My monthlong experiment, overall, was very much needed. As a black woman in the beauty industry, I find it’s easy to forget about the smaller businesses if they're not constantly in my face or being sent to my front door. But fret not. I now understand it's my duty to support no matter the size of the brand, as long as the products are well worth it.
Most of these brands work just as well as the most expensive lipstick (Christian Louboutin, $90) or foundation (La Prairie, $230) in my makeup bag. They might even work a little better if you factor in self-esteem. The boost you get as a black woman when someone compliments you and asks what you're wearing goes unmatched when you say the words black-owned brand.
Our work isn't done, though. While my experiment showed me how many options there are available, it also made a few holes in the market glaringly obvious. Like hair tools, for example. I did countless searches and found one straightener—EAP Heat, created by black entrepreneur Ming Lee. It took so long to track down, though, I didn’t get to test it. And the search for curling irons and hair-dryers? I came up blank. It was so ironic to me that black women use them so often at the doobie shop, beauty salon, or on our natural hair or extensions, yet the search results were low. (Perhaps this will be my very own next venture; cough-cough—manufacturer-distributor partnership, anyone?)
Moving forward, I’ve made it a personal mission to examine my efforts toward my community—that being my industry, my background, and my race. Black women are visually underrepresented, so it’s important that we all make a better effort of inclusion in our sphere. For the sake of my six-year-old niece, who made her very own collection of lipsticks I leave in the car—walking into Sephora will never be the same. Next time she holds one up and asks, "Who is this by?" I’ll make sure it’s a lipstick by a woman who looks like her, who can inspire her to follow her dreams and create her own business, despite what societal statistics say about black-owned shops. We may have the least ownership now, but that'll change as we realize there's capital power in our buying efforts. But it all rises with you and me.
