Iontrustit

I started making Fancy Free Hair & Skin's signature product, Whipped Shea for Hair & Skin, back in 2012 because there weren't many options for my thick, kinky hair. The list was short. Miss Jessie's 😕 Kinky Kurly 😝 And Ashea 😐 I called headquarters of Miss Jessie's to ask about the mineral oil listed as the first ingredient (meaning that was the main ingredient) and they assured me that they only use the finest of organic mineral oil. 😦 As a scientist, I was appalled by this response because mineral oil is a by product of petroleum. How can you have organic vaseline? BYE MISS JESSIE'S!!! The Kinky Kurly clumped my curls nicely but left my hair sticky and sometimes flaky. The ingredients of the Ashea was what I needed but it was waxy and I had to microwave a little so it would be soft and not leave clumps of product in my hair. I eventually said "Forget this" and started whipping my own. The rest is history.

So before I get into what I don't trust, let's get into some data because....well....I'm a scientist and I like numbers and data. African-American women spend 9 times more than any other group on haircare products. Relaxer sales have dropped almost 40% between 2012-2017. The natural haircare industry is valued at $2.54 billion. That does not include extensions and other haircare products. Let that sink in. Forty percent of the group that spends the most on haircare products are no longer spending their money with companies that sell products for relaxed hair. That leaves the door wide open for small, apothecary businesses like Fancy Free Hair & Skin.

Most businesses assess sales and revenues to adjust marketing as needed. So what do you think those fortune 500 companies who were selling trash products to the largest consumer of haircare products noticed? You've got it. A decline in sales. So they made changes to their products added "natural hair" product lines. A few claimed to hire some African-American cosmetologists to their research and development teams. At the very least, they changed the labeling and packaging to be more in line with what "naturals" are attracted to. Don't be fooled. Fancy doesn't trust it and neither should you. Here is my assessment of the whole ordeal.

THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT US, OUR HAIR, OR OUR HEALTH! ONLY OUR MONEY!!! They've been knowingly using carcinogenic ingredients and chemicals in our products for decades and only claim to have made changes recently. Let's take a closer look, shall we. 

Here are the ingredients for Suave's for Natural Hair Moisturizing Curl Conditioner. 

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Petrolatum, Dimethicone, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Behentrimonium Chloride, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Hydroxyethylcellulose, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Dipropylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, Amodimethicone, Potassium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, PEG-7 Propylheptyl Ether, Cetrimonium Chloride, PEG-180M, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool

Petrolatum is the third ingredient. Look how far down on the list coconut oil and shea butter are. That essentially means they threw a little bit in there so they could say it's in there but nothing significant. A lot of products use petrolatum and mineral oil because it's cheap and effective. But let's call it what it is. Water, vaseline, 3 drops of coconut oil, one teaspoon of shea butter, emulsifier to hold it together and some preservatives. There aren't any huge changes to the formula. How else can they sell this for $5 with a shelf life of however many years?

I'm not going to get into the hazards of a couple of these ingredients, just know that they're in there.....still. Marketed to us. Black women. We're just trying to maintain our black girl magical hair and health. DASSIT. Fancy Free Hair & Skin puts a lot of thoughts and love into our formulas to offer the highest quality ingredients that are effective and low cost because we care. THEY just want your money. That's why iontrustit.

Shameless Plug Alert:

Fancy Free Hair & Skin manufactures quality products for hair and skin, as well as provides natural hair consults for women who would like assistance on their natural hair journey. Our motto is "Keeping you fancy and free of chemicals." Visit our website, www.fancyfreehairandskin.com, to see a full range of our products and services. Sign up for our mailing list to receive natural hair tips and stay up to date on sales and the latest happenings with Fancy Free.

Visit www.fancyfreehairandskin.com to subscribe to our mailing list. Become Fancy's Friend to receive a code for 10% off your next purchase.

The Shea-M of It All

As a newly minted naturalista, I spent a lot of time AND money trying out different hair products. I could never find anything that got it quite right which is why I started making my own. However, Shea Moisture quickly became one of my staple products for shampooing and conditioning. So much so that I often recommend it to my Natural Hair Consult clients. It's relatively inexpensive and chemical free, right in line with the Fancy Free motto - Fancy and Free of Chemicals. The fact that it's owned by a black family was a plus. An awesome plus. A big plus. However, in 2015, a larger company, Bain Capital, became an investor to the family owned and run Shea Moisture. With big investors come new "visions" for the company. We know that. It never fails. BUT when loyal customers, black women, voiced their concerns about what the new investors meant for the company and products, Shea Moisture executives reassured us that nothing about Shea Moisture's core values would change. In fact, partnering with an investor allowed Shea Moisture to free up resources that gave them more freedom and capitol to invest in the community. So they said. The reality is, to grow as a company, you need more money to expand. Dassit. Dassall.

Now, when I saw the name "Bain", y'all know what I thought of, right? Bane, the villain in that last Batman movie. I'm just saying. And the fact that Mitt Romney is part owner of the company, a rich, white man.... I'm just trying to figure out how this conversation even started. Anyway, my experience in the corporate world is that no one cares about the people, only the bottom line. So let's see how this plays a role in this Shea Moisture ad fiasco.

Black women spend an average of $7.5 billion dollars every year on beauty products. Let that sink in. Seven. Point. Five. But what do people with money want? MORE MONEY!!! If we have loyalty from our black women, how do we expand our territory? Market to them. I'm sure that's how the board meeting went. And then the marketing team came up with that "interesting" campaign for hair products. And WE WENT AWF! Like, seriously. We get it. You want to expand, so you switch up your target audience but at what cost?

I started selling Fancy Free for Hair & Skin in March 2015 but I had been making it for myself since 2012. By summer 2015, I had an official logo, the Fancy Girl. A black girl, with big hair. She looks like me. She looks like my friends. She looks like a lot of the people who buy my products. My vision for Fancy Free is big.....YUGE - Donald Trump. In the beginning, I had some suggest I remove my beloved Fancy Girl to make it less ethnic. And it's true, when I'm out vending, some non-African Americans look at my banner and keep walking because they thinking it's not for them. However, the ones that try it, love it. They were not deterred by the brand of products that looks like it's not for them. They just wanted quality product. White isn't always right. African Americans rush to buy items that we never meant for us. Like, seriously, any shapely woman knows not to even try to fit into a pair of True Religion jeans. THEY WEREN'T MADE FOR US!!! Some designers have blatantly stated that they don't want black people wearing their clothes. They don't market to us. But we still buy for whatever reason.

I wish that the Shea Moisture executives had put their foot down at that meeting. I wish we didn't know that Shea Moisture thought that black women, who spend $7.5 billion dollars on beauty products, just wasn't enough for them. However, because we told them how we felt, they learned a valuable lesson and will tweak their approach. But....the damage is already done. I will still buy but only when I catch a B1G1 sale to combine with my coupons and can get it for next to nothing.

Shameless Plug Alert:

Fancy Free, LLC. is the manufacturer of quality products for hair and skin. Our motto is "Keeping you chemical free." Visit our website, www.fancyfreellc.com, to see a full range of our products and services. Sine up for our mailing list to receive natural hair tips and stay up to date on sales and the latest happenings with Fancy Free.

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