In honor of Black History Month, all of us at Lu are celebrating Black entrepreneurs who built beauty brands the right way: with love, vision, and products that work for you rather than against you. The Black women on this list know what it takes to tame, maintain, and show off the natural beauty of their gorgeous kinks, curls, and afros. It’s time to put your money where their knowledge is with these black-owned businesses that produce outstanding hair care products for a variety of hair types and textures.
1. Sassy Hair Cap
Raised in Atlanta, Bianca Rush has dedicated her adult life to finding solutions for Black women’s common hair pain points. Her Sassy Hair Cap was born out of a need to find a head scarf that didn’t fall off or move around too much. This breathable, satin-weave solution shields hair that's wavy, curly, coily, or in locs, twists, or braids from too much friction that can cause damage and even lead to hair loss. Unlike other caps, Sassy Hair Cap is expandable to allow you to wear it at night when you let your hair down. Other products include satin pillowcases and a shower cap made of the same soft materials.
2. Pattern Beauty
You may know Tracee Ellis Ross from TV hits "Girlfriends" and "Black-ish," but did you know that she’s also a formidable beauty entrepreneur? Pattern Beauty is this multi-talented star's beauty brand, and its mission is to offer all curly girls empowering hair care and styling products to boost their hair health and define every single curl. We love the Heat Collection, which features a blow dryer and heat protectant that are designed to allow you style your curls without worrying about heat damage.
3. Baby Tress
For generations, Black and Brown women had to use toothbrushes to lay the edges of their hair. Baby Tress co-founders Shannon Kennard and Hannah Choi felt that these strong women deserved a tool just as strong, which is how they came up with the Baby Tress Edge Styler. This awesome 3-in-1 beauty tool tackles baby hairs, smoothes edges, and curtails flyaways with a comb, natural boar bristles, a pointed tip for parting, and a travel cap to take it everywhere with you safely.
4. Kadalys
Djibouti-born entrepreneur Shirley Billot is the brains behind Kadalys, a Black-owned brand that believes in the science of bananas. When she was growing up, her mother touted the healing properties of the banana tree. Now, she has a range of products that help women around the world look and feel better thanks to this regenerative plant. Check out the Kadalys Facial & Hair Oil with green banana bio-active, vegetable oils from green tea, avocado, and jojoba that can be applied to both your hair and skin to relieve dryness.
5. Sunday II Sunday
Sunday II Sunday is a hair care company that specializes in products for women who sweat. Founder Keenan Beasley was inspired by the women in his life who lived an active lifestyle but didn’t want to sacrifice sweat for beauty. A key issue Sunday II Sunday tackles is scalp care, as a common drawback of sweating during exercise is a flaky scalp. The Soothe Me Daily Scalp Serum Infused with Peppermint Oil will help improve your scalp health within 28 days and can soothe an itchy scalp within 15 minutes. Beyond fighting inflammation, it also promoted healthy hair growth.
6. The Wrap Life Kelly Bandie
Wrapping is a way of life. Most curly girls understand that having a good wrap in the wardrobe is vital to keep hair frizz-free overnight, but what about during the day? Nnenna Stella wanted to bring beautiful wraps to the mainstream by creating products that women will feel comfortable to wear to work, dinner and beyond. The Wrap Life was destined to become an inclusive hair accessory brand that provides "beautiful, functional, and intentionally designed products." Check out their site for a range of colorful and practical wraps, bandies, turbans, hats, headbands, and scrunchies.
7. Curls Dynasty
If you’re planning on ditching the chemicals and rocking your natural hair, Curls Dynasty is here to help. Nickie Nougaisse has created a range of hydrating, fortifying hair products that combat dryness and help curls bounce back from anything you’ve thrown at them over the years. Try their organic oil blend, which is packed full of nutrients to help naturally textured hair like curls, kinks, and coils thrive.
8. Swirly Curly
Swirly Curly is a Black-owned hair care company that specializes in Black hair and afro hair cuts. Keziah Dhamma has dedicated her life to solving the problem that many Black women face when trying to find products that actually tame afro curls. Swirly Curly’s first product was the Snappee™ Curly Hair Ties that make it easy to put your hair up in high and low puffs, buns, and more. The success of this pain-free and easy-to-use product has led Dhamma to expand her afro-friendly range to include scarves, towels, hairdryers, hair jewelry and much more.
9. Hairbrella
Everybody knows that rain can be a serious problem for hair. Enter Hairbrella, a range of women’s rain hats that are stylish, comfortable and compact, making the perfect defense against unexpected showers. Atlanta-born owner Trackey Pickett was sick and tired of getting caught in the rain every time she went to the salon, so she started bringing a shower cap with her in her handbag just in case, which was the lightbulb moment that led to her Hairbrella invention.
10. NaturAll Club
When her curls became too much to manage, Muhga Eltigani decided to chop off her locks and begin again, but this time with only natural products. Her refrigerated regime included avocados, olive oil, coconut, baking soda, and eggs, which to her surprise worked wonders. She realized that the natural hair community needed natural products to combat chemicals commonly being used in hair, so she set up NaturAll Club. Her "farm to freezer" line keeps it cool, just like the ingredients from her refrigerator, and even includes a selection of ice cream treatments like the Fresh Frozé Treatment Bundle to deeply condition hair.
11. Camille Rose
What started as a way to cure the eczema of founder Janell Stephens' five young children has blossomed into one of the leading Black-owned businesses in the beauty industry. In just three years, Camille Rose has become a multi-million dollar company and a household name for its range of products made using food-grade ingredients and gourmet blends. With products designed for hair texture that ranges from wavy and kinky to straight, there's something for everyone.
Which of these Black-owned hair products and accessories have made it into your hair care routine? Let us know in the comments!
