By Darron, Licensed Hairstylist & Natural Beauty Advocate
Let me start by saying: I love the beauty business.
I love what I do. I love making people look and feel their best. But I didn’t come into this industry just to sell whatever’s trending on TikTok or to push products filled with ingredients I can’t pronounce.
I’m in this to stand for something—and to protect my people.
Because let’s be real: Black women—especially young Black girls—are being targeted. Not just by marketing campaigns or magazine ads... but by chemicals. Poisonous, hormone-disrupting, cancer-linked chemicals that are hiding in plain sight—in our beauty routines.
You might think that styling gel, hair relaxer, edge control, or your favorite body lotion is harmless. But many of the products marketed directly to Black women contain some of the most toxic ingredients on the shelves.
And the earlier we start using them, the worse the impact.
Studies show that the earlier a girl begins using beauty products, the higher her chances of developing breast cancer later in life. That risk is even higher for African American women, who are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer before the age of 40.
Why?
Because so many of the products we’re taught to use from childhood—hair grease, perms, oils, creams—are loaded with endocrine disruptors, formaldehyde-releasing agents, and fragrances that mess with our hormones.
Let me pause right there.
Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen. That means it causes cancer. Yet somehow, it’s allowed in products designed for little Black girls?
This isn’t just a beauty issue. It’s not just a “read the label” issue. This is environmental injustice.
Here’s a harsh fact:
🔺 50% of beauty products marketed to Black women contain harmful endocrine disruptors.
⚪ Compare that to just 7% in products marketed to white women.
Let that sink in.
This isn’t about personal responsibility—it’s about targeted harm. It's about who is considered worth protecting, and who gets overlooked. And unfortunately, Black communities—especially low-income Black communities—are often the last to be protected and the first to be poisoned.
The truth is, most people don’t know this is happening.
We’re not taught to question what’s in our hair food or body wash. We’re not warned that “fragrance” could be a cocktail of 3,000 untested chemicals. We just want to look good. To smell good. To feel beautiful.
But what’s the cost of that beauty?
We can’t afford to stay silent. I won’t.
That’s why I’m dedicating my work—not just as a stylist, but as a clean beauty advocate—to exposing this truth and creating safer alternatives. Because we deserve better. Our daughters deserve better. Our sons deserve better. Our lives depend on it.
To every Black woman reading this: you are already beautiful. You don’t need to compromise your health to fit into a mold that was never made for you.
We were born magic. We don’t need poison to prove it.
Want to know which products I recommend for clean, melanated beauty? Stay tuned—I'll be sharing my go-to clean alternatives soon right here and over on YouTube.
