time after time it black women are excluded from important conversations. from white companies, this is something that as a black woman I’ve just come to understand as reality. black hair care products are limited; I’ve found about a solid four brands- Shea Moisture, Camille Rose, Cantu and As I Am. finding organic products for my hair (which is 3B/3C) is difficult- but my hair is not as coarse as many other black women. so finding good products that work for 4C (the curliest type, which does not hold moisture well and is often viewed as “ugly” (I don’t believe this to be true)). so when Shea Moisture unleashed an ad that talked about hair hate, I had high expectations. They failed me. The video included three women, two of which are white and one was black- with the perfect mixed girl curls that society loves. they didn’t represent black hair accurately- though majority of their consumers are black women. it’s a black brand, based off of hair recipes of an African woman named Sofi Tucker in Sierra Leone (see how many times I’ve read that bottle?! I didn’t even have to look at it!). I’ve been using Shea Moisture for years and it’s been a faithful product in my house hold. The products are pricey, normally about 13 dollars for just conditioner; my family has spent hundreds of dollars on their products. not to mention all the people I’ve recommended these products to (in real life and on my blog). they’ve issued an apology but honestly we all know it’s just to get good press. the damage is done. as of now i’m boycotting. don’t know how long it will last, but i am. they’ve gotta do better. black women have to be included in the picture because we matter.
Attached here is the video!
mayah's site 