Say goodbye to dark spots.

Topicals started in 2020 as the vision of Olamide Olowe, launched alongside co-founder Claudia Teng, both in their early twenties at the time. The idea grew out of Olowe’s own history with hyperpigmentation and skin inflammation growing up, paired with a realization that the beauty industry had largely ignored people dealing with chronic skin conditions like eczema, acne, and dark spots, especially on darker skin tones.

Before starting the company, Olowe spent time interning at Shea Moisture as a UCLA student, where she learned what it takes to build a brand that speaks directly to an underserved audience. That time, combined with the fact that one in four Americans lives with a chronic skin condition, and people with those conditions are two to six times more likely to have depression and anxiety due to misinformation and alienation, shaped the direction the company would take. Skincare became the entry point, but the mission extended further into mental health advocacy and community building.

The brand launched with just two products, a brightening treatment called Faded and a hydrating mask called Like Butter, priced at $36 and $32. The first release sold out at Nordstrom within two hours. From there, the lineup expanded to cover more skin concerns, always built around the idea that treating a visible skin condition shouldn’t come at the cost of feeling excluded from self-care or beauty culture.

Funding followed quickly. Olowe became the youngest Black woman to raise more than $2 million in venture capital in the company’s first year, then went on to raise $10 million in a Series A round in 2022, backed by investors along with early supporters, including Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji. The Los Angeles-based skin care brand raised the round led by Cavu Consumer Partners, and Black Americans alone spent $6.6 billion on beauty products the prior year, making up about 11% of the total market, a figure often cited to explain why a brand built specifically around underserved consumers found such fast traction.

Today, Topicals sits among the fastest-growing skincare lines at Sephora, with a product range that spans serums, masks, body care, and spot treatments, all formulated around science-backed ingredients rather than trend-driven claims. The brand has leaned into cultural storytelling as much as formulation, running campaigns tied to community and identity rather than conventional beauty standards, while continuing to expand access to skincare education for people whose skin conditions have historically been overlooked or misunderstood in dermatology.