With the recent fallout over the Shea Moisture advertising campaign and then their support of a man who makes a living pushing out anti-Black woman messages, many have been looking to support other natural hair care companies. We all have our opinions on what is or isn’t wrong with the Shea Moisture campaign, but one thing that’s often overlooked in the natural hair community, is how many of the brands are not just Black owned, but actually owned by Black women. Take for instance Cantu, which does a great job hiring Black women but is owned by white people. The average consumer wouldn’t know this because there’s no talk of who owns the brand unless you work directly with them. Same for As I Am founded by the same man who owns KeraCare under the Avlon Umbrella, Dr. Ali N. Syed.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but let us be clear here, Black women are still far behind in profiting from the industry they self-sustain. What these other companies are really doing differently than Shea Moisture is simply packaging their products in different bottles for different audiences.
Here’s a list of Black women owned natural hair care lines, with many of them expanding into the body care industry.
- Koils By Nature
- My Honey Child
- EdenBodyWorks
- Alikay Naturals
- Camille Rose
- Oyin Handmade
- Thank God I’m Natural (TGIN)
- Obia Naturals
- Qhemet Biologics
- The Mane Choice
A good rule of them in figuring out who actually owns the company: if a Black woman owns the brand you will have problem finding her name + picture on the website or social media accounts. A Black woman owning a brand is definitely a selling point that will be noted.
Some of our favorite products for Type 4 natural hair and more specifically 4C Natural Hair that is so often left out of the conversation are:
- Leave In: Alikay Naturals Lemongrass Leave In
- Deep Conditioner: EdenBodyWorks Coconut Shea Hair Masque
- Moisturizer: My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Creme
- Styler: Obia Naturals
- Refresher: Koils By Nature Refreshing Gel
Need a guide for your type 4 natural hair, pick up our $5 e-book the GUIDE FOR THE EXTRA-KINKY-COILY GIRL| 4C+ NATURAL HAIR GUIDE.
I wish I could find products that weren’t loaded with coconut oil, glycerin and aloe. My hair hates coconut oil. Depending on the weather, I can’t do glycerin and aloe. I need something I can use year round. Its like all of these brands have a one size fits all mentality.
start your own line. Its not that hard and as you can see you reach others already worldwide without a marketing team.
Product, packaging, e-commerce are streamlined already.