Displaying items by tag: Beauty

These days, being able to work from home is an asset. With the current global events, it is crucial that individuals and businesses adopt alternative and innovative ways to provide services, reach their clients, spread their messages, learn and earn income. For this reason, licensed social worker and entrepreneur Jessyca Marshall has launched

Almost 100 years after Madam C.J. Walker built a 34-room mansion in New York, beauty business guru Richelieu Dennis plans to turn the legendary beauty pioneer’s estate into an incubator for black women in business. Talk about coming full circle!

Dennis, the founder of Shea Moisture who started his nearly $1 billion business empire by selling soap in Harlem in the ’90s, helped facilitate the acquisition of the Villa Lewaro estate. The New Voices Foundation, an organization that Dennis founded to empower women of color entrepreneurs, will spearhead the stabilization of the structure and planning for future use, according to a press release.

By a vote of 34-0, the New Jersey Senate approved a bill Sunday that would eliminate the state’s expensive and time-consuming license requirement for African-style natural hair braiders.

In New Jersey, braiders can only work legally if they are licensed cosmetologists. That license takes at least 1,200 hours of training, while tuition at cosmetology schools can cost upward of $15,000. Adding insult to injury, many cosmetology schools do not teach African hair braiding techniques, which are all-natural and shun the use of potentially hazardous chemicals.

Black-owned makeup line Pat McGrath Labs recently secured a $60 million deal from New York-based investment firm Eurazeo Brands, with beauty industry insiders speculating that its valuation has been raised to $1 billion and surpassing that of Kylie Jenner’s cosmetics company (valued at $800 million), according to a press release from the investment firm. Eurozeo will become minority shareholders in Pat McGrath Labs

Abdul O. Golden’s main objective in life is to help men of color grow. Whether it is through his Golden Grooming Company line of skin and hair care products or his philanthropy work with underserved communities and Historical Black Colleges and Universities.

“We strongly believe in self-empowerment and helping our community,” said Golden. “We believe in controlling our own destiny, healthy living, and taking care of our community. While you’re busy improving yourself and the lives of those around you, we make sure you look good doing it.”

Golden grew up in the neighborhood near East Eight Mile and Van Dyke and graduated from Osborn High School in Detroit. He also has degrees from Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State University, and Lawrence University. Golden is an accomplished individual but something was missing from his life as an entrepreneur and owner of a Tech Town Detroit software company in the early 2000s.

“I sold that company and went back to corporate America for a while,” he said. “I realized I missed owning my own business and so, I knew I wanted to start another business, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Then I kind of reflected on my past experiences.”

“I used to travel a lot for my job and there was a situation where I was trying to get ready for a trip and I happened to be out in Bloomfield somewhere and I was scrambling around to different drug stores trying to find grooming products. Being out there, it really wasn’t a lot that I could choose from. I thought about that experience and came to the conclusion that there was an opportunity in that space.”

Golden created Golden Grooming Co. in 2015, providing high-quality, all-natural grooming products specifically designed for men of color and began fully operating as a company in 2017. The company offers three products, including a beard, hair, and body wash, beard balm, and healing body lotion. All of the products are 100 percent natural, plant-based, and healthy for the mind, body, and soul of colored men.

“There a several unique aspects to this company and what we are trying to do,” said Golden. “First and foremost, this company is about really empowering men and helping them on their journey of living a healthy lifestyle. We are making products that help men that are on that journey. The products on the market aren’t good for men of color and our stuff is specifically designed and formulated for the needs, wants, and desire of men of color. What you put on your skin is just as important as what you put into your body.”

Staying ahead of the game, while keeping their community in mind, 5 percent of sales from Golden Grooming Co. will be donated to programs that foster entrepreneurship in youth of color from underserved communities, in addition to providing financial support for HBCUs at the end of 2018.

“As a company, we believe in giving back,” Golden said. “It’s not just about doing good for yourself, it’s also important to help others and contribute to your community. This is just a way that we think we can do that.”

“We know how important of a role HBCUs play in our community and to our people. Historically, they’ve been under-resourced and challenged. This is our way of trying to help how we can. Entrepreneurship is another path you can take to becoming a healthy, productive, member of society. And we like to donate to causes that help kids under entrepreneurship.”

Source https://michronicleonline.com/2018/05/25/golden-grooming-company-helps-men-of-color-grow-on-their-life-journey/

The natural hair care market is getting more and more crowded by the day. Shoppers now have more options on store shelves than ever before. That’s why when Monique Rodriguez launched Mielle Organics in May of 2014, she made sure her products for natural hair stood out above the fray.

Inside a tiny storefront on Jamaica Plain’s South Street, the light-filled interior of Faith’s Naturals feels surprisingly spacious. White walls, a high white tin-paneled ceiling and light-toned wood shelves, coupled with a few deep-pink accents, create an inviting look to the narrow space. Neatly arranged on the shelves are jars and bottles of fac...

Melissa Butler says she isn’t passionate about makeup.Butler, who founded The Lip Bar in 2012, says the booming beauty brand was birthed after becoming frustrated with the lack of colors on the market; and even more frustrated with her career as a stockbroker on Wall Street.“Five years ago, I decided that I wanted women to have products that...

Like father, like son.In 1988, Joshua Esnard—now the 30-year-old inventor and CEO of the breakout barber product of 2016 (The Cut Buddy)—was a 2-year-old boy. Esnard recalls the story of being in the countryside of his native Saint Lucia, as his father, Joseph, needed a way to get his Land Rover out of a ditch with nightfall fast approaching. Josep...

In her early 20s, while Joelle Jean-Fontaine toiled at a telemarketing firm, her heart was in fashion. She spent most weekends in New York City collaborating on fashion shoots with a photographer friend. By 2010 her clothing design pursuits led her to launch her clothing line, Kréyol. Over the last six years, Jean-Fontaine has developed products...