Sudanese American entrepreneur Mae Abdelrahman is a graduate of Harvard Business School. Like beauty journalist Ayesha Muttucumaru and Huda Beauty founder Huda Kattan, Abdelrahman works to fill a gap in skincare. At Harvard, Abdelrahman founded her company Nour to address the problems dark-skinned people face in skin health.
“There aren’t enough options on the market to let Black people feel safe and confident when they wear sunscreen,” stated Abdelrahman.
“We’re entering the market with three shades of mineral-based sunscreen that will blend flawlessly with dark skin and not leave an awful white cast,” she said.
Nour’s introductory products are still in development. There is a waitlist to receive the anticipated tinted sunscreens once they become available.
Mae Abdelrahman switches from teaching to business
Abdelrahman earned her Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard University in 2021. In 2013, she graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor’s in Economics and Arabic. Abdelrahman also holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from Dominican University.
After Dartmouth, Abdelrahman became a corps member with Teach For America in Chicago. She taught for Chicago’s LEARN Charter School Network until 2016.
Following Teach For America, Abdelrahman transitioned to financial services. She worked as a financial analyst for Old Republic Professional until joining Harvard in 2019.
Mae Abdelrahman named her company after her mother
Abdelrahman’s frustrations with sunscreen began in 2016.
“After visiting a dermatologist, I learned that I should wear sunscreen on a daily basis to prevent skin concerns like melanoma, hyperpigmentation, and wrinkles,” she told Harvard Business School. “Since then, I have been rigorously searching and unable to find a mineral-based sunscreen that looks good on my Black skin.”
Having not been able to find an attractive and effective sunscreen for her complexion, Abdelrahman decided to create her own. She named the company after her mother who inspired her to love her skin.
“From the time we were born, my mother instilled the notion that all skin is beautiful,” Abdelrahman said. “Her intentionality made me love my Sudanese skin. It made me feel that my Black skin is not just beautiful, but flawless.”
“Honing the intentionality of my mother, I started Nour – a skincare company named after her – with a mission to ensure that every person will value, love, and protect their skin,” she said.
Nour to release new tinted sunscreens
The Amber Grant Foundation for female small business owners awarded Abdelrahman with a $4,000 grant in June 2020. The founder also created a crowdfund in August 2020 to raise enough money to get the ball rolling. In November 2020, Abdelrahman announced that she gathered enough to have “initiated the formula development process with [her] chemist.”
Abdelrahman has not yet disclosed when Nour’s initial products will become available.
“Because of the lack of options, many black people choose not to wear sunscreen,” Abdelrahman explained. “Black people are more prone to hyperpigmentation-or the darkening of the skin-than non-Black people. Black people who are diagnosed with melanoma are more likely to die from this cancer than non-Black people with a melanoma diagnosis.”
Join the waitlist to get the products when they become available at nourxskin.com
