Photo by Nick Owuor (astro.nic.visuals) on Unsplash
Best Black-Owned Hair Care Brands to Shop in 2022 – Our Ongoing Series!
By Jacqueline Samaroo
Hey, hey! Welcome to CurlyNikki’s ongoing series featuring a mix of well-known and up-and-coming Black-owned hair care brands.
Each has an identity all its own but they are all connected by a common goal: creating Black hair products that will produce the best results for textured hair. A healthy scalp and hair, leading to curls with tons of definition, hydration, and bounce are what these brands are all about.
And, stay tuned – there are more than 50 companies in the series. We’ll feature a new lineup of Black-owned brands for you each Friday!
Here are the five Black-owned hair care brands we are highlighting for you today.
1. Camille Rose
Mom-of-five Janell Stephens began crafting natural, vegan skincare and hair care blends as a hobby. Back then, she created her much-loved products for only family and friends but realized there was a huge need for concoctions like hers in the budding natural hair industry. Stephens founded Camille Rose in 2011 and launched her first line in 2012. Now, a giant among Black-owned hair care brands, Camille Rose offers more than 30 hand-crafted product ranges, including the Around the World Collection.
Products shoutout:
Camille Rose Almond Jai Twisting Butter
Meet Camille Rose’s most popular product, to date! Made with sweet almond milk, honey, and aloe vera to nourish, soften, and elongate coils and curls.
Camille Rose Buriti Nectar Repair Cholesterol Treatment
Formulated with Amazonian buriti fruit oil and a blend of omega-3-6-9 fatty acids to rejuvenate dry, heat-damaged, textured hair. A part of the Camille Rose Around the World Collection.
Related articles:
- Cholesterol and Hair Growth 101: Five Great Reasons to Do a Cholesterol Treatment
- How to Use a Blow Dryer (the Right Way!) to Dry Curly Hair – 10 Tips
- The Top 10 (Fixable) Things That Damage Natural Hair
2. Alodia
With several degrees, including a doctorate in Bio-Medical Sciences, under her belt, Dr. Isfahan Chambers-Harris decided to follow her entrepreneurial spirit in 2017 when she officially launched Alodia Hair Care. She was also driven by the need to solve the constant dryness, breakage, and damage her hair was experiencing due to chemical processing. The brand is focused on bringing the natural hair community “clean, green beauty products backed by science” plus free consultations for hair and scalp care.
Products shoutout:
Alodia Moisturize & Strengthen Curl Enhancing Butter Crème
A rich, styling cream made with cupuaçu butter, marshmallow, and Vitamin E. Can also be used to care for your hair under a protective style.
Alodia Nourish & Hydrate Deep Conditioning Masque
Contains all-natural honey, silk amino acids, avocado, and peppermint oil to help balance dry, itchy scalps and promote healthy hair growth. Effective for all hair types.
Related articles:
- Natural Haircare 2 Healthy Hair Butters – Cupuaçu and Tucuma
- Protective Natural Hairstyles: 21 Exquisite IG Loc Hairstyle Pics
- Curly Haircare: Vitamin E for Hair Growth – 6 Wonderful Benefits
3. CURLS
Mahisha Dellinger founded CURLS in 2002 with the vision of providing natural hair care products formulated with quality ingredients that actually worked for coily to curly hair. With that, she went from being Marketing Manager at a Fortune 500 company to CEO of one of the best-known and most successful Black-owned hair care brands around. The ever-expanding CURLS collections still focus on catering to the natural hair community and are available at multiple major retailers nationwide.
Products shoutout:
Curls Blueberry Bliss Hair Growth Oil
Contains an impressive list of good-for-your-hair-oils, including certified organic blueberry, pomegranate, gardenia flower, and grapeseed oils. Use as a pre-poo or finisher to promote hair growth.
Curls Cashmere & Caviar Hair Silk
Designed to strengthen and restructure curls while providing enviable sheen. The Cashmere + Caviar collection from CURLS also features a hair bath, hair gelle, hair masque, and hair serum.
Related articles:
- Ingredients 101: The Benefits of Grapeseed Oil for Hair Growth
- 5 Amazing Caviar Benefits for Skin and Hair Care
- Natural Hair Care Routine: The No. 1 Wash Day SUPERFOOD for Hair Growth | EfikZara
4. KALEIDOSCOPE
KALEIDOSCOPE is one of the up-and-coming, breakout stars among Black-owned hair care brands. Its founder and CEO, Jesseca “Judy” Dupart is a licensed cosmetologist with a passion for everything about hair, hairstyling, and hair care. Her now-booming KALEIDOSCOPE brand began when she opened her own hair salon in 2013 and has grown to include several hair care collections and the non-profit organization KaleidoKares, dedicated to giving back to the community. (Check out Jesseca’s interview on the Megyn Kelly Today show!)
Products shoutout:
KALEIDOSCOPE Extra Strength Miracle Drops Hair Growth Oil
A blend of oils designed for cleansing, nourishing, moisturizing, and stimulating your scalp and hair. Formulated with tea tree, peppermint, ylang-ylang, and geranium oils along with aloe vera extract.
Kaleidoscope Milk Shake – Leave-in Detangler Spray
A non-greasy and fast-absorbing that contains a blend of coconut milk, jojoba oil, and aloe vera to protect and soften hair as it adds slip for detangling.
Related articles:
- What Is a Hot Oil Treatment and 10 Reasons It’s Good for Natural Hair
- The Difference between Essential Oils and Carrier Oils – 4 Really Good Things to Know
- 10 Important Scalp Care Tips for Healthy Scalp and Hair
5. Oyin Handmade
Oyin Handmade’s founder, Jamyla Bennu, began making her organic hair care products in 2001 before building and launching the company’s website in 2003 in partnership with her husband. Black-owned hair care brands were hard to find back then, at a time when the natural hair movement was still in its infancy. Oyin’s all-natural, moisture-rich products for highly textured hair and ashy, dry skin became a hit with naturalistas, and its artisanal creations remain favorites to this day.
Products shoutout:
Oyin Handmade Honey Hemp Conditioner
Made with pure honey, aloe vera, hemp seed oil, and hydrolyzed silk protein to deeply moisturize hair and aid with detangling. Fun fact: “Oyin” is the Yoruba word for “honey”!
Oyin Handmade Hair Dew Daily Quenching Hair Lotion
A hair leave-in lotion with a mildly-sweet vanilla scent, made with castor oil, olive squalene, and aloe vera to combat dryness and put an end to breakage.
Related articles:
- 8 Common Causes of Dry Scalp Plus Easy Ways to Tell It’s Not Dandruff
- 11 Fabulous Benefits of Leave-In Conditioner for Natural Hair
- How to Restore Your Natural Curl Pattern – 4 Great Tips
Have we featured any of your favorite Black-owned hair care brands in our series, so far?
Let us know!
CurlyNikki says:
Story Time about Oyin Handmade: I had totally fallen off of any semblance of a natural hair routine until a few summers ago when the kids and I moved to the beach and I asked my happily retired parents to come with… for love, for life, for laughter, for child rearing, for meal prep, for grounding! Multigenerational livin’ rocks (most days, lol), until one of you goes natural and is all excited and stays watching youtube and reading old CurlyNikki posts asking about co-washes, pineappling, curlforming, hair steaming, t-shirt drying, hot oil treating, and various other super-involved throwbacks! One such throwback (for me anyway), is the brand Oyin Handmade. It was an all-time favorite for forever (I used to drive a country-mile in North Carolina to purchase it at a small boutique before they were in Target… that, and Blended Beauty! Remember them?!), and like many other products and techniques over the years, it got lost in the sauce. That sauce being my spiritual journey, lol, which raged from 2013 til 2018. Mom is presently in full-on product junkie mode and I definitely encourage it. She’s having fun, and it’s beautiful to watch. I remember being there. I told her of my love affair with Oyin’s Hair Dew back in the day, but told her that I didn’t remember the rest of the line being particularly memorable. I WAS SO WRONG. She bought the whole line recently, and I revisited the Honey Hemp Conditioner, and Oh. My. God. I’ve since thrown out all my tried-and-true cheapies, and even the more expensive, super thick and rich formulas, and invested in one big-ass pump bottle of Honey Hemp. My tub and hair shelf are looking real neat right about now!
This conditioner. It not only melts tangles in seconds (’cause behentrimonium methosulfate), it smells divine, and leaves my hair soft but clean. The slip is undefeated. I use it on Gia and Max, too, and Mom is feeling like the MVP. Having a new and super enthusiastic natural in the house isn’t so bad, after all!
Honey Hemp ingredients: purified water, organic aloe vera gel, behentrimonium methosulfate (and) cetearyl alcohol (emulsifier derived from colza oil), honey, virgin hemp oil, coconut oil, vegetable glycerine, hydrolized silk, citrus essences, fragrance, optiphen (preservative)
Hair Dew Ingredients: purified Water, Castor Oil, Olive Oil, Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (Emulsifier), Coconut Oil, Olive Squalane, Optiphen (Preservative), Cetyl Alcohol, Fragrance, And Love!
Standing with you in and AS Love,
Nik
