This is part of WTOP’s continuing coverage of people making a difference from our community authored by Stephanie Gaines-Bryant. Read more of that coverage.
Even though industry experts say Black haircare is a $2.5 billion industry, unfortunately, many of the hair products being marketed to Black women are dangerous for their health.
Among those products are hair straighteners that a National Institutes of Health study found increase the risk of uterine cancer.
Montgomery County, Maryland, resident Hannah McCall is the executive director of the nonprofit Clean Beauty for Black Girls. She told WTOP that many personal care products marketed to Black women contain harmful, “endocrine disrupting chemicals.”
“Haircare products and skin care products — specifically, with a lot of coloring — are most harmful to us,” McCall said.
Researchers at Harvard estimate that about 50% of products commonly used by Black women could contain parabens and phthalates, which can cause cause hormonal disruptions and may be linked to diabetes, obesity and cancer. These products include hair lotions, creams and oils marketed to Black women — only 7% of products advertised to white women contain similar chemicals.
McCall said that’s why she started a blog that educates women and young girls about Black women-owned haircare companies and the chemical ingredients in hair and skin products.
“I just think it’s so important to give young girls the tools to empower themselves,” she said. “… I love whatever you want to do with the hair on your head, I just want everyone to have the opportunity to do it safely.”
McCall said she loves the fact that women have the freedom to do whatever they want with their hair, whether it’s straightening, going natural or braiding, but a lot of products not made by African Americans are focused on, “changing what makes us beautiful.”
“We don’t need to change to be beautiful, and we certainly don’t have to take on these long term health effects to be beautiful,” she said.
Clean Beauty for Black Girls holds free Sister Circles throughout the community, most recently at Howard University, where they provided information about safe hair care, addressed hair concerns and spoke with women about their hair experiences.
To find out how you can host a Sister Circle in your community, you can visit CleanBeautyforBlackGirls.org.
