Crowned Skin is making skincare sexy for Black men — and the numbers show it’s working

“Men are talking about these products online because we’re creating intentional buzz,” Crowned Skin founder Darryl Spencer said of the brand.

Father’s Day is days away, and if you’re still searching for the right gift for the man in your life, Darryl Spencer has a pitch: stop buying cologne. Stop buying lotion. And definitely stop buying both.

Spencer is the founder of Crowned Skin, a cologne-infused body butter created with men of color in mind. The concept was straightforward. Bringing it to life was not. From product development to brand launch, Spencer faced a series of challenges that tested his persistence. The effort paid off. Crowned Skin generated eight figures in revenue during its first year, became the No. 2 product on TikTok Shop and landed in Amazon’s top 50.

“Imagine rubbing over your body your favorite cologne, but as a moisturizer,” Spencer told TheGrio. “That’s our product in the most simple terms.”

Before launching Crowned Skin, Spencer spent years building a successful career at some of the biggest names in tech, including Meta, Google and LinkedIn. On paper, he had achieved the kind of professional success many people aspire to. But despite the career growth and accomplishments, he said he felt a growing disconnect from the work.

“I was working with some of the biggest companies, helping them generate millions in paid ads and paid media, and I did that for years. I was good at my job and what I did,” he said. “But I didn’t feel fulfilled.”

Part of what pushed Spencer toward entrepreneurship wasn’t just the work itself. Throughout his corporate career, he said he rarely saw Black executives or Black business owners in positions of influence. The lack of representation left a lasting impression.

“A lot of the companies and people that I spoke to in my corporate career were mainly white men. I didn’t get to speak to many Black executives [or] Black entrepreneurs. It was a dime a dozen,” Spencer said. “So I really wanted to build for representation — to really showcase and show us what you can do and what you can build.”

The experience pushed Spencer to step away from corporate America and build something for himself. But Crowned Skin was not his first attempt at building a business.

Spencer’s first company was King’s Crown, a line of satin caps designed for men. The product filled a need in a market that had long overlooked male consumers, and demand followed. But after several years, Spencer realized the challenge wasn’t what he was selling. It was the business model supporting it.

“I think previously I was always afraid of talking about my failures, but now I speak about them so much more in every interview, and I’m not afraid of it because that was one of my biggest lessons,” he said.

The turning point came when lower-priced competitors entered the market. Similar products were being sold for just a few dollars, and Spencer said the business lacked the systems and strategy needed to compete at that scale.

“Companies from China came in, sold my products for about 2, 3 bucks, completely undercut my pricing, and little by little I began to lose market share and King’s Crown as you knew it dissipated,” he said.

Looking back, Spencer said the experience provided lessons he could not have learned any other way. He carried those lessons with him when it came time to build Crowned Skin.

“Build your company to scale and at scale from day one — whether your goal is to exit, whether your goal is to expand your company and continue to grow it and pass it down to generations,” Spencer said. “Scale your company and operate it from day one as if you’re going to create a generational company.”

The inspiration for Crowned Skin began with a problem Spencer encountered himself. As he moved through his morning routine one day, he found himself questioning why he needed separate products to moisturize his skin and wear a fragrance.

“One day I was considering, what if I didn’t need to go grab a cologne, then go grab a lotion? What if those two products were in one product together?” he said. “And then that’s when I thought, I don’t see this on the market.”

Spencer developed Crowned Skin as a line of cologne-grade body butters for men, combining long-lasting fragrances with skin-nourishing ingredients such as shea butter and jojoba oil. But getting consumers to understand the product proved more challenging than creating it. In the company’s early months, marketing focused on the ingredients, skincare benefits and anti-aging properties. Customers were not responding.

“Men didn’t care about the functionality of the product and how it functions on the skin,” Spencer said. “What we learned was about four to five months in, when sales did not skyrocket the way that we intended, we thought, ‘OK, let’s take a step back and reposition how we’re marketing this to men because clearly what we’re saying is not resonating yet.'”

He continued, “What we ended up doing was we took ourselves out of the equation and thought about what men want to feel like when they apply our products,” he added. “And that was the biggest unlock.”

The company went back to the drawing board and reworked its marketing strategy. The product itself did not change. What changed was how Crowned Skin communicated its value to customers.

“We rebranded: this is Crowned Skin, formulated with irresistible fragrances. You’re gonna smell so good that you walk past anybody, you’re gonna leave a lasting impression,” Spencer said. “That simple shift in marketing changed everything for the company.”

Even with a strong product and clearer messaging, Spencer still faced another challenge: changing the way men viewed personal care. He said many men, particularly Black men, were not used to openly discussing grooming or skincare, so Crowned Skin focused on creating interest rather than leading with education.

One of the brand’s most successful advertisements reflected that approach. In the commercial, a man steps into an elevator and immediately catches a woman’s attention because of his scent. The ad connected with customers and reinforced the brand’s focus on confidence.

Spencer also made community-building a key part of the business. Through monthly Instagram Live sessions called “Crown Conversations,” he connects directly with customers to discuss grooming, products and everyday life.

“That psychology makes men feel good. It makes them feel like, ‘You know what? OK, I’m taking care of myself,'” Spencer said. “I feel inevitably more confident with these products on.”

He said that confidence often leads customers to share their experiences with others.

“Men are talking about these products online because we’re creating intentional buzz,” he said. “They’re conversation pieces. Little do they know, confidently and with pride, they’re saying Crown Skin smells so good, they’re sharing it with their friends, they’re posting on it online and then we’re intentionally, without directly pushing conversation, allowing men to talk about it.”

Spencer knows not every man has embraced a skincare routine. But he said those conversations are changing, often one customer at a time. And for aspiring entrepreneurs who are still waiting for the right moment to launch their own idea, he offers a similar message.

“Just press go,” Spencer said. “If I allowed my fears, my lack of resources and accessibility, I would not be where I am today. I chose to do it afraid, and I built.”