Black Beauty Week: Spending rises and funding falls, but innovation advances

National Black Beauty Week is taking place from August 16–22 across the US, aiming to address the plateauing of major beauty companies’ diversity commitments. The lull in investments arrives despite a rise in the demographic’s spending. Meanwhile, targeted innovation for people of color is accelerating. 

The initiative was founded by Black beauty culturalist Stephenetta (isis) Harmon in 2022 and is organized by Sadiaa Black Beauty Guide, a Dallas, US-based beauty platform dedicated to celebrating Black beauty brands.

Sadiaa cites data that estimates black consumers drove US beauty spending by 9%, shelling out US$16.2 billion in the past year. The estimate rises when accounting for non-US purchases, such as imported hair and cosmetic products.

Despite these statistics, Harmon says that Black buying power and influence remain at opposite ends of the spectrum. The company says funding for Black beauty founders has plummeted nearly 80%, from US$73 million in 2022 to US$16 million in 2024, while grant and accelerator opportunities have more than halved.

“Black consumers — women, in particular — drive markets and trends as loyal consumers who are willing to spend top dollar to feed their beauty fixes. Yet, we remain underserved and underrepresented, with persistent gaps in access to marketing, funding, resources, product choices, and services,” she says.

Sadiaa Black Beauty Guide asserts that National Black Beauty Week provides a dedicated moment to examine people of color’s representation, influence, and opportunities in the US beauty industry.

“Ultimately, we’re working to change how the world sees, celebrates, and experiences Black beauty. That starts with creating and taking up space.”

DEI rollback

This year’s theme for National Black Beauty Week is “The Promise of Black Beauty.” It aims to push back against the beauty industry’s seemingly atrophied interest in empowering people of color.

In the years following the 2020 racial justice protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, beauty companies, retailers, and grant programs promised greater opportunities for creators and professionals of color, Sadiaa says.

Those promises, made amid the urgency of summer 2020, are now being tested. Sadiaa says companies are scaling back diversity initiatives and reconsidering commitments.

Cécred is expanding its density-focused portfolio from hair and edge care into lash and brow products.“The industry’s attention may shift, but our influence doesn’t disappear with a corporate initiative or a funding cycle,” says Harmon. “Black communities have always created beauty movements, built businesses, and shaped trends — often long before the mainstream industry recognized their value.”

Skinified density-care

Despite the reported rollback of industry support, some Black beauty brands are able to maintain their foothold.

Cécred, the hair care brand founded by singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, has expanded its Restoring Collection with the launch of a Lash & Brow Builder and an XL size of its Restoring Hair & Edge Drops.

The edge drops’ original serum, which debuted in September 2024, quickly rose to online virality because it addressed a specific concern for many people of color: thinning edges and hair loss. 

Many hairstyles worn by people of color can be tight, pull on the scalp, and often include chemical treatments. Personal Care Insights previously reported on the disproportionate harm Black women face from chemicals in targeted hair products.

Edge control and hairline maintenance are a priority in Black hair care, and Cécred tapped into that need with a science-backed solution.

The expansion from edge care to lash care follows consumer behavior. “We saw an interesting phenomenon after we launched Restoring Hair & Edge Drops,” says Grace Ray, CEO of Cécred.

“Resourceful customers were applying it to their lashes and brows to make them thicker and fuller. This innovative behavior pointed us toward an untapped market gap: a highly effective lash and brow density product powered by peptides instead of prostaglandins that delivers results without the typical tradeoffs and side effects.”

The Lash & Brow Builder applies proprietary peptide and keratin technology to lashes and brows. The move reflects the broader skinification trend in beauty — where skin care grade actives are incorporated into product formats beyond the face, such as oral care, makeup, and body care. 

Lash and brow sparseness can result from over-tweezing, makeup removal, and aging; however, many existing serums come with side effects, such as redness, irritation, and hyperpigmentation, particularly because they are used on such sensitive areas. 

Beauty brands and retailers are expanding products designed around textured hair and the needs of consumers of color.According to Cécred, these effects are more pronounced on melanin-rich skin. The brand’s formula is therefore prostaglandin-free and ophthalmologist-tested, which the company says addresses a gap in the market that has historically overlooked how these products perform on darker skin tones.

Ulta texturizes lineup

In another move targeted to Black and textured-hair beauty consumers, Ulta Beauty has added The Potion Studio to its textured hair care portfolio. The rollout will see the brand enter 460 stores by August 23, following an earlier website launch.

“As the next generation of beauty consumers becomes increasingly diverse, it’s important that our assortment evolves alongside them,” says Shianna Davey, VP of merchandising at Ulta.

The Black and Middle Eastern-owned brand joins an Ulta roster that already includes textured hair care labels such as Pattern, Rizos Curls, Mielle, Camille Rose, and Cécred. Founder Aziza El Wanni, who grew up in Suriname to Palestinian and Caribbean parents, created the brand to simplify textured hair care routines.

She was inspired by the Middle Eastern and Caribbean hair rituals she learned from her mother. The brand aims to emphasize the multifunctionality of these rituals. The shampoo also works as a body cleanser and beard wash, while the conditioner doubles as an intensive hair mask.

“We’re lazy naturals,” El Wanni says. “Our hair will still look good and be healthy, but we don’t have to spend all this time and money on a 10-step routine.”

Beauty Independent reports that the brand has more than doubled its revenue year-over-year since launching in 2021, and that El Wanni expects sales to grow four times over in 2026 thanks to the Ulta partnership.