San Diego’s Indigenous American-owned skincare brand, N8iv Beauty, was recently featured in Time magazine’s top 100 influential companies of 2026, specifically in their “The 10 Most Influential Fashion and Beauty Companies of 2026” category.
Ruth-Ann Thorn is the trailblazer behind N8iv (pronounced “native”) Beauty and an enrolled member of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians. Thorn founded the brand in 2022 and says its products are rooted in traditional plant medicine, using indigenous ingredients such as acorn oil sustainably sourced from tribal land.
N8iv Beauty was also included in this year’s Oscar’s gift giving lounge and is the first Indigenous beauty brand featured at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In 2025, the company won an Allure Best of Beauty Award for its exfoliator product.
NBC 7’s Joe Little tells us about the area’s history and why the sale may have taken generations too long.
The brand is also the first Indigenous American-owned skincare brand that has reached the mainstream market nationally, according to Time.
The brand doesn’t plan to stop there though. N8iv will soon be available at Nordstrom and more than 100 Ritz-Carlton spas. The company will also soon be joining Sephora’s minority inclusion cohort.
Part of their sales goes towards a charitable cause, with 5% of its sales going toward the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement.
Find N8iv Beauty’s store in the Gaslamp Quarter at 631 5th Ave. at the historic Yuma Building, which Thorn purchased in 2024, making her the first Native American to own property in the famous business and entertainment area.