What is gatekeeping and what does it mean in the hair industry? Gatekeeping is defined as the activity of controlling, and usually limiting, general access to something, and to understand why it is happening in the hair industry one must first understand what product gentrification is as the catalyst for gatekeeping.
Gentrification can be seen as the erasure of culture in exchange for diversity inclusion – in this case product gentrification can be seen as the erasure of a foundational target audience in business for inclusivity. Why is this a topic worth talking about? Last week there was a considerable debate spanning on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram about Mielle organics – a well-renowned black-owned hair care company. On December 29, Tiktoker Alix Earle, who has more than 3.5 million TikTok followers, recommended the hair oil in her 2022 Amazon favourites video claiming she saw “tremendous hair growth” in just a month, and thus the “Alix Effect” was born, causing the Mielle Organics rosemary mint scalp and hair strengthening oil to sell out within minutes and a price jump from $9.99 to $29 on Amazon.
This effect has left many black women uncertain of where to source their already scarcely supplied haircare products, and fearful that this newfound love for Mielle organics by a wider audience demographic will cause the business to “sell out” on the loyal customer base on the pursuit of business expansion. In June 2022, McKinsey released its Black Representation In The Beauty Industry Report, revealing that Black Americans “show an affinity and preference for Black beauty brands and are 2.2 times as likely to conclude that products from those brands will work for them.” However, as the report adds, “only four to seven percent of beauty brands carried by specialty beauty stores, drugstores, grocery stores, and department stores are Black brands.”
So why is gatekeeping so crucial for natural hair care products? Treasure Tress, a Black-British hair care subscription company reported in their Textured Hair Trend report, “47% of those with textured kinky or curly hair confirmed that they do not feel as though any of the top 10 hair care companies cater to their hair type.” The same report also states that products for naturally textured hair are “more expensive, more difficult to access, and are used more frequently than products for those with straight hair; resulting in an increased cost to the consumer.”
So the real question is, what can be done to stop hair care gentrification, but still, allow black-owned businesses to grow and expand without the fear of selling out on their loyal customer base? Additionally, what solutions can be implemented by industry leaders to stop the need for gatekeeping whilst cultivating more diversity and inclusion within the industry and the products being produced?
What is gatekeeping and what does it mean in the hair industry? Gatekeeping is defined as the activity of controlling, and usually limiting, general access to something, and to understand why it is happening in the hair industry one must first understand what product gentrification is as the catalyst for gatekeeping.
Gentrification can be seen as the erasure of culture in exchange for diversity inclusion – in this case product gentrification can be seen as the erasure of a foundational target audience in business for inclusivity. Why is this a topic worth talking about? Last week there was a considerable debate spanning on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram about Mielle organics – a well-renowned black-owned hair care company. On December 29, Tiktoker Alix Earle, who has more than 3.5 million TikTok followers, recommended the hair oil in her 2022 Amazon favourites video claiming she saw “tremendous hair growth” in just a month, and thus the “Alix Effect” was born, causing the Mielle Organics rosemary mint scalp and hair strengthening oil to sell out within minutes and a price jump from $9.99 to $29 on Amazon.
This effect has left many black women uncertain of where to source their already scarcely supplied haircare products, and fearful that this newfound love for Mielle organics by a wider audience demographic will cause the business to “sell out” on the loyal customer base on the pursuit of business expansion. In June 2022, McKinsey released its Black Representation In The Beauty Industry Report, revealing that Black Americans “show an affinity and preference for Black beauty brands and are 2.2 times as likely to conclude that products from those brands will work for them.” However, as the report adds, “only four to seven percent of beauty brands carried by specialty beauty stores, drugstores, grocery stores, and department stores are Black brands.”
So why is gatekeeping so crucial for natural hair care products? Treasure Tress, a Black-British hair care subscription company reported in their Textured Hair Trend report, “47% of those with textured kinky or curly hair confirmed that they do not feel as though any of the top 10 hair care companies cater to their hair type.” The same report also states that products for naturally textured hair are “more expensive, more difficult to access, and are used more frequently than products for those with straight hair; resulting in an increased cost to the consumer.”
So the real question is, what can be done to stop hair care gentrification, but still, allow black-owned businesses to grow and expand without the fear of selling out on their loyal customer base? Additionally, what solutions can be implemented by industry leaders to stop the need for gatekeeping whilst cultivating more diversity and inclusion within the industry and the products being produced?
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