Nyakio Grieco
A Kenyan-American serial founder whose first eponymous skincare line was acquired by Unilever in 2017. She co-founded inclusive beauty retailer Thirteen Lune in 2020 (90% BIPOC-owned brands), then in 2022 launched Relevant: Your Skin Seen — a clean skincare brand explicitly formulated and shade-tested for melanin-rich skin.
"People buy into people before they buy into products."
— Nyakio Grieco
Nyakio Grieco is a Kenyan-American entrepreneur who launched her first eponymous skincare line in 2002, building it into a Sephora and QVC brand before selling to Unilever in 2017. The line was rooted in African beauty traditions handed down through her family.
In 2020 she co-founded Thirteen Lune with Patrick Herning — an inclusive beauty retailer where 90% of brands are BIPOC-owned, with discoverability and stocking commitments at JCPenney. The platform became a leading example of structurally inclusive beauty retail.
In 2022 she founded her third brand, Relevant: Your Skin Seen, a clean skincare line formulated specifically for the needs of melanin-rich skin (hyperpigmentation, post-inflammatory marks, even tone), with shade-tested complexion products. She continues to serve as a co-founder of Thirteen Lune in parallel.
Inclusion as infrastructure — fix the shelf, not just the marketing.
Skin tone as a formulation input, not an afterthought in shade ranges.
- 2002Launches first eponymous skincare line rooted in African beauty traditions
- 2017Original brand acquired by Unilever
- 2020Co-founds Thirteen Lune, inclusive beauty retailer (90% BIPOC-owned)
- 2022Launches Relevant: Your Skin Seen
"People buy into people before they buy into products."
Thirteen Lune's Nyakio Grieco on building an inclusive beauty industry
featureFast Company ↗Inside Relevant, Nyakio Grieco's New Beauty Brand
featureWWD ↗Thirteen Lune Founder Nyakio Grieco's Vision for Borderless Beauty
featureWWD ↗Thirteen Lune's Nyakio Grieco: 'People buy into people before they buy into products'
podcastGlossy ↗