Whoaa this is revealing! I’ve also been thinking about hair care products like sleep bonnets and wraps made by companies such as ‘My Kitsch’ that are run by (very wealthy) white women... I’m a white woman, and I purchased their “satin” (read: polyester) pillowcases to try for my curly hair, but returned as soon as I realised they were fully synthetic (not what I was looking for)... it was a swift return, and I couldn’t fault them for their customer service, but there was something really on the nose about the language they used in all the comms, re: “thank you for supporting our small women-led business” as if they were this tiny start-up operating out of their kitchen... according to this article, My Kitsch reached $87 million in 2020 earnings... https://www.glossy.co/beauty/inside-the-kitsch-beach-house-the-malibu-property-at-the-heart-of-the-brands-influencer-strategy/
Anyway! It got me thinking about that *scrunchie empire*, and the incredible wealth this woman is building on the back of a brand that caters to the curly hair needs of (predominantly Black) women, without any of that money going back to the communities that she caters to... it’s big business, but one that doesn’t seem to benefit anyone but the company founder or stakeholders. The more I read the Unpublishable, the more I realise that this is nothing new in the beauty industry, but still, it gave me the ick!
Thank you for shining a light on another shadow of the haircare world, Clarissa! I’m learning lots.
LOVED THIS. Thank you for writing this, Clarissa! I, too, have witnessed the seemingly never-ending Black hair oils, butters, creams, etc. that are supposed to encourage growth and moisture retention. I have 4C hair and honestly the most these products have done for me is moisture that lasts 1 day...then I reapply lol. Definitely going to pursue simple and straightforward methods. Thank you again!
so excited to read about hair - thank you for this! i am white, but i have very curly hair that i didn't know how to maintain, style, or love until i learned from black women online in the 2010s. i have used tons of products in search of what could work (right now i'm using pattern, so far so good). the messaging from a lot of brands is similar to that of skincare - that curls are a problem, they're "unruly" and "damaged" and need to be "tamed." i've wondered since reading the unpublishable if hair products are really making my hair worse. i would love to hear more on this topic!
yes!! As a hairstylist, I do spend a lot of time dispelling myths about just *how* much product clients need in their hair. I noticed a huge uptick in clients with curls using things like Shea Moisture, which creates so much waxy buildup and eventually can suffocate the hair strands. It’s like wearing heavy foundation and never washing it off. I find my clients with the tightest curls and coils are telling me they are used to spending hundreds of dollars on product to maintain their hair in a “natural” state, which absolutely sucks and doesn’t need to be the case. People deserve to free their minds and wallets from the hair product industrial complex! Shoutout specifically to natural hairstylist educators such as Kia Fay @kiathecurlconsultant who taught me much of what I know :)
* By the way - I’m still on the hunt for a natural silk/ satin pillowcase so if anyone has any leads for companies to try, I’d love to hear them... Black-led even better!
Yes I loved this post as it has validated my own hair journey. I have thick South Asian curly, wavy hair and every single hair product includes oils and thick moisturizers that look good for two days but get weighed down. And then there is all of this mis-information about what ingredients a shampoo and conditioner should be so I started using all natural stuff not realizing I was washing my product coated hair with more oil! Reading this article connected the dots for me and I wish finding more authentic creators was easier to find without all the overt commercialization of certain 'black hair' or 'curly hair' products. If anyone has any recommendations for better content creators who actually know what they are talking about please let me know.
Great guest post! I have coily hair (4C but I know the typing system is flawed) and I get maintenance cuts from my stylist every 4 months and wash weekly. It’s been hard to adjust to being forced to embrace my hair in its unstretched state. It’s shorter and getting cuts, even though it’s good for my shape and styling feels counter intuitive to my length goals. It also feels more edgy than I’m comfortable with at times and I get way less compliments from other races of people. But it’s been good for my hair health and it’s an easy routine to maintain so I guess it’s here to stay.
Whoaa this is revealing! I’ve also been thinking about hair care products like sleep bonnets and wraps made by companies such as ‘My Kitsch’ that are run by (very wealthy) white women... I’m a white woman, and I purchased their “satin” (read: polyester) pillowcases to try for my curly hair, but returned as soon as I realised they were fully synthetic (not what I was looking for)... it was a swift return, and I couldn’t fault them for their customer service, but there was something really on the nose about the language they used in all the comms, re: “thank you for supporting our small women-led business” as if they were this tiny start-up operating out of their kitchen... according to this article, My Kitsch reached $87 million in 2020 earnings... https://www.glossy.co/beauty/inside-the-kitsch-beach-house-the-malibu-property-at-the-heart-of-the-brands-influencer-strategy/
Anyway! It got me thinking about that *scrunchie empire*, and the incredible wealth this woman is building on the back of a brand that caters to the curly hair needs of (predominantly Black) women, without any of that money going back to the communities that she caters to... it’s big business, but one that doesn’t seem to benefit anyone but the company founder or stakeholders. The more I read the Unpublishable, the more I realise that this is nothing new in the beauty industry, but still, it gave me the ick!
Thank you for shining a light on another shadow of the haircare world, Clarissa! I’m learning lots.
LOVED THIS. Thank you for writing this, Clarissa! I, too, have witnessed the seemingly never-ending Black hair oils, butters, creams, etc. that are supposed to encourage growth and moisture retention. I have 4C hair and honestly the most these products have done for me is moisture that lasts 1 day...then I reapply lol. Definitely going to pursue simple and straightforward methods. Thank you again!
so excited to read about hair - thank you for this! i am white, but i have very curly hair that i didn't know how to maintain, style, or love until i learned from black women online in the 2010s. i have used tons of products in search of what could work (right now i'm using pattern, so far so good). the messaging from a lot of brands is similar to that of skincare - that curls are a problem, they're "unruly" and "damaged" and need to be "tamed." i've wondered since reading the unpublishable if hair products are really making my hair worse. i would love to hear more on this topic!
Also parallels to diet culture! Fat bodies must be tamed!
yes!! As a hairstylist, I do spend a lot of time dispelling myths about just *how* much product clients need in their hair. I noticed a huge uptick in clients with curls using things like Shea Moisture, which creates so much waxy buildup and eventually can suffocate the hair strands. It’s like wearing heavy foundation and never washing it off. I find my clients with the tightest curls and coils are telling me they are used to spending hundreds of dollars on product to maintain their hair in a “natural” state, which absolutely sucks and doesn’t need to be the case. People deserve to free their minds and wallets from the hair product industrial complex! Shoutout specifically to natural hairstylist educators such as Kia Fay @kiathecurlconsultant who taught me much of what I know :)
* By the way - I’m still on the hunt for a natural silk/ satin pillowcase so if anyone has any leads for companies to try, I’d love to hear them... Black-led even better!
Yes I loved this post as it has validated my own hair journey. I have thick South Asian curly, wavy hair and every single hair product includes oils and thick moisturizers that look good for two days but get weighed down. And then there is all of this mis-information about what ingredients a shampoo and conditioner should be so I started using all natural stuff not realizing I was washing my product coated hair with more oil! Reading this article connected the dots for me and I wish finding more authentic creators was easier to find without all the overt commercialization of certain 'black hair' or 'curly hair' products. If anyone has any recommendations for better content creators who actually know what they are talking about please let me know.
Great guest post! I have coily hair (4C but I know the typing system is flawed) and I get maintenance cuts from my stylist every 4 months and wash weekly. It’s been hard to adjust to being forced to embrace my hair in its unstretched state. It’s shorter and getting cuts, even though it’s good for my shape and styling feels counter intuitive to my length goals. It also feels more edgy than I’m comfortable with at times and I get way less compliments from other races of people. But it’s been good for my hair health and it’s an easy routine to maintain so I guess it’s here to stay.