Bayou to the Rescue

Just three years in business, Bea’s Bayou Skincare products — a homemade creation of New Orleanian Arielle Brown — are selling quickly on Amazon and at Macy’s Marketplace online.

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Bea’s Bayou Skincare
Beasbayouskincare.com // 866-932-8764 // @beasbayouskincare


New Orleans skincare entrepreneur Arielle Brown is taking advantage of a rising wave of consumers interested in all-natural, probiotic products, and embracing a new wave of innovative Black-owned cosmetics lines that provide luxury, organic products while also solving practical skincare problems.

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Brown created Bea’s Bayou Skincare, a line of natural products designed to alleviate the symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis, a form of eczema that targets the scalp and face. After struggling to find a product that not only worked but also felt and smelled great, Brown researched and created formulas that combined familiar ingredients to promote healing and relief.

“When I was making products from flowers in my yard and soaps in my house as a child, I never thought that it could be a career path to make products,” she said. “When I was excelling in biochemistry in junior high, I didn’t know that chemistry could result in a cosmetics career. When I was suffering from seborrheic dermatitis through the last 20 years of my life, I didn’t know I’d ever create a science-backed herbal cosmetic brand to help people like me — and surely never thought it would be around for three years and I’d be seeking funding for it from equity investors one day.”

Launched in 2020, Bea’s Bayou was named after Brown’s maternal grandmother, an influential member of her south Louisiana community known for her natural remedies. Brown sees Bea’s Bayou as the culmination of two generations of entrepreneurship and a commitment to solving a problem with practical know-how.

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“Bea’s Bayou is named after my maternal grandmother, Beatrice, who lived in a bayou region in Vermillion Parish,” she said. “People from the area all knew her for her pies, herbal tinctures and pralines. She didn’t get to bring her products to market, but my generation has more opportunities.”

Inspired by her maternal grandmother’s homemade tinctures and remedies, Brown’s products contain all-natural pro- and prebiotics and skin-soothing herbal ingredients like marshmallow, oregano, lavender and clove.

Although excited to fulfill a family dream, Brown stresses that when she created her first product it wasn’t with the goal of starting a business, but of just finding relief for her itchy scalp.

“Timing, environment and support from others has gotten us here to three years,” she said.

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Originally developed in her home kitchen, Bea’s Bayou is still a one-woman business but is quickly growing through a wildly popular product line and sales through Amazon, Macy’s and Etsy.

“I am currently our only employee, though we have about eight professional contractors for marketing, design, bookkeeping and some other key tasks. We have a few U.S.-based manufacturers for the product itself. I work with their chemists to perfect the formulas that I write at home. For bottles, I source them from both the U.S. and Asia. Our labels are designed on Canva and then sent to our graphic designer who takes my ideas and improves them for marketing and print.”

Brown just completed the Macy’s Accelerate program and secured placement on Macy’s Marketplace online.

“That was amazing,” she said, “seeing how I used to work at Macy’s in my undergraduate years. Life is funny like that sometimes.”

Bea’s Bayou is hitting its stride at a time when consumers are increasingly looking for natural alternatives to skincare solutions.  According to a March 2023 report by The Brainy Insights, “the microbiome cosmetic products market will grow from $45.71 million in 2022 and reach $76.16 million by 2030. In just eight years, microbiome cosmetic products have moved from an uncertain, standalone niche use case to a fast-growing, high return on investment (ROI) application that is truly delivering value to users.”

The report goes on to note, “Some elements pushing probiotic cosmetics sales include growing educated and well-trained customers, more understanding towards probiotic moisturizer benefits, and rising choices for prebiotics and probiotic skincare.”

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New Orleans native Arielle Brown created Bea’s Bayou Skincare, a line of natural products designed to alleviate the symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis, a form of eczema that targets the scalp and face.

Brown developed Bea’s Bayou products specifically for those impacted by eczema who are finding little to no relief from very processed chemical products.

“Our natural- and microbiome-friendly products are perfect for the frustrated person dealing with flaky and angry scalp or eczema-related itch. We have a core product line that is inclusive, herbal and leveraging the power of probiotics for cosmetics. We feature bayou herbs, too — like blue-green algae, sassafras, clove and others.”

Products in Bea’s Bayou Skincare line include the Good Biome Scalp Solution, Prebiotic Scalp Oil, Facial Solution, Toning Mist, Setting Mist, and Scalp Renew Shampoo and Conditioner. Products range in price from $10 to $30, with product bundles also available at a range of prices.

“Our Good Biome line includes our bestselling hero product, Good Biome Scalp Solution, which is water-based and lightweight,” Brown said. “Our customers love that it features prebiotics, postbiotics, marshmallow, herbs like oregano, lavender and clove, and plant oils that absorb fast without residue, like evening primrose.”

As a Black-owned cosmetic company, Bea’s Bayou is still rare in the industry. According to McKinsey, which released an in-depth look at the cosmetics industry in June 2022, “Black brands—defined as either Black-founded or Black-owned—make up only 2.5% of revenue in the beauty industry, yet Black consumers are responsible for 11.1% of total beauty spending.”

It goes on to state that while historical inequities have been a part of the business, moving forward in a new way is essential for economic growth across the industry. “Creating a path to a more equitable beauty market represents a $2.6 billion opportunity, and the road forward—while perhaps not easy—is clear…from starting with better research about Black consumers to increasing representation in the industry, from the sales associate up to the C-suite level, to better partnerships with, support of, and investment in Black brands. By taking some bold steps and opening the gates to more Black entrepreneurs who can innovate with products for Black and non-Black consumers, the beauty industry can enact authentic, permanent, and beneficial change and create substantially more economic upside in the quest for greater equity.”

Brown continues to develop and innovate her product line backed by the support of fundraising and crowd sourcing and a new release on the horizon.

“I have been pitching and talking to investors who are interested in being on the journey with early-stage CPG companies that are unique, like Bea’s Bayou. I am growing every day, learning from the founders that have become friends, as well as from my advisors. I am also applying for grants as they become available.”

The company has a strong customer base.

“[Our] shampoo and conditioner were results from a rewards-crowdfund campaign with Fund Black Founders,” said Brown. “Our customers are truly amazing for supporting the growth, however long it takes. We are onboarding with Macy’s online, working on our Zinc & Sassafras Scalp Mask release, and I’ll be speaking on the Aveeno panel at CultureCon in L.A. We are also working on product certifications, so I’m very excited for it all to manifest better than I could dream!”


Did you know? Benefits of probiotic skincare include, according to Medical News Today (April 2022), reduced redness, scaling, and itching for those with atopic dermatitis and eczema; reduces some of the visible signs of aging, such as sun damage; may help to relieve acne and psoriasis.

 

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