Who has the right to ‘black’ hair products?

[MetaDaughter]

White women aren’t being ‘banned’ from using black beauty products – but they should know this - by Kemi Alemoru. The Guardian.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/10/black-women-beauty-products-white-options?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

There’s so much irony tied up in this - hard to know where to begin …

That's not the case at all - shampoo only became the go-to way to wash hair in the mid-20th century. Before then, western/white women washed their hair much less frequently, and the main form of cleansing/caring for hair was through hair oils and tonics.

Some interesting info on Victorian and Edwardian hair care here: www.sewhistorically.com/victorian-and-edwardian-hair-care-night-time-hair-routine/

What a non issue.

I have blonde 2b/c hair and find some of the Afro hair ranges, and brushes, have worked well for my hair. My hair isn't especially coarse but thicker, and unruly, when dry. Nothing else takes it so well.

Wouldn't a wider use mean the products might be become cheaper and more accessible, OP? I used to have to visit the specialist shops in the city but now you can often find something suitable in standard shops or even the supermarket.

The specialist hair gels are also great. Nothing else works for my hair type and frizz.

This thread is a great example of people reading the headline and not the content!

How so? I read the article and the one in the Daily Mail the other day.

Good grief! Surely anyone can buy any product that they want to. Are people really advocating hair products apartheid?

white women have only very recently started using oils in their hair and scalp

But that's only quite recent in historical terms. Hair oil was widely used in England in the 19th century.

@D20 because the article makes clear no one is seriously 'telling' people which hair products they can and can't buy based on their ethnicity, which a number of posters seem to assume is what's happening.

'This debate isn’t about starting a race war against white women, or leading a movement to ban them from oiling their scalps. Instead, it stems from valid anxieties around beauty industry practices. It’s a stress signal. Black women have to put in so much work to find safe products that work for them – they’re just asking companies they helped popularise not to desert them so they have to begin their search all over again.'

What a lovely, sensible post!

I am in full agreement.

Anyone who has the money has the right to buy a product. I think it's great that there's more products available to suit all different hair types. I'm not sure why increasing sales and popularity would be a bad thing in any way. As a pp said, articles like this are divisive nonsense.

Black women have to put in so much work to find safe products that work for them – they’re just asking companies they helped popularise not to desert them so they have to begin their search all over again.

The broader point of the article is sound but I think rather than the divisive headline telling white women to “know this”, the above paragraph would have been a better lead in - because ultimately this is the crux of it, that companies are wont to chase profit over their founding values and ought to remember who brought them their initial success and their founding customer base.

One of the issues I see is around hair types and over typing.

So women with type 2 hair (wavy) are more likely to say they have type 3 hair (curly) and then people with type 3 hair see them on social media and assume that means they are getting towards type 4 hair (coily). But then the problem is people with type 4 hair have nowhere to go, there is no type 5.

Now if this is just people saying they have wavy, curly or coil hair not really an issue.

But hair products for curly hair suit some types better than others. I am at the top end of type 2, so cantu etc is too heavy and weighs my hair down, i have to use lighter products.

But what can happen is people using the wrong products for their type start complaining and the products get reformulated for less curly hair

So products for type 3 now suit type 2, and products for type 4 now suit type 3 but there was no type 5, so people with type 4 hair are left without products that suit them

And an awful lot of black hair care products, especially some of the bigger brands that are more widely available are actually not owned by black people. And they don't really care if they have products available for everybody as long as the money keeps rolling in.

One of the issues I see is around hair types and over typing.

So women with type 2 hair (wavy) are more likely to say they have type 3 hair (curly) and then people with type 3 hair see them on social media and assume that means they are getting towards type 4 hair (coily). But then the problem is people with type 4 hair have nowhere to go, there is no type 5.

Now if this is just people saying they have wavy, curly or coil hair not really an issue.

But hair products for curly hair suit some types better than others. I am at the top end of type 2, so cantu etc is too heavy and weighs my hair down, i have to use lighter products.

But what can happen is people using the wrong products for their type start complaining and the products get reformulated for less curly hair

So products for type 3 now suit type 2, and products for type 4 now suit type 3 but there was no type 5, so people with type 4 hair are left without products that suit them

And an awful lot of black hair care products, especially some of the bigger brands that are more widely available are actually not owned by black people. And they don't really care if they have products available for everybody as long as the money keeps rolling in.

I use the Aussie brand but I’m not Australian.

The thing is, there probably is more money to be made by marketing a product towards all races. But as you say, not all races have the same textured hair and some may find a product to be incompatible with their hair type. The ideal solution would be to bring out a “lightweight” version of their product vs reformulating the OG product

But what can happen is people using the wrong products for their type start complaining and the products get reformulated for less curly hair

Does this happen (genuine question)? If I bought a hair product and it was too heavy for my hair, I'd just think 'not the right product for my hair' - I wouldn't complain; and I wouldn't expect manufacturers to change a product because it didn't suit one hair type.

There are infinite variations of hair type, within the broad spectrums of fine/coarse/straight/curly/dry/greasy/different racial hair types. Unless you have the money to get someone to formulate something for your exact hair, you'd expect to shop around and have some successes and some duds, surely?

And why just white women? What if a Middle Eastern woman wants to use the product?

So why bait racial conflicts with such a divisive headline? When the issue then isn't white women but the companies?

I'm white and have wavy hair. I've used black hair products for years. White hair products are useless on curly or frizzy hair (crappy frizzease I'm looking at you).
Manufacturers need to increase supply sharpish.

I read the article and thought fair enough. It's not an area that I know about, not being one for consuming any kind of social media about hair/make up. I can't see why anyone who is white could read this and get upset about being asked to think about the impact of this on black women.

Being bald i've no use for hair products for any colour/race/creed etc

This is exactly it, identity politics are hugely divisive and have done a lot of damage in the last 10 to 15 years, more recently even more so

But surely it's great that they're available in general stores? if people don't buy them then they'll go back to only being stocked in specialist shops which must be a pain in the arse for customers to get to.