“Delanique, What’s Your Skincare Routine?"

Founder & CEO of Skintellect

May 17, 2025

Skincare is more than just a routine; it’s a reflection of identity, culture, and care. In this conversation, I spoke with Delanique, the founder of Skintellect, a beauty-tech platform spotlighting African and diaspora-owned skincare brands through thoughtful curation, cultural storytelling, and deep ingredient knowledge.

Del shares what it takes to merge beauty with purpose and why A-Beauty is the next wave. I hope you all enjoy reading about her skincare evolution and her journey building a skincare platform rooted in community and representation.

Del’s Skincare Routine & Evolution

Toluwani: What does your current skincare routine look like from morning to night?

Del: I'm really into exfoliants and hydrating products right now, so even though my routine is currently simple these products have been super effective.

In the morning I gently cleanse with EADEM Dew Dream cleansing balm, then I mist on Face Republic Blooming Essence Rose Mist, followed up Skinceuticals' C E Ferulic Acid Serum, and I'll finish off with KOBA Light It Up Face Cream and HyperSkin Hyper Daily SPF.

My nighttime routine is much simpler! I deeply cleanse with KOBA Safou Sorbet Cleansing Balm, hydrate with Face Republic Blooming Essence Rose Mist, apply Woods Copenhagen skin perfector leave on exfoliant, and mist again with Face Republic Blooming Essence Rose Mist.

Toluwani: Are there any products or ingredients you swear by for your skin type?

Del: I really love to geek out and obsess over ingredients, so this is hard to choose! But specifically for dry skin with hyperpigmentation I'll have to say I swear by Niacinamide, Lactic Acid, Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin C.

Toluwani: How has your relationship with skincare evolved over the years?

Del: I've really come a long way from the tomboy teenager that I was to the somewhat girly love-everything-about-skincare woman I am today!

I was really a late bloomer when it comes to acne struggles since I didn't experience it until I was about 21 or 22, and at the time everything was a 10-steps routine and this more is more approach to skincare. But I'm a lot more aware of what works for me and now have a more simple and targeted approach while combining mature treatments like chemical peels, microdermabrasion, etc.

Toluwani: What’s one underrated skincare tip you wish more people knew?

Del: SPF is always a good idea, but If you're going to skip it, which you really never should, the best time to do so is before 11am and after 5pm. So if you forget to apply it at 8am during your morning walk it's totally fine, don't beat yourself up!

Toluwani: How do you define “clean beauty” for yourself, and what role does it play in your own regimen?

Del: Clean beauty for me is any product formulated without harmful chemicals and synthetic ingredients, especially formaldehyde. I'm even more hyper aware of this especially as a Black woman considering so many products formulated and targeted to Black Women are made with so many harmful ingredients. I think about beauty products in the way I think about food, If I wouldn't feed it to my future kid, then I'm not consuming it.

The Birth of Skintellect

Toluwani: What inspired you to create Skintellect, and how did the idea first come to life?

Del: I've always wanted to launch a platform that blends my love for skincare and the science behind the art of skincare, so I launched Skintellect originally as an editorial site with articles, interviews, an ingredient dossier, etc. But then I later realized that I was feeling fulfilled because it felt like what we were doing could easily be discovered elsewhere, so I scrapped the idea and went back to the drawing board. Then I started to think about what's truly missing from the space, which voices I wanted to amplify and what's the best way to do so, which led me down a deep rabbit hole on A-Beauty and the contribution of African Botanicals to the beauty industry as a whole. I wanted Skintellect 2.0 to be a platform of discoverability for Black consumers all while supporting the brands that are championing the future of beauty where inclusive beauty is the standard.

Toluwani: What has the journey been like building a tech platform that blends beauty, culture, and commerce?

Del: Everyday is a challenge, but it's incredibly fulfilling to say the least! Every single detail matters when you're building a retail platform that is a newcomer in an already noisy category. It's an exciting time for beauty right now because the category isn't sleepy and everyone is touching on culture in some way, so I'm excited to see how we continue to grow and make a difference for the A-Beauty sub-category.

Toluwani: How do you go about discovering and selecting the brands you’re featuring?

Del: I love this question because I absolutely love the feeling I get when I discover a new brand! Every single brand and product that's on Skintellect I've tested myself and have been using for years, so it's a very thoughtfully curated portfolio of brands.

That said, brands like epi.logic and hanahana beauty are brands I've known and love, so it was a no-brainer to bring them on board and I'm incredibly lucky that they're trusting me to partner with me. Then for brands like GLEAN and GlowRx, I was introduced to both founders via a beauty cohort that I'm a member of. And then my friend Ella does the PR for KOBA and I fell in love with the products when they sent me gifting, and so on. It's honestly all been a huge web of brands from my network because founders continue to recommend other brands and sometimes brands also reach out which is great!

I also discover brands myself. For example, I just bought products from a brand called Sanindou because I love what they're building and would love to test their products before reaching out to them. So if you see Sanindou on Skintellect in a few months, it's proof that the strategy is working!

Toluwani: In what ways does Skintellect go beyond being just a shopping platform?

Del: Given the pre-mature nature of A-Beauty as a concept on a global scale, we're really aiming to create value and establish trust with our audience by leaning into education and cultural storytelling as one of our core pillars. Skincare is a personal experience, so we really want to build a brand that feels personal in so many ways beyond a curated marketplace.

Toluwani: Bridging diaspora gaps is such a powerful part of your mission, what does that look like in practice through Skintellect?

Del: I love this question! When people think about A-Beauty they typically only think about products from the continent, however A-beauty represents both the continent and the diaspora. So we're mindful about representing brands and highlighting ingredients from countries like Brazil, Haiti and Jamaica to name a few, to ensure we're not leaving the diaspora out of the African Beauty conversation.

Community as a Cornerstone In Beauty

Toluwani: What does community mean to you in the context of beauty, and how does that inform your work?

Del: In beauty, people, including myself, just want to feel seen. I remember a time when the spaces I occupied in beauty a few years ago looked and felt very white. I really couldn't relate to most of those women in the rooms, even the founders. That experience fueled wanting to build a platform that was intentionally centered around Black beauty stories, and in turn curating spaces, whether that's a dinner, roundtable conversation and game nights, to connect with other Black women in beauty that feels unfiltered and safe.

Toluwani: How do you hope Skintellect impacts both consumers and the brands you’re amplifying?

Del: For consumers the hope is to create a skincare/beauty shopping experience that feels easier and safer, a step in their everyday life that they can trust in a way that they can do it with their eyes closed. Taking out the frill and politics that comes with navigating a world of beauty that isn't formulated with Black and Brown skin in mind.

Advice for Black Beauty-Tech Founders

Toluwani: As someone who is at the beginning of her founder journey, I’d love to know if you have any advice for other Black women looking to build in the beauty-tech space?

Del: If you're not already well versed in the tech space, whether that's coding, AI work etc. find someone who is and build with them. Tech can be really tricky from a platform infrastructure standpoint and having to manage that on your own without a team member can be really frustrating. I had to learn basic coding to make sure I'm able to support backend needs on a whim!

Closing Thoughts

Toluwani: What's next for Skintellect? Any exciting milestones or updates you can share?

Del: We just launched our first ever video campaign that we shot in Nigeria! It’s currently live on our instagram @skintellect.co!

Toluwani: What is the best skincare advice that you have ever received?

Del: The same advice I shared earlier! To never skip sunscreen between the hours of 11am to 5pm.

Toluwani: And lastly, if you had to pick three skincare products you can’t live without, what are they?

Del: KOBA Touch Me Hand Cream, HyperSkin SPF 50 and Topicals Slick Salve.

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