Shea Moisture Controversy

So I know a lot of people are still confused as to what happened in regards to Shea Moisture. Long story short, they released an ad that was supposed to depict how these women faced hair hate. They had three women to represent this issue; one light skin (most likely mulatto), and the other two were Caucasian. It began with the light skin women who had 3B/3C curls, she said that growing up other kids used to throw paper balls in her hair. Next, was a blonde woman. She exclaimed she just didn't "know what to do with it (her hair)." And lastly, was a red-haired woman. She stated that she had to dye her hair blonde for seven years of her life... *You can watch the ad here*

First of all I just wanna say I feel wrong for even typing that. There are women of color all over the world who were brought up to hate their natural texture and told their hair was "nappy" and "unmanageable." THAT is real hair hate. The hate stems down to the culture, it's not just an aesthetic that can be messed with whenever. Caucasian men and women have had all the brands since day one. I remember going to the ethnic hair isle growing up and only seeing relaxers, shower caps, and bonnets. Meanwhile the "normal" hair isle contained all the oils and shampoos and conditioners that were not formulated for curls, kinks, or coils. 

If you want my opinion, even just as a mulatto woman, this ad sucks. I can only imagine how melanated women with tighter curl patterns feel after watching something like that, because as a former consumer of Shea Moisture products, I'm disgusted and disappointed. And I say "just as a mulatto woman" because women of color built Shea Moisture. They were obviously the sole consumers of this brand and were led to believe that the brand was FOR THEM and formulated by a melanated man who understood. Now, as many do not know, Richelieu Dennis is still the founder, but it is no longer a black owned business. The creative staff and VP of the company are all, you guessed it, Caucasian. 

For a brand to be based off of curly, kinky hair, you would think they would have a little more diversity. And rumors have also circulated that the formulas of the Shea Moisture products have been changed to accommodate white women's hair. Now, I guess what they were trying to do was show that Shea Moisture can be used for everyone's hair and everyone deserves love, which is very, very, true. But, was depicted very poorly. Instead of changing formulas (if that's really true,) they could of created a whole other line for straighter hair types. But to take the original products meant for woman of color and change them is doing the most for an extra buck. 

All in all, I guess getting more money was more important to them than staying loyal to their original consumers. This topic is so important to me to discuss since I am a natural hair blogger, reviewer, and hair influencer. I haven't seen many hair influencers step up and speak about it, so that's why I chose to. I hesitated, I won't lie. But, after giving it a lot of genuine thought, I can't support a company who's done something so classless, and disrespectful towards women of color. I'll continue supporting other black owned businesses who know the value of their light, dark, kinky, wavy, coily, customers. 

@PeachyMulatto

xx

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