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Meet Humanist Beauty, The Beauty Brand Making Skincare Radically Inclusive


“When you don’t see yourself represented in society, you don’t feel beautiful,” Jennifer Norman tells Forbes. As a Korean-American adoptee growing up immersed in white culture, Norman says she never felt pretty enough when she was younger. It’s this experience of not feeling seen that drives her efforts to “build a culture of self-acceptance” with Humanist Beauty, a natural skincare brand dedicated to radical inclusivity.

An affinity for aesthetics and art, combined with difficult financial circumstances at home forcing her to DIY her own wardrobe, Norman says she was drawn to makeup from an early age. But instead of pursuing her passion, she went to business school, “I was trying to force fit myself because it was popular at the time,” the beauty guru tells Forbes. “It wasn’t until I had an interview with L’Oreal that I realized there was a career path I can take where I can appreciate my love for makeup but also work the left side of my brain.”

It wasn’t long before Norman’s experience in beauty marketing began to sour, as she repeatedly witnessed the retouching, harmful messaging and waste created by beauty companies. “After 20 years of building an extraordinary career I was like, I want to do things different,” she says. So in 2019, Norman set out on her own to create the lifestyle brand, The Human Beauty Movement.

“The Human Beauty Movement isn’t your traditional company,” Norman explains, “I wanted to create this platform that could then off-shoot a whole range of services and products to the marketplace about radical inclusivity, true holistic wellness and sustainability.” Her latest skincare brand, Humanist Beauty, is a physical manifestation of these values. As someone who says she learned to “strip herself of any humanity” to be taken seriously in professional settings, the founder hopes her skincare products will encourage people to embrace their unique selves.

Rather than simply jumping on the inclusive beauty trend, Humanist Beauty’s ethos is born from Norman’s personal experience, not only as a Korean adoptee, but from witnessing her half-Black, half-Puerto Rican husband’s own tribulations as a man of color and raising a mixed race son with a severe disability. “Because of my own personal story, the brand feels very authentic to me,” Norman tells Forbes. “I feel poised to help drive the message into the future about adaptive beauty; about recognizing radical inclusivity in beauty and wellness.”

As beauty brands increasingly recognize the power of representation, Norman believes marginalized communities historically ignored by the beauty industry—namely people of color and people with disabilities—are finally being served. But for disabled people in particular, finding accessible personal care products continues to be a struggle, despite making up a quarter of the U.S. population and holding enormous spending potential.

Seeing this gap in the market, Norman designed a Braille ID band that snaps onto their signature Herban Wisdom Facial Oil. “It helps people who have visual impairment know that we’re thinking of them,” says Norman. “We need to find better solutions when it comes to packaging for people who have issues with opening things.”

The founder intends for their Braille labels to promote greater accessibility in the beauty space, but acknowledges she wasn’t the first to come up with the idea, citing L’Occitane and Unilever as leaders in the field. L’Occitane was one of the first to create soap bottles designed for the visually impaired and upwards of 70 percent of their products now feature braille labels. Other personal care brands, like Herbal Essences and Degree, have followed suit with adaptive features designed specifically for people with disabilities.

When asked how big brands can be more inclusive, Norman says one-size-fits-all solutions won’t work; stressing the importance of thorough research to ensure products are practical for people with disabilities. Still, she believes improvements will come as the technology improves, citing 3D printing in particular as offering exciting potential for at-home accessibility.

Norman’s personal experience with disability also inspired some of the ingredients she’s chosen for their signature facial oil formula—like cannabidiol (CBD), which she found helped significantly reduce her son’s seizures. “CBD helps the body in so many ways,” Norman explains, “it creates balance and homeostasis; it helps the skin to balance cortisol spikes from inflammation or stress which can lead to issues like acne and psoriasis; it creates this soothing tranquility that is right for the times.” Being “right for the times,” is why the beauty guru likes to call the oil, “Zen in a bottle.”

Containing antioxidants like sea buckthorn and squalene, the concentrated oil was designed as a serum or makeup primer for the face, but Norman says it can be applied anywhere on the body. No matter how it’s used, the entrepreneur hopes the product will connect people to nature and themselves. Drawing inspiration from her studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine and plant therapies, the beauty guru believes using plant botanicals to nourish the body can be an act of self-love. “I wanted to create the most concentrated plant-based formula that would nourish but do it in a way doesn’t make people feel they have a problem with their skin,” she says.  

“When we use more natural, organic ingredients, I think our bodies function better, our skin looks better, we’re more at community with nature,” Norman tells Forbes. The Humanist Beauty founder believes there is a harmony in using natural ingredients—not only do they nurture the body, but they help make the world a better place.

“It’s not just natural for natural’s sake,” says Norman, when describing the company’s commitment to sustainability. From the vegan, EWG Verified formula—free of parabens, preservatives and carcinogens, and wrapped in recycled packaging—to the solar-powered executive office, everything at Humanist Beauty is done to minimize harm to the environment. The carbon-neutral company became a Certified B Corporation last year to demonstrate their commitment to prioritizing the planet over profits. “It helps us ensure we’re holding ourselves accountable,” Norman says.

That accountability and transparency extends beyond environmental responsibility to support people too. From donating to social causes like Black Lives Matter to carefully vetting the companies they work with, Norman says she’s constantly approaching their production, communication and hiring with diversity and inclusion in mind.

“Right now I’m going through anti-racism training,” the founder says. “You wouldn’t think I would need it but I think it’s important, there are still things I need to learn about the Black experience.” The founder plans to promote that education through Humanist Beauty next year, with a program designed to help people better understand beauty from the perspective of diversity and inclusion.

Aptly calling herself a “student of life,” Norman clearly doesn’t shy away from relearning and reinvention. Still, she says starting Humanist Beauty at the age of 50 felt like “starting over again,” due to the ageism in the beauty industry. But Norman doesn’t let dominant cultural narratives stop her. “There’s all of these things you tell yourself or you think society believes, but you do it anyway,” the founder says. “You have to believe that if you feel it is right, then it’s okay for you to pursue your passion, no matter what anybody else says.”


Some interview responses have been edited for length and clarity.



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