6 Beauty Brands No Longer 'Black-Owned'

Six MORE "Black-owned" beauty brands that aren't Black-owned anymore — and this time the new owners are private-equity funds and foreign conglomerates you can't even picture. This is the sequel to the buying guide that named SheaMoisture, Mielle and Cantu. Last time the owners were giants you knew — Unilever, Procter & Gamble. This time the check gets cashed by an investment fund with no products, or a corporation headquartered in India, while the founder's face still smiles at you from the front of the box. Same trick, new aisle — the makeup aisle too. Watch Part 1 first — These 6 'Black-Owned' Beauty Brands Aren't Black-Owned Anymore:    • These 6 'Black-Owned' Beauty Brands Aren't...   Here are two things the label keeps off the front: who actually owns the company today, and what you pay. We walk all six, name the parent and roughly when it sold, and then point you toward two brands that are STILL genuinely, independently Black-owned. The six that aren't the independent Black-owned brands they look like: • Black Radiance — Markwins Beauty Brands (the largest privately-held U.S. cosmetics company; also wet n wild, Physicians Formula, Lip Smacker) • Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) — Dabur India (acquired parent Namaste Laboratories, ~$100M, completed Jan 2011) • African Pride — Godrej Consumer Products (acquired parent Strength of Nature, announced April 2016) • Mented Cosmetics — West Lane Capital Partners (private-equity, 2024; founders KJ Miller & Amanda Johnson) • Africa's Best — MavenHill Capital (private-equity; via parent House of Cheatham, founded 1968) • CURLS — the honest asterisk: founder Mahisha Dellinger kept majority/controlling ownership but partnered with private-equity-backed Beauty By Imagination (ACON Investments) in 2021 Still really yours (the rescue picks): • Bask & Lather — Shaina Rainford, bootstrapped, zero investors, 100% founder-owned (hair) • Danessa Myricks Beauty — founder-built, founder-run, in every Sephora (makeup; took a 2022 growth round — an investment, not an acquisition) The 10-second shelf check: search the brand name plus the word "acquired," or the word "owner." If the answer is a fund you've never heard of or a company in another country — and the founder story is still on the front — that's the founder-story marketing tax, and now you can see it. This is a buying guide about ownership and price. It is NOT about whether any product is safe, "toxic," or works — this video does not touch that. It's about who cashes the check. Chapters: 0:00 The Owners You Can't Picture This Time 1:14 What Your Dollar Is Really Buying 2:45 Ownership Truth: The One Thing the Box Hides 4:30 The New Villains: PE Funds & Foreign Conglomerates 6:20 Black Radiance (Markwins) & ORS (Dabur) 9:10 African Pride (Godrej) & Mented (West Lane) 12:30 Africa's Best (MavenHill) & the CURLS Asterisk 15:40 Still Yours: Bask & Lather + Danessa Myricks 17:50 The 10-Second Shelf Check ⚠️ Affiliate disclosure: Some links may be affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That never changes which brands make the list or a word said about them. 📚 Sources (ownership facts): West Lane Capital / Mented (2024): https://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea... Dabur completes acquisition of Namaste (ORS): https://www.dabur.com/press-releases/... Godrej acquires Strength of Nature (African Pride): https://www.godrejcp.com/media/press-... Markwins Beauty Brands (Black Radiance parent): https://www.markwinsbeauty.com MavenHill Capital portfolio (House of Cheatham / Africa's Best): https://www.mavenhillcapital.com 🛍️ Black History Declassified — Know who you're really buying from. #BlackOwned #BlackOwnedBeauty #BuyingGuide