Diversifying the beauty industry

The costmetics industry has historically worshipped an exclusively white image of beauty, as if the sculptures and paintings of the Rennaisance were the sole yardstick by which the diversity of human beauty was to be measured. Black women are only now forcing the question about where there place is in the beauty industry, overturning the exploitative practices of hair straightening and filling gaping holes in the market with products that meet the needs of women with darker skin tones.

Tendai Moyo & Ugo Agbai – co-founders of Ruka Hair

Tendai and Ugo are the co-founders of Ruka Hair, a company dedicated to understanding and serving curly, coily and wavy hair and their unique properties both collectively and individually. Having felt left out of the decisions made about their own hair, South London born Ugo, and Zimbabwean born Tendai, founded Ruka Hair with the intention to put Black women at the centre and innovates around their needs.

In addition to the Diversity Tax paid by all minorities who are forced to conform to be accepted, Ruka Hair draw attention to an additional Black Woman Tax paid by Black women in the form of products imposed on them by an exploitative cosmetics industry that continues to idealise an exclusively white image of beauty. In 2021, Black women continued to spend six times as much as their White counterparts on hair treatments to straighten and manage their hair.

“Historically, hair has always been a special part of Black women’s identity … hairstyles passed down across generations, [represent] a source of pride, power and a visual representation of the creativity of Black women. From beads and coins, to wool, if you explore African styles you see the sense of unity, love and deep culture that surrounded our hair.

The joy of our hair was almost stolen from us [but] in the same way that ancient communities believed that it helped with divine communication (and why they only entrusted close relatives to do hair styling), getting your hair done is still sacred today. Black women have continued to recreate those intimate experiences on living of course, salons.

Focus on Black women’s hair

Ruka Hair reports that, in addition to the Diversity Tax paid by all minorities who are forced to conform to be accepted, Ruka Hair draw attention to an additional Black Woman Tax paid by Black women in the form of products imposed on them by an exploitative cosmetics industry that continues to idealise an exclusively white image of beauty. In 2021, Black women continued to spend six times as much as their White counterparts on hair treatments to straighten and manage their hair.

“Historically, hair has always been a special part of Black women’s identity …hairstyles passed down across generations [represent] a source of pride, power and a visual representation of the creativity of Black women. From beads and coins, to wool, if you explore African styles you see the sense of unity, love and deep culture that surrounded our hair.

The joy of our hair was almost stolen from us [but] in the same way that ancient communities believed that it helped with divine communication (and why they only entrusted close relatives to do hair styling), getting your hair done is still sacred today. Black women have continued to recreate those intimate experiences on living of course, salons.”

Ruka hair

Rachael Twumasi-Corson

Co-founder of award-winning ethical startup Afrocenchix, which creates safe, effective, vegan-certified products for Afro & curly hair, Rachael studied at the Institute of Trichologists before completing a Master’s degree in Medical Anthropology on her journey from studying Law at university to developing her hair empire. She has spoken at hundreds of community organisations, schools and universities, as well as global organisations, appeared on London Live and at the BBC.

Dame Pat McGrath

Famed for her bold experimenation, Dame Pat MgGrath has spent decades shaking up the fashion and beauty industry with looks that celebrate diversity and flatter skin tones of all hues. She created stunning new looks for brands including Prada, Dior and Valentino before launching her own Pat McGrath Labs make-up brand in 2017, filling the gap in the cosmetics market for make- up designed to work with different skin tones which was valued just a year later at £770 million.

Bianca Miller-Cole

After founding the Be Group specialising in branding, image consultancy and employability skills training aged 23, two years later Bianca appeared on BBC One’s The Apprentice, and one year after that, her business boasted clients from HSBC and American Express to the University of Cambridge. She went on to launch the Bianca Miller London hosiery brand for women of colour in 2015. She has written books on starting and running businesses and appears regularly as a keynote speaker and influencer.

Not stopping there, Miller-Cole went on to create Bianca Miller London, a hosiery brand for women with different complexions in 2015. She has also written two books on starting and running businesses and appears regularly as a keynote speaker and influencer in business circles. She featured on the Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in 2018 adding to more than 15 achievements she had already received for her business acumen.

Ama Amo-Agyei

After losing her job during the coronavirus pandemic, Ama Amo-Agyei founded wellness brand Plant Made, creating plant-based cosmetics. She grew the business from a cottage industry to achieve six-figure profits with a loyal loyal repeat customer base in just three years.

Kemi Ola Joseph

Makeup artist Kemi Ola Joseph founded the personal care brand KEM in 2017 hoping to offer affordable premium cosmetics to non-white communities, who regularly face challenges finding products that match their skin tone and work well for them.