers women of color, but also focuses on providing women with safe and clean beauty products. During her journey, Gonzalez found that the majority of skin-care products catered toward women of color contained toxic ingredients. To fill this gap, she created Gloryscent, which now advocates inclusivity in clean beauty.
The brand uses ingredients from Gonzalez’s Caribbean roots, such as neem oil, arnica flower extract, willow bark, and organic ginseng, to provide natural beauty-care products that soothe sun-damaged skin, promote exfoliation, and help soften fine lines. Gloryscent’s mission is to provide women of color with access to health and wellness products that are safe and effective.
Gonzalez believes that wellness and self-care go beyond just one or two products. Hence, she designed a full skincare routine comprising of several products, including the Soothing Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Total Body Serum, Urbana Elixir, Manketti Oil Serum, and Behold Brightening Balm. While Gonzalez had no formal training in the subject of formulation at the beginning, she found an online school where she could learn at her own pace, and now provides effective and nutrient-packed products that define Gloryscent’s collection.
In an industry that often sidelines women of color’s beauty needs, Gloryscent’s mission is to provide them with healthier and tailored alternatives to the harsh and often damaging active ingredients in mainstream products while uplifting these women as they are. Gonzalez’s primary objective is to bring awareness to healthier options of self-care, building up and encouraging women to love themselves. Her hope is to provide education and empowerment so that women can make the best choices for their wellness.
Last year, Gonzalez’s biggest achievement was having Gloryscent in JCPenney stores, which was done through Thirteen Lune ecommerce site that helps boost the visibility of POC-owned brands. Growing from her experience, she is now hosting a speaking series regarding inclusivity in clean beauty, titled “Let’s Talk Inclusion in Clean Beauty.” The 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.
In conclusion, Rafaela Gonzalez’s journey started with self-doubt and insecurity, but rather than allowing those to dampen her spirit, she created a brand that centers women of color’s beauty needs. By providing women with safe and clean beauty products, Gloryscent promotes inclusivity in clean beauty, and her work has garnered great acclaim. Gonzalez not only aims to provide technical skin-care products but also wants to empower women with a self-love and acceptance journey as her brand grows.
