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Heres what You Said About Black Ownership in Beauty
In one of our recent articles, I shared with you the ownership history of several popular beauty brands and the community impact of Black ownership in beauty; in return some of you shared your thoughts on Black ownership in beauty by completing our survey. I want to thank everyone who took the time to take that survey and I will now share the results I have collected from all of your thoughts and opinions. Note that the percentages will not equal 100% because there were some people who used multiple brands.
A slight majority of people, 51.4%, stopped using a beauty brand upon discovering it was not Black-owned. Almost a third of people who completed the survey always make it a point to learn about who owns the beauty brands you purchase, while nearly half only factor this into perspective some of the time. The other 20% were noted as not being too concerned with the ownership background of their selected beauty brands.
(Royalty Free from Pexels.com) About a third of those surveyed make it a point to know who owns the beauty brands they buy.
A majority (60%) said that some, but not all, of the beauty brands they buy are Black-owned, while 20% stated not being sure whether the brands they use are Black-owned. The remaining 20% were closely divided between only buying Black- owned brands or acknowledging that none of the beauty brands they buy are Black- owned, though the majority of this 20% do only buy Black-owned brands.
In terms of the variation of makeup brands: 42.9% used Fenty Beauty and/or MAC, 20% used Black Opal, 14% used Juvia’s Place, 11.4% used Beauty Bakerie, and 8.6% used The Crayon Case. Some other brands that were noted, but not as commonly used, were: Mented Cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Laura Mercier, L’Oreal, Avon, Ulta, and Allure Faces by Nikki. Based on these results, it was determined that most people used at least one Black-owned makeup brand.
The hair care brands most notably mentioned by users from the survey were Black- founded brands, although no longer under Black ownership. As taken from the results, 51.4% used SheaMoisture, 22.9% used The Mane Choice, and 20% used Carol’s Daughter. The brands mentioned which currently still remain as Black- owned include: Mielle Organics (17.1%), Curls (8.6%), Camille Rose (2.9%), and Design Essentials (2.9%). The hair care brands that some used which are neither Black-owned nor Black-founded and were also the least popular were: Aunt Jackie’s, As I Am, Mane ‘n Tail, and Cantu.
For a group that seems to somewhat intentionally “buy Black†when it comes to their beauty brands, some don’t seem to keep that same energy when it comes to where they buy these Black-owned brands. Less than 1% of people who took the survey said they shop for hair care brands at a Black-owned beauty supply store. For those who are adamant about supporting Black beauty businesses, check out BPolished Beauty Supply and Sistah Sistah Beauty Supply, both Black woman- owned that are based in Texas. While some people did prefer to buy their makeup directly from Black-owned makeup brands, no one mentioned buying their makeup from Black-owned beauty retailers that sell multiple varieties of beauty brands. I’ll chalk it up to not yet discovering the many amazing Black-owned beauty retailers and beauty supply stores. It would be quite remiss of me not to direct you to my own online retail space, A'me-k, where all makeup and beauty brands are Black-owned or founded.
Though many of the those surveyed intentionally shop for Black-owned beauty brands, few shop at Black-owned retailers.
In an upcoming article, we will highlight some other notable Black-owned beauty retailers and beauty supply stores in Texas that you can choose to shop at for all your must-have beauty needs!
Emeka Anyanwu is an attorney and entrepreneur. She is the Founder of A'me-k, an online retail space for makeup, beauty, and grooming brands founded by Black entrepreneurs. She is the 2019 recipient of the National Black MBA Association – DFW Chapter’s Empowering Visionaries Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Emeka is a graduate of Stanford University, and she also received her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law and her M.B.A. and M.S. in Healthcare Leadership and Management from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Black Ownership in Beauty(PT.1): Bamboozled or Unbothered?
Here’s the ownership history of some beauty brands you’ve probably had in your own shopping cart.