Like many dads, my father wasn’t the one to teach me how to take care of my hair. The most he knows about hair care is a regular appointment with his barber. What he did teach me about was one Madam CJ Walker, the first female American self-made millionaire, who made her money in the 19th century creating hair care products for Black women.
For over a century, Black women’s hair products have been a valuable market to cater to. And in the past 20 years, the most popular products have shifted from hot combs and relaxers to products that embrace the natural curls of Black hair. Unfortunately, Black people aren’t always reaping the rewards for investments in their own community’s hair care.
If you’re anything like me, you grew up getting most of your hair care products from mainstream retailers like Target or Walmart — where you could pick up soap and toothpaste alongside your shampoo and conditioners. But two of the most popular brands marketed toward Black hair that are easy to spot in a Target aisle — SheaMoisture and Cantu — are not Black-owned.
These two brands were staples for me growing up — almost every Black woman I know uses or has used SheaMoisture products at some point. I still remember being at summer camp one year and having one of the other Black girls comment that she recognized the smell of Cantu products in my curls. They’re easy to find, affordable, and pretty reliable. But they’re not Black-owned.
Now, SheaMoisture was founded by Black people, but it was purchased by Unilever in 2017 — meaning that however “independently” they continue to operate under new ownership, they aren’t completely Black-owned. Cantu, on the other hand, notes on its website that it is “not Black-owned but Black-led,” which produces an odd tension: Black people are still involved in the process of creating the product, but how much are they benefiting from that effort?
We should ask that question even more in light of Target rolling back their DEI initiatives under the new presidential administration — especially with growing fears they may begin to not prioritize Black-owned businesses like they did after police killed George Floyd in 2020. It’s a move that has sparked tension between the big box store and the Black community. The Associated Press notes that Black-owned brand Oh Happy Dani has begun removing their products from Target shelves in response. Although Oh Happy Dani is not a hair care brand, their decision may be the beginning of a ripple effect, which could mean it’ll be even more difficult to support Black-owned hair care brands in mainstream retail stores.
It’s difficult, but the work is worth it — we should commit to finding products that work for us and to finding Black-owned businesses that create those products as a way of giving back to the community.
Finding the hair products that work best for you can be a process, often taking months — sometimes a year or more. When I first stopped straightening my hair in middle school, I tried out countless brands over the course of several years while learning how to best treat my natural curls.
My hairdresser has remarked that it can be especially difficult when we’re told that finding our curl pattern is a simple thing. In reality, most curly-haired women have multiple textures throughout their hair, not something simple, like 3C, throughout. (I, for example, have much looser curls at the bottom, whereas the hair closest to my face curls more tightly.) You really do have to test out products and see how they work for you, and sometimes you go with one product for a couple of years before discovering something new.
Black businesses won’t succeed without support, and if the big corporations aren’t willing to do it, we as the customer base need to step up.
Commitment to Black-owned hair products makes things even more complicated, since it’s not always easy to find out whether a brand is Black-owned while you’re standing in an aisle. It’s difficult, but the work is worth it — we should commit to finding products that work for us and to finding Black-owned businesses that create those products as a way of giving back to the community. If those brands are no longer (or never were) available at Target, we need to find the small neighborhood beauty supply stores or order directly from the brand. Black businesses won’t succeed without support, and if the big corporations aren’t willing to do it, we as the customer base need to step up.
This Black History Month and beyond, we need to embrace the history of Black hair care products by focusing on those products created by Black people, supporting our community as we do so — even if it takes a little extra effort on our part.