Top Picks for Black Friday 2025: Underrated Small Beauty Brands Worth Shopping! | Dr. Idriss

Welcome back, little nerds, and happy Saturday. Today we are going to be shifting gears slightly and we are going to be spotlighting small beauty brands worth discovering and supporting this Black Friday into Cyber Monday. Because as a small skincare brand founder myself, I know how hard it is to build something out of absolutely zero. A large donut of a zero. No corporate funding, no huge budgets, just people. People out there who believe in the founder and their vision and what they believe in, and the people within the brand who could have worked at any large conglomerate but chose to work at a startup instead because they believe that they want to make a difference in this world. So they are investing their knowledge, their expertise, their experience, their time and their passion into something to create something different for the world. And so, because every small brand founder has experienced pretty much what I have experienced today, I want to talk about the stories and the humans behind these small brands. I will be, of course, highlighting their hero products and I will be linking them below. So if you choose to shop these small brands, you will be able to save throughout Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We've covered large products at the Sephora sale and we've covered devices last week that are worth your coin. So I wanted to really hit the underdogs this week. So without further ado, starting with skincare, we will start with yours truly. I am Dr. Shereen Idris, a board certified dermatologist. And I started my brand, Dr. Idris, because of you guys, the community behind the brand, on the simple philosophy that you can help yourself look and feel your best without depending on anyone. No esthetician, no dermatologist, not even yours truly if you know what you're using and why. And that confidence shows up when you start taking control over your skin and your life. And those changes can have drastic impacts on you personally, in internally and externally. And that is really the premise of the Dr. Idris brand. And given that I'm a cosmetic derm, the first place that you can really impact it when you are aging and starting to feel a little bit down on yourself is hyperpigmentation and discoloration. And so for me, the hero line is the major fade line. And you guys can find this on our site in the doctor's orders kit. If you've never tried it out, it will last you anywhere from two to three weeks. And we are having a sale. So starting Monday, November 24th, until Cyber Monday, you can get up to 20% off. Number two is Jordan Samuel Skin. Now, full disclosure, I am friends with Jordan, but none of these brands are sponsoring any portion of any of this video. But Jordan was a professional ballet dancer on the most massive stages on this planet. He really knew what it meant to perform at your highest level. And when he left the ballet, he became an esthetician and he wanted to bring quality products to people who are on the spotlight working their hardest with products that can help to rebalance their skin barrier, especially dancers. And so you're going to find a lot of his products are highly moisturizing and kind of little with a little ode to the ballet, I will tell you that his moisturizers are like the best cashmere sweaters of winter. They will hug your skin and they are never too heavy or suffocating. And one worth looking out for is their performance cream. It is also flagged as a highly feature moisturizer with peptides and a satin finish. It is worth mentioning as a must have of the brand and I will link it below. Number two, we have Desi Skin. This is founded by Desi Perkins, a Latina powerhouse and one of the OG makeup gurus on YouTube, but new to the skincare brand world and on Sephora online. So as a brand I could see a huge potential in her brand. And her brand weaves in her heritage in a way that feels very, very intentional. And one of the products that is worth checking out, Skin so Balm Cleanser, which is a nice one for very heavy makeup wearers. If you are somebody who wears a lot of heavy makeup and a light gentle cleanser is just not cutting it for you and you love a balm the skin so balm is really worth you guys checking out. Number three, Iris and Romeo. Founded by Michelle Guberill, this is a hybrid approach to skin and makeup for real life. If you want that poof 5 second I woke up alive look. Their SPF, also known as the weekend skin, SPF 50 is always in my rotation and it is something that I use especially on the weekends when I don't want to wear makeup but I want to look more refreshed. Look how pale I am. So definitely one worth looking into. Number four is beauty stats. Now Mr. Ron Robinson is a cosmetic chemist and one of the nicest humans on earth. Really truly one of the kindest people in the beauty industry and no one does vitamin C like he does. He has perfected the active form of vitamin C so it is truly a beautiful formula. This is one definitely worth looking into. It is also a stabilized form of the active form of vitamin C. Now number five is Shani Darden Skin. Shani is a powerhouse esthetician and she understands aging skin in a way that is lived and cellular because she sees clients on the daily every day in la. And you cannot have a conversation about aging briefly without talking about her retinol reform. What I love is now she talks about the percentage of retinol on every single one of her packages. So I would strongly advise that you guys look into the retinol reform line by Shani Darden. Number six coming in is the Dynam duo at Do Skin. See what I did there? Charlotte and Joyce have incredible formulas when it comes to hydrating your skin and keeping your skin barrier intact. And what I admire about them is their transparency in their brand. You have not tried their Instant Angel. I would strongly recommend you give it a shot, especially if you live in a very dry climate. Number seven is Sophie Pavitt Face. She is a New York City esthetician known for acne and without shame. Her entire point of view is acne doesn't define you and you can help yourself if you have acne. The Mandelic Clearing Serum is a very light exfoliating acid that can be used much more regularly than a glycolic acid. I still recommend just using it at night because I think you exfoliate your face at night at the end of the day after you take your makeup off. So there you have skincare. And next up, we're moving on to makeup. So starting with my girl kjh. This woman has made me bought brushes, more brushes than I've ever needed in my life. I mean, I will show you. These are her brushes. I never even used to wear makeup and yet I bought the brushes. She is building a beauty brand from scratch. And what I love is she brings in her highly technical skills for everyday use for people like me who do not necessarily have those highly technical makeup skills. And she makes them easy to understand. So I would follow her along so you guys can continue to learn. She has her Hypershine serum, which she reformulated recently in a pump. And that gives you a nice glossy finish, especially if you like that glass skin look. Number two is Kulfi Beauty. I interviewed this lady, Priyanka Ganju, years ago when I used to do One Night Stand. Lives on Instagram. And her brand celebrates Indian heritage in every single way. And her eyeliner, her eyeliners are some of the best I have ever tried. And my mom is very, very picky about eyeliners. And she smells wears by the Kulfi Beauty eyeliners. They are smooth, they are bold. And they stay put. I will link some below. At number three we have Besma Beauty from Bessma Hamid, a fellow Arab founder like myself. Now this woman is very interesting because she has had personal experience with third degree burns from childhood and this accident actually led her to find her brand because she started color correction medical aesthetics and developed a very unique technique for scar camouflage and even paramedical tattooing before she launched her own brand for diverse skin tones and textures. The foundation stick is the brand's flagship products in over 40 different shades. At number four we have Ms. Danessa Myricks Beauty. Everybody loves Danessa. She has been around for years and her passion just oozes from her soul and you could just feel it through the camera from a mile away. She's a true artist and an inspiration and, and she has beautiful color fix mattes. These are versatile pigment sticks for eyes, cheeks, lips and those are really worth looking into. Now number five is Ciel C I E L E founded by Nikki derost and Siri Francis. And this is an SPF first approach to color which I think is really interesting given that you can always add an extra layer of spf. Ideally you're wearing it under your makeup, but why not make sure you are fully protected and they have their tint and Protect SPF 50 Tinted Serum foundation which is a mineral SPF infused foundation that embodies the brand's core promise of protection and coverage. So those are makeup. Now moving on to hair where I tried to make an effort for all of you guys. Today we have Roz which is a hair make hair brand created by celebrity hair stylist Mara Rosak. Its line of easy to use hair care products are also high performing. I will tell you guys that their evergreen style cream is one of their hero skus that you should check out. It is a hydrating styling cream that tames away the flyaways. Clearly I did not use it today. Helps to smooth ends, especially if your ends are fried. It offers light to medium hold without stiffness and it is basically quote unquote effortless luxury. At number two we have the Princess herself Crown Affair founded by Diana Cohen and she is all about hair rituals and really, really focusing on the passion surrounding taking care of your hair. She never likes to rush hair care and so this is really quiet luxury at its finest. And their signature product is their Leave in conditioner, a lightweight universal nourishment and style hybrid that embodies the brand's again luxury ritual based hair care. So you use this conditioner after you shower, allow it to really nourish your hair over time. Number three is Chris McMillan. Now, I love this man. He is one of the funnest human beings. So genuine, so sporadic, so sweet. And he used to do. And he's the legend behind Jennifer Aniston's the Rachel haircut. He understands hair literally from every angle and his formulas reflect his wisdom. And one of his best products worth looking into is the glassy smooth dry spray. Now this is a sleek boosting, frizz controlling prep spray that protects your hair up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and delivers a glassy finish. Now I did use that today while I was styling my hair, so hopefully you guys can enjoy the outcome. Now, he is not responsible for the curls that I've given myself. At number four, we have Ceremonia by Baba, a modern Latinx hair care brand where scalp health and heritage hold equal weight. They have an antioxidant infused treatment that celebrates natural textures and heritage and it's powered by guava fruits and modern clean science. And this is also their leave in conditioner, which I will link below. Now we have two more hair care brands. One is Fable and Main, founded by a sibling duo, Akash and Nikita Mehta. And this is all about ayurvedic hair rituals reinterpreted for modern use. They have their holy roots, pre washed scalp and hair oil, which is something that you use prior to washing your hair. And it uses adaptogenic herbs and botanicals to nourish your scalp and to strengthen your hair strands. So that is one that some of my patients have even told me about that they absolutely love. And at number six, root, this was founded by a UK based dermatologist, Dr. Adele, who is obsessed with hair and she has some of the most beautiful hair I have ever seen. I have met her in real life and she has come up with this hair scalp serum, also known as the density repair scalp serum, which is a leave in scalp serum that is not going to leave your hair feeling oily, crunchy or gritty. I tried using Minoxidil for years. I would have to kind of space it out because I would feel like my hair got very crunchy. So Root has really come in to save the roots and the day. So moving on now to fragrance. Now I realize you guys are not going to be able to smell these fragrances, so I'm going to try my best to describe them. Number one is Ellis Brooklyn. This is founded by Bishop Hero. She is a beauty journalist turned perfumer and she creates these modern wearable scents. And she is such a kind human too. She really is a very sweet human being. And her signature fragrance is a myth, Eau de Parfum, which basically blends jasmine petals, liquid musks and cedarwood in a vegan cruelty free formula. It really does have that luxe level craftsmanship and smells divine. Number two DS and Durga is founded by a husband and wife team, David Seth Moltz and Kavi Ahuja. Moltz and I met David at a dinner and he's also one of the most giving people in terms of his knowledge and experience. And honestly, he was a great partner to have at a dinner where I did not know anybody. I met him randomly. So he was a really, really, really sweet guy. But they create these. It's a very cool fragrance brand that is also very, very niche. And their signature scent is I don't know what. And it is an amber woody fragrance that basically has like this enhanced smell and it really does embody the brand. Story driven up so story driven approach to perfumery. And last we have Lore, which is a beautiful brand. It is the creation of Melanie Bender, who is an aerospace engineer turned beauty visionary and she was recently the CEO of Rhode Skincare. So she knows what she's doing. But this is all about complex storytelling in beautiful boxes. And I mean perfume is really aspirational, aspirational bottles. And so there you have it. From skin care to hair care to makeup to fragrance, these are all small brands really worth looking, looking into. I hope you guys discover a brand or two today through this video. Again, Dr. Idris, my brand, our brand that we've created online is having a 20 off sale starting Monday, November 24th through Cyber Monday. And yeah, comment below. Other small beauty brands that you guys love that I should maybe discover so that or that other people in the community should know about. And I will definitely make sure to check it out and I will do a roundup on the Dr. Idris or Shereen Idris Instagram handle. All right, you guys, I will see you guys later.