Natural Hair Care and its Products- What’s Black-Owned and What’s Not

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Qiana Williams

Qiana Williams is a fashion and entertainment marketing guru and professional writer with vast experience writing on fashion trends and style, beauty, real estate, business, family, relationships, law and much more. Williams runs her own PR firm- Goddess Media NYC- in New York, and is currently authoring her second novel.

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That natural hair care industry is experiencing consistent growth with no signs of slowing down or stopping. In 2016, it was estimated that consumers spent $2.56 billion dollars on natural hair care products alone and that the natural hair care industry was worth upwards of $760 million. As a naturalista, you may have some concerns with who the companies are behind your favorite natural products. Are your natural hair products black-owned- or not?

You may be surprised to find that many of the top products you find lining the beauty supply, drug store major retail and big-box shelves aren’t black owned. You also want to pay attention to the ingredients. Just because it says it’s formulated for natural hair doesn’t mean the ingredients are natural and don’t contain carcinogens. Some of these include parabens and fragrance- which can contain several carcinogens that go unnamed and are simply categorized as “fragrance”.

Natural Hair Care Products that are NOT Black Owned

Carol’s Daughter (The company was purchased by L’Or’eal in 2014)

African Pride

Smooth N Shine

Dark and Lovely

African Best

Crème of Nature

Dax

Soft & Beautiful

Just for Me

Dr. Miracles

ElastaQP

Ultra Sheen

Optimum Care

Doo Gro

Natural Hair Care Products that ARE Black Owned and Exclusively Contain Natural Ingredients

Miss Jessie’s

Kinky-Curly

Sienna Naturals

Camille Rose Naturals

Mielle Organics

CURLS

Madam C.J. Walker (Owned by Essence Ventures, which own SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, and Madam C.J. Walker)

You’ll notice that the black-owned list is shorter than the non-black owned, but the products are phenomenal, cater to all textures of natural hair and customers rave about them. With just a little bit of research, you can assure your dollars are going back into black-owned companies and not lining the pockets of major retailers. These retailers consistently utilize marketing tricks, visuals, and verbiage to make consumers think their products contain natural ingredients and are black-owned. If you aren’t certain, always read the label and research the company itself to find out who owns it. 

Author: Qiana Williams

“Changing attitudes about natural hair” is what we do at Natural Haircare News. Through informative articles, podcasts and videos, we go beyond just sharing the latest advice and tips on kinky, curly, wavy haircare – We shake things up and focus on the realities of wearing our hair natural.