How UOMA Beauty’s Founder Merges Activism and Makeup

Sharon Chuter was running away from something — fast — when she decided to launch her own inclusive, Black-owned cosmetics company, UOMA Beauty, in 2019.

She was running from the beauty industry‘s open secret: It caters primarily to women, but the conglomerates that dominate the market have historically been helmed by white men, a structure she calls traumatic to women and people of color — and one she’s working hard to dismantle, disrupt and transform.