The natural hair movement was one of the largest consumer movements in U.S. history, Black American women changed the worldwide 500$ billion cosmetics & beauty industry from 2008-2015 in what has been labeled the natural hair movement. A seemingly en masse rejection of chemical laced relaxers, toxic products and European beauty standards in this time period sent retailers into a frenzy as Black women almost totally halted the practice of hair relaxing and skin bleaching in favor of all natural products that were healthier alternatives. This resulted in the closing of a large number of Korean beauty supply stores sending a rippling effect through the industry.
Black women started mom and pop brands and created an online product and beauty culture that hurt the purse strings of international beauty brands. These brands have responded by co- opting black owned brands through subtrefuge and buyout while launching media campaigns that use black entertainers to heavily promote European beauty standards in the black community to regain the black female dollar. Resistance to these tactics has resulted in better representation in media and better hair care products
in addition to new beauty supply outlets that are increasingly black owned.
Contributed by Ms. C. Buford for Black History Month 2020
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