At just 28, Olamide Olowe is quietly reshaping what beauty – especially Black-led beauty – looks like and, more importantly, who gets to lead it. With the launch of her skincare brand Topicals in 2020, Olowe made it clear that inclusive beauty isn’t about adding people of colour to an existing narrative, it’s about centring them.
Olowe’s own teenage years were marked by acne, boils and the silent weight of chronic skin conditions that so many Black and brown girls carry. During her pre-med track at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she interned at SheaMoisture and that collision of medicine, community and beauty sparked a radical idea: skincare tools built for darker skin tones and for conditions too often ignored.
From Pitch-After-Pitch to Liftoff
It wasn’t smooth sailing. Olowe sat through nearly one hundred investor meetings before she got her first “yes.” Her persistence paid off spectacularly: by 2022, she became the youngest Black woman ever to raise more than USD 10 million in venture capital.
Today, Topicals is recognised as one of Sephora’s fastest-growing skincare brands, with products like Faded (dark-spot gel) and Like Butter (hydrating mask) becoming cult favourites. What sets the brand apart is not just its clinical credibility — it’s its bold voice, high-design packaging, and unapologetic stance that “designing for marginalised communities builds better solutions for everyone.”
Enter a New Chapter: Culture Meets Commerce
In 2025, Olowe expanded her vision and stake in culture-driven beauty through the launch of Cost of Doing Business (CODB), a holding company co-founded with Topicals’ President Sochi Mbadugha. Their first move? The acquisition of Bread Beauty Supply, a textured-hair brand founded by Maeva Heim.
Rather than disrupting Bread’s culture, CODB emphasises protecting it: Heim remains as Chief Creative Officer, while CODB brings strategic scale and infrastructure. As Olowe explains, “At a time when DEI commitments are being rolled back, it’s critical that Black-owned businesses not only survive – they have to win.”
More Than Skin-Deep Impact
For Olowe, impact is layered. With Topicals, initiatives include free access to dermatologists for skin-of-colour communities and proactive mental-health funding to support the emotional burden of visible skin struggles.
Now, through CODB and Bread, she’s stitching together a blueprint for culture-anchored brands that grow on Black terms, from hair to skin to lifestyle; and reclaim the narrative of beauty through ownership and innovation.
What’s Next?
Olowe’s gaze extends beyond one brand. CODB is actively scouting new categories, driven by a belief that community-first brands deserve access and infrastructure on the same level as mainstream players. The question isn’t just what comes next – it’s who defines it. And in Olowe’s hands, redefine is exactly the agenda.
