by
Christina Patrice
More Carol’s Daughter news broke early in the day on Monday, October 20th. Beauty conglomerate L’Oreal acquired the Carol’s Daughter brand. Lisa Price, Carol’s Daughter Founder and President made the following video announcement via the Carol’s Daughter Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152915056882224
Price shares,
“I want to thank all of you for the support and the love and for being beside me, and I want you to hold my hand as we walk into this next chapter of the Carol’s Daughter life… It brings me so much pride and joy to be able to join a family like L’Oreal because I know I’ll be with the right shepherd … the company that will help to take what I’ve built and solidify it in its place in history and beauty, and I don’t have to wonder if, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, will there still be a Carol’s Daughter brand. … ”
Price further expands,
“I have worked hard for the past 21 years nurturing my brand and am thrilled that we will have a new home with L’Oréal USA. L’Oréal has a proven track record of helping established companies achieve their full potential while staying true to the core of the brand and they have an understanding of the future of multi-cultural beauty. I could not be more proud to begin this next chapter of the Carol’s Daughter brand with them. I know that my mother (Carol) is smiling as well.”
In a separate statement, L’Oreal USA’s President Frederick Roze sheds some light on what drove the aquisition:
“Carol’s Daughter possesses an expertise in the multicultural consumer segment, a rapidly expanding market that represents an important growth opportunity in the beauty industry. This acquisition will enable L’Oreal USA to build a new dedicated multicultural beauty division as part of our Consumer Products business, and strengthen the company’s position in this dynamic market.”
The L’Oreal website and official press release identifies the Carol’s Daughter brand as an “American multi-cultural beauty brand with a pioneering heritage in the natural beauty movement”. Furthermore, the beauty conglomerate articulates that Carol’s Daughter caters to a “diverse, rapidly growing market and has established a loyal consumer following across the country” while throwing in the facts and figures — Carol’s Daughter brought in $27 million in sales during the last 12 months.
Carol’s Daughter will join 28 other brands under the L’Oreal umbrella, including NYX, Essie, Clarisonic, Garnier, Lancome, Maybelline New York, Softsheen-Carson, Redken, Urban Decay, Georgio Armani Beauty, and others. The closing of the deal is still subject to regulatory approvals, but it’s pretty much a done deal.
Now that we’ve gotten the facts out of the way, let’s have a little candid conversation. Fair warning about the words ahead: they’re 100% honest. I may come across a little harsh to some of you, and for that I apologize in advance. Ultimately, my intent is not to drag Lisa Price or Carol’s Daughter. I just want us to engage ourselves a little more critically in matters pertaining to natural hair. Feel free to disagree with me at any point, as I’m hoping this article will inspire thoughtful (respectful) debate.
Let’s carry on.
The last time we had a chat about Carol’s Daughter, it was back in April about the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing of the Carol’s Daughter Stores leg of the brand. It was in that article I shared that Lisa Price no longer owned the brand she created, rather that it was owned by Pegasus Capital Advisors, LP. It’s no secret that the brand sought to “broaden” the scope of who the brand caters to, by introducing a more “polyethnic” marketing campaign — much to the chagrin of long-time Carol’s Daughters supporters. The sale of Carol’s Daughter aligned with this multi-ethnic approach, and what many former supporters have identified as a decline in the quality and ingredients of the products.
Everything in me wants to be happy for Lisa Price — I wish her nothing but success and continued blessings as a pioneer in the natural hair industry. I’m not a hater, nor do I wish ill upon her. Carol’s Daughter is (?) her legacy, and let’s keep it real — when her brand launched in 1993, I was only 8 years old. She’s undoubtedly a natural hair heavyweight who helped pave the way for brands like Camille Rose Naturals, Alikay Naturals, Oyin Handmade, Koils By Nature, TGIN, Soultanicals, Eden BodyWorks and countless others. In that regard, she has my respect. But when I take a step back and look at the latest business moves of Carol’s Daughter with a more critical lens, I see something very problematic.
Off the bat without even thinking too hard, I see dollar signs. Roze’s statement reads like a flashback to Duck Tales, with Scrooge McDuck diving into a vault of golden coins and dollar bills. To put it plainly, L’Oreal wants our money…now. I would have respected Roze a little (a very, very little bit) more had he just come out and said, “We see how lucrative this natural hair thing is, and well, we want in.”
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to benefit financially from a market segment on an upward trajectory. Heck, I’d be lying if I said I never entertained the thought of founding my own line of products. Small business owners don’t just create brands with plans of taking hopes, dreams, and hugs to the bank — they’re in it to make money too. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to financially benefit and leave a footprint in a community that you are an active participant in. But this acquisition in my opinion, is just disingenuous.
After all, L’Oreal has been shading Black women for years. In 2008, L’Oreal came under fire internationally for being accused of (and denying) lightening Beyonce’s skin in print advertisements. The very next year, Garnier (one of the 28 brands under the L’Oreal banner) was forced by French courts to pay out over 60,000 Euros in fines and damages for intentionally creating an all-White sales team to promote the brand throughout Europe. [source]. In 2012, L’Oreal was under the microscope again, for broadcasting what many believed to be a commercial in which Beyonce distances herself from Blackness by identifying as African-American, Native American, and French. [source]
And this latest acquisition is nothing more than a facade for the shading that will continue under the banner of “multiculturalism”. I have absolutely no qualm with celebrating natural hair and beauty with women across the African Diaspora, and women who claim more than one ethnicity (I don’t talk in terms of race, as it is a social construct — but that’s another article for another time). There is beauty in our diversity, and no haphazard marketing campaign can take that away. But the deliberate “lightwashing” of the natural hair community does us a collective disservice. Calling Carol’s Daughter an “American multi-cultural beauty brand” is reminiscent of Raven-Symone foolery nothing short of a slap in the face. After all, American standards of beauty are what ultimately forced the hand of the natural hair counterculture. To allow the brand to fall to the point of being labeled as some bubbling cauldron of ethnically obscure and culturally ambiguous dollar signs and hair milks is an insult to every woman of color who has ever supported Carol’s Daughter.
At the end of the day, I’m sure this is an incredibly lucrative deal for both Price and Carol’s Daughter — but at what cost? I’m talking more than alienating faithful customers (because there will always be new ones to replace ya’ll #keepitreal) or potential changes in formula (pure speculation on my part, but it has happened before). I’m talking about our economic legacy as a natural hair community. Whether Price and the Carol’s Daughter team believes L’Oreal has what it takes to etch the brand in stone for the next 20 or 30 years is not for me to debate or dispel. My concern is this: that the Carol’s Daughter brand (with Lisa Price as the face) is continuing a dangerous trend of Black owned (or in this case, formerly Black owned) businesses aspiring to be bought out by mainstream companies who prior to now, have quite deliberately ignored us. Our communities will never grow to be economically stable or independent if we continue to let our end-game success be defined by mainstream valuation.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Price herself in response to a concerned supporter (who had hoped the news wasn’t true because she feels sadness when Black owned companies are sold to major white corporations), which I found while perusing my Instagram explore feed:
“…Please don’t be sad. It is business. It isn’t about color. Honestly. This is a good and phenomenal thing for me, my brand and my family. I am not going anywhere. I am proud to have been able to grow from $100 at a flea market in Brooklyn, making products in my kitchen to being sought by a French conglomerate. Please know, this is good. I promise you.”
What are your thoughts on the L’Oreal acquisition of Carol’s Daughter? Savvy business move, or another blow to the natural hair community? Please keep all comments respectful.
Sources:
http://www.lorealusa.com/press-releases/loreal-usa-signs-agreement-to-acquire-carols-daughter.aspx
http://bossip.com/125751/loreal-we-dont-want-black-women-selling-our-cosmetics/
83 Responses
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Lisa Price made a smart move, business wise.
What black businesses need is financial backing…there is a need for black conglomeratea, black investors, black shareholders, black equity firms.
It takes a large community to support businesses. Small businesses are cool but we also need corporate/large business if we want to sustain black economics as well as flourish.
It always amazes me how more ignorant black people are about “blackness” than other races. We are always ready to accuse others of racism when we are the bigger racists against our own kind.
I’d like to address the Beyonce issue because it really irritates me and I think its time we lay it to bed for good. Beyonce IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN LIGHT!!! The pic she’s wearing green is not even her true complexion she’s lighter than that!!! She’s closer to the toner on the L’oreal ad!!! Stop being jealous just cause you are darker! Two, (I haven’t seen the ad but…) You state Beyonce claims to be AFRICAN AMERICAN, Native American and French yet in the same breath you state she’s distancing herself from her blackness? I suggest you re-read your statement and if you don’t see the contradiction in your own words…then there’s not much to be said for its clear you are looking for reasons to hate on Beyonce (ps she is what she is-why should she be ashamed/hate on her heritage?). Three, our complexion varies and changes from photo to photo depending on lighting and quality of camera. The pic in green the lighting is quite low and dim (hence she looks darker plus she could have spent too much time in the sun prior to the photo being taken) and the L’Oreal pic is quite obviously a studio photo by an experienced professional. I believe L’Oreal when they say they didn’t photoshop her complexion. I have pics where I look just as light and I’m “darker” than Beyonce, in some pictures I can come out as dark as Kelly. It all depends on a lot of things such as how much time I had been in the sun, lack of sleep, lighting, hair colour -believe it or not it also plays a role in making you look lighter or darker etc. (And no I’m not unique, “blacknessness” is just not as uniform as people like you want the world to believe)
There is no such thing as “blackness” or “Africaness” we are as diverse among ourselves as the thousands of languages in Africa. I’m 100% born & bred African. If you were to see me and my cultural group I guess we would fail the “blackness” requirement. Our colour palette (though we vary in tone) is warm and the undertone is golden so we are naturally light (as were our ancestors). Even categorising our hair into four categories is very short-sighted if you ask me because just like everything else that has to do with “blackness” there are wide varieties.
Lastly, L’Oreal was establish by a white woman for the white consumer so that is their core and they shouldn’t have to change it to please people who find a reason to hate oxygen. Carol’s Daughter is a business, the economy has been bad the past few years and like any business to survive they have to diversify and adapt. L’Oreal and CD are both in the market to make money – if CD had been bought by a “black” conglomerate would you have even written this article? So, who is the racist here – you or L’Oreal? Personally I love L’Oreal, been a customer for around 15 years even converted some of my friends. They have good quality products that are great for my skin and hair even though I’m not their target market and their sales people are friendly and knowledgeable plus in my country their sales force is diverse-it could just so happen that the best people for the campaign you mentioned just happened to be white. Please stop trying to incite people over nothing, pulling dark, sinister motives from air. Dark & Lovely is owned by Soft Sheen Carson, a white organisation, why are you not hating on them too? They have been “milking” our money for decades and their products aren’t even that good for our hair. An astute shopper would base their purchasing decisions on value for money and quality of product/service not on the race the people behind the company are. CD will gain so will customers, L’Oreal has a high quality of standard which will ensure a great product.
I don’t see how this is racist. You know, in this world, black community is always in the shadow. Yellow people have respect for their culture but black people are always treated like nothing. We are losing our culture, forgetting our source, becoming more white than black (not the skin but in our appearances, in our habitudes, and white society don’t ever think about what we need, just only the white market because they are many in this market. So Carol’s daughter was one of these society which proved that black people are also in the game, that the world and the success is not only for white people too. That the black market that they always ignored was more important than they thought. It was like a glory and victory for us, a slap in their face, a lesson that they will never forget that market anymore. But now that l’oreal bought them, they are not this symbol anymore. Our victory was not a victory and the other society will continue to marginalising black market and this is sad.
Personally, and i’m not the only one, i don’t like l’oreal because their product works very bad with my skin, and a lot of people i know are in the same case.
Sorry for my english, i’m francophone.
“To put it plainly, L’Oreal wants our money”
To put it plainly, ALL businesses want our money! To put it plainly, keep your money to yourself. Business is business and the bottomline is GREEN. You don’t like how L’Oreal rolls, keep your bank roll to yourself.
I’m happy for Lisa Price. She took, what I consider, some poor quality products and made a killing forking over ownership to what I’m sure amounted to a lot of green.
It’s called BUSINESS. Business is not your friend. Business is not here to validate your existence. And I bet no one else is paying Lisa Price’s light bills but Lisa Price.
For those who supported Carol’s Daughter back in the day hopefully you enjoyed what the products did for your hair and maybe got a little satisfaction knowing you were contributing to the burgeoning success of a black woman entrepreneur. However, ppl need stop being so naive! Very few ppl start businesses with the hope of staying small and working themselves to death for the rest of their lives just to “keep it real”. Lisa found a niche and rode that niche up and over the rainbow.
Formulas change. Packaging changes. Ideals change. If it rubs you the wrong way, be glad there is currently a plethora of alternatives to choose from thanks to other burgeoning black entrepreneurs who may one day find themselves selling their company to a multi-billion dollar conglomerate for a hefty green pay check as well. I’m not mad at them one bit!
Kudos, Lisa. Kudos!
Sylvia, I agree. I also think some companies are using the term multiculturalism incorrectly and in a way that will hurt minorities in the long-term. Minorities have to be careful, but it can be hard. On all levels and with all issues, minorities have been rejected so categorically that they often take any attention given as good. One historical example is affirmative action. As the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 in the joint U of Michigan cases, direct quotas (ex. When a company decides to hire say exactly one Black or one Black Woman). Affirmative Action is a good program, that was meant to integrate things over time. However, in the 1970s, when the program was started, companies panicked, and like Roze(L’Oreal USA President) said, they realize they were ill-equipped to take advantage of an important “growth opportunity”. Today that opportunity is the so called “multicultural” hair market. In the 1970s, it was the influx of Blacks, Women and other minorities that the Civil Rights Movement ushered into the workplace. So in order not to appear racist or discriminatory, these companies made bold moves, setting strict quotas to hire so many Blacks and so many Woman, instead of adhering to and following affirmative action as it was intended to be used. Now Don’t get me wrong, if you were young, Black, a Woman or any other minority in the we 1970s with a college education, it was like gravy for you. They just had to have you. However, now flash-forward 20, 30 years. By the 1990s they were beginning to dismantle affirmative action programs. Now today,despite the fact that the Supreme Court has upheld the intentions and use of the program, it is mis-understood by many today and hated by many, Black and white. To bring this comment back around 360°, if we as a society are not careful, the same thing could happen to the term “multiculturalism” and to true multicultural efforts in the future.
Acquisitions are rarely beneficial for consumers and CD being acquired by a mega-conglomerate is just another example of this. Will the quality of the product improve? Probably not. Will the price decrease? Nope.
It’s good news for Price, but there isn’t much reason for anyone else to celebrate.
Let us not delude ourselves, the products themselves will be compromised in pursuit of the all mighty $$$$! Goodbye Carol’s Daughter…. Our relationship was good as long as we were both keeping it “100” and had the same goal in mind…excellent products to promote health in “the Black Woman’s” hair care experience – I assure you, that is not L’Oreal’s expected outcome.
I wonder if Lisa Price had done a special IPO – first inviting her customers and doing a roadshow in the black community whether she would have raised the money she felt necessary to grow her business.
With all these emotional comments, are there investors here?
Where to start…while I do agree with the overall jist of the article, I can’t help but think of crabs in a barrel. Now, i’m not saying that anyone is trying to hold her down, i’m just saying, it seems like we can never be happy when someone “makes it.” There is always a negative tone when someone black goes mainstream, there’s a hint of the green-eyed monster, in my opinion. I wonder if that’s what happens in the Latin culture, or the Jewish culture, or the Asian culture. I would have liked to have seen the company go to a buyer that is more minority friendly though.
The issue, In My Opinion, isn’t that we aren’t “happy” when someone “makes it”. It’s that no one considers anyone as “making it” unless they are bought out by Eurocentric companies. It’s interesting that when we shake our heads at the company some people will go to (despite said company being racist/questionable for decades before), others say it’s worth it. WHO is it worth it for? That company? The black community? Why must the Black Community sell itself to the White Community before it’s considered successful–and why when the Black Community tries to urge its member in a different direction is it accused of “holding back” its members?
Im glad a black person grew a business string enough to be bought out. So many of our businesses dont make it for a variety of reasons. I think it was a good move for Lisa Price as she has ALOT of competition now in the natural hair business and I personally forgot about Carols Daughter but used it exclusively years ago. She sold the company in the nick of time. I think sometimes black people get to emotionally attached to things when we should see that its just business-yes its a black business but its just business.
It’s the same here in the UK. A very successful black radio station was bought out by a white company. After buying the company, the newly white owned radio station sacked all the black staff that made the radio station what it was. They banned one of the most popular slots where the black community could phone in and talk about black issues affecting the black community and replaced it with some dance music that appealed to the wider community.
They then picked off each black radio presenter, sacking them one by one. We never learn as a race. We continue to see money before legacy and growing our community. Trust me, this isn’t just an African American problem, it’s a global problem.
Sadly, we’re just not moving forward fast enough as a people. Until we stop letting money motivate our decisions, we will always be running behind the white man. smh!
I have never bought Carols Daughter but this sale makes me sad. The company being “polyethnic” defeats the purpose IMO but hey congrats on her getting coins I guess.
Sidenote: whats wrong with Beyonce identifying as multiracial? Isn’t she? Seems petty to complain about that to me.
My comment is this:I agree with the author of this article saying we cannot continue to build brands that are for us and then sell out to larger corporations which in not -so-distance past did not recognize us as potential customers. I’m deeply saddened that she felt that was the only way to go. At the end of the day, it’s about the dollars. L’Oréal bought out Soft Sheen and the products are not the same. OAN, Bob Johnson sold BET…and it is not the same. So we have to be very careful in allowing one or two companies to produce all of the products we need or desire. ..you call that MONOPOLY!
Very well researched! Thank you for taking the time to lay out the facts and then insert your own thoughts. I for one believe in supporting the small business. The natural hair community is still very strong and as some product lines move to main stream stores, I think that online community will continue to have a large influence on whether people will purchase those products. Also, I wanted to comment on the use of the word “multicultural.” I think larger companies are using that word in the wrong way!
Mocha,what you fail to realize is,this might be a good journey for her,meaning her pockets are fatter now,but the ingredients to her products are not.Her products will be watered down.When she first started her brand,she was catering too her own,the black woman. She felt the need to create something for us because there were nothing for us who had natural hair. Now she done sold out to the white man,who has ill intentions for this brand. Carol’s daughter will not cater to black women anymore,and carol’s daughter in 10 years will be the face of white women.
I have to comment on this issue. Please do not get upset at what I say. First and foremost. We have been singled out and dang near left out for years. We fought for years to integrate schools, lunch counters, and other public places. All we wanted was to be treated equally. Fast forward to recent years and we have made our own choice to be seperate but equal. Listen Lisa Price did what business owners set out to do. Years ago a white company would have never looked our way. We are making progress. We have to understand that to do good business in America we have to cater to more than one race, color, or creed. Business is complex and it is not a have it your way culture. See as black people we really need to decide what we want. We have all things we do inter-culturally to ourselves and then get upset when a white company defines our weakenesses out loud. Hence the battle of color. Im sorry but we have to stop straddling the fence. We either want to be considered a woman or a black woman. I could care less about what color CD cater to. I dont care who buys her products. Lia Price created this product and all I see is what I saw when President Obama became President. We are making progress. Lisa Price, I am proud of you for being courageous enough to do what our people who fought the civil rights issue years ago and now wanted then and want now . To be considered equally intelligent and be allowed to see your dreams be taken serious by all. You will leave a legacy that I will remember forever.
Its a story that starts off inspiring, but a big disappointment in the end. It’s a shame that reaching a bigger audience took preference over catering to the black community’ s needs. But that’s business.
My discovery of Flaxseed Gel has changed everything for me. I no longer need to buy commercial Shea butter and creams. So I’m out!
Extremely disheartening – period.
I have never used Carol’s Daughter’s products. But as a natural newbie of a couple of years, their products were definitely on my radar to experiment with. So how can I be disheartened one could ask?
Well, I’ll tell you. I am coming through a tremendous learning curve of finally being in a love affair with my kinky crown and know that my hair loves me back if I take care of and respect its nature the way my ethnicity entitles it to be loved, admired and taken care of. I am encouraged and excited to see how my hair responds to being treated as a black woman’s hair should be. But most inspiring are the ethnic role models out there who share their insight, expertise and talent on taking care of my kind of hair. I cherish their authenticity but most of all what seems to be sincere integrity and pride.
The “smell” of the L’Oreal purchase of Carol’s Daughter stinks to high heaven of plain ole greed — not a care in the world about understanding and promoting the validation that a black woman feels when her hair can be embraced for its beauty in its well groomed natural state. Just the latest trend.
But alas, sadly, most disheartening is that this is a sickening repeat of American history for successful black entrepreneurs. It is the same old thing that the materialist, mercenary society has always done. You just have to shake your head when you see what has happened to black talent in the music industry for years and now black dance choreography. Take the black style and make more money than the creator. Just the other day, I heard a song that was a Japanese language rap song and saw a Russian female dance troop twerking like nobody’s business. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is powerful that society seems to admire things about my culture to the point they want to “get in on it”. It just makes me sick in my soul and in my spirit that my people whether its Mom & Pop or polished professionals so often have their power to command a dynasty like the Kennedy’s taken away while we watch the “Facebook” owner conquer the world with only a few business hiccups here and there.
However, my people are indescribably resilient, we are constantly knocked down but we keep getting up and it renews my hope and peace and makes me P-R-O-U-D. L’Oreal will get what they can get and then move on to the next trend and then it will be good riddance to bad rubbish. But they can never take the heritage of our Black Beauty. And when L’Oreal does move on, we are right now and will be that much wiser on what it takes to maintain our natural beauty.
Be well,
Mega Diva 🙂
I agree with everything you said Sharon. I thumbs down your comment by accident. Sorry about that.
But what happened to the thumbs up option!!??/ Some people are going IN and I would like them to know that I hear them! Dang!!
Agreed. Thumbs up to that!!!
YAAASSSSS!!!!! Me too!!!
Good on GBLH for bringing back the voting system! I don’t know why it was taken away in the first place. This one is not as good, design-wise, as it was before, but I am glad BGLH listened.
yep,yep thumbs up!
well daaaaammmn if beyonce is gonna identify as native american and french in addition to black, then i might as well go on and identify my black self as native american (from my great great great great great grandmother whose name nobody even knows) and scotch-irish-english- for the at least *four* white genetic donors i know of to have contributed to my “blended, diversified” black heritage from way back during slavery. a minor point. but that’s all i wanted to say.
I was never a big fan of CD products. Maybe it was the timing of my transition.I think the change in her products for the “not so better” coincided with my transition in 2011 -2013. I wanted to give LP some $$$$, but the products just did not work as well as the smaller companies –shescentit, alikay, camille rose, etc. even shea moisture worked better. i can almost certaintly say that my dollars will not be flowing to this Loreal brand–Naw!
I do wish Price the very best. I haven’t used her products in years. Consumers with natural have many options today, and it’s for the better. I think as a group, naturals are a bit more conscious about products.
L’Oréal also owns the brand Lancôme. And guess who is on the print advertisements ? Lupita Nyong’o.
What is the significance of Lupita Nyong’o being on the advertisements for Lancome, a company also owned by L’Oreal?
Carol’s Daughter was only good for me when my hair was relaxed. That was back in my middle school days. I learned from like four or five years ago that CD changed its ingredients, so I stopped using the products.
I’m about to rock some sarcasm. You have been warned. It’s so WONDERFUL for Lisa Price to sell her brand to a company that wants to hop on the natural hair care movement.
Aaaaand another sellout.
It’s like our community is hell-bent on digging our own financial graves. No, I won’t be purchasing Carol’s Daughter products anymore. Let her new “multicultural” audience support the brand now.
Sure, it will be remembered for 20 to 30 years — as a wonderful advertising platform. It will not be remembered for what it stood for: Blacks loving themselves and no longer seeking the standards of White beauty. Price’s hard work will be forgotten. And her first customers (Black sistas) have already been.
And what was with that response? “Please don’t be sad. It’s just business.” Does she know what happens when someone posts, “Please don’t be upset. It’s just hair,” on major Black blogs? Maybe they’ll pull in the Hispanics and some Asians, but L’Oreal won’t be doing well in the Black community. Not if I can help it, anyway.
“Carol’s Daughter brought in $27 million in sales during the last 12 months.”
YEAH…RIGHT!
CD was bankrupt and had to be bought out from under it’s current owners (NOT Lisa Price) to be saved. BTW, I’m not interested in my Black dollars being ‘shepherded’ by Pastor Price into more White-owned pockets than it already is. And I agree with another poster, this junk has been glorified mineral oil for years now. What a mediocre business strategy, reminds me of Daily Candy.
Anyone know who the CURRENT majority stake owners in in Shea Moisture/Sundial are?
Bankruptcy doesn’t mean you haven’t made sales. Bankruptcy simply means your gross sales (net profits) have not been sufficient to cover overhead expenses or the other costs of business, which leaves a person or entity in debt. Im pretty sure that L’Oreal would not have purchased CD without her being able to prove that she holds a significant market share (evident by her sales)–although CD could not balance her books, Im certain L’Oreal won’t have these cash flow issues CD was having. Thought I’d clear that up.
Sheamoisture’s CEO is a black man…I think!
Simply put she sold out just Nikki Walton (Curlynikki) did. I will not be supporting CD any longer. Taliah Waajid and Uncle Funky’s Daughter it is.
I’ve read the comments to this post and to the one from April about the “bankruptcy”, and most commenters who once used CD products regularly spoke of how the quality decreased as the amount of unnatural and/or cheap ingredients in the products increased, and they STOPPED buying CD. So, the people knew the product deteriorated from excellent to value-oriented, and the people responded. CD decreased in appeal. We stopped or slowed buying. CD stores closed and CD employees have been canned.
We shouldn’t mourn the sale of CD to L’Oreal. The natural hair community lost out when CD chose to cheapen their products to increase profit. Consumers lost out when we bought that last bottle of [hair milk, for me] and ended up chucking it or suffering through it until it was time to buy a replacement of another brand. CD sold out long ago.
I am just glad that Price had a lucrative exit strategy. I am disappointed, but I wish her the best.
I totally agree with this article. Loreal does not understand us, it understands our money. Wishing all the best to Lisa, she has done incredibly well economically.
I could never afford anything in the CD line so neither she nor Loreal will miss or benefit from my money anyway. However, it’s not hypocritical to be sad that a company known for perpetuating white supremacist ideals of beauty is going to try to cater to us. We are sad at the irony. I’m so glad I make my own hair products, and purchase my ingredients from black owned businesses where I can. It’s a blessing to be free of these commercial double binds.
I saw this one coming. Just one glance at the ingredients now (as opposed to years back, when she was whippin in her kitchen..) and I could already tell something was up. I haven’t bought her products in years due to high prices, and shady ingredients (Richelieu Dennis, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION, and learn from this!! I hope you stay true to the integrity of your products..)
L’oreal Paris has been (and continues) to ignore black women with African features in their cosmetic standards, advertisements, commercials, and beauty aesthtics since it’s very first day of business. And the “anglo-washing” of their spokesmodels still continues to this day. Don’t believe me? Just go to their own website and view the history list of their spokeswomen, and see that even the darkest women they ever dared to select (Kerri Washington, Liya Kebede??) have been painfully europeanized with thinner noses, straightened hair, sharpened chins, and lightened, brightened skin. http://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/spokespersons.aspx
And that all of a sudden, black women are waking up and realizing that their hair (in it’s unprocessed, unadulterated state) is beautiful, unique, sexy, and nothing to scorn, they want to jump on the “natural hair” products bandwagon and take our money, VERY much like the re-invented Dark and Lovely brand (who are not African, know NOTHING about African hair, all they sold us was relaxers and mineral oil back in the day) now advertising their “au naturelle” products, trying to market to the kinkier-haired customer.
And I don’t buy into this “multicultural consumer” nonsense. I looked at the video feeds on the Carols Daughter website recently and was surprised to find maybe just 2 or 3 videos, out of the dozens and dozens there, that actually featured MY HAIR TYPE!! When will we ever have something just for us? Why is it that our ideas, our inventions, our creations, and our scientific discoveries are always taken from us? When can it ever be accepted that we are just the EXPERTS and MASTERS of our own standards of beauty? When will they realize that it’s O..K.. for us to have something that is OUR OWN. Different hair textures have different needs. Period. Why is that such a bad thing?
No shade or chagrin to Lisa, (because I can understand the difficulties and hardships of running a black-owned business..) but L’oreal won’t get a red cent from me.
Honestly? I don’t care. Carol’s Daughter lost me as a customer loooong ago when Price still owned it. They got rid of their wonderful face oils and their price point was too high. The only good thing about them getting rid of their face oil was that it forced me to start making my own (which also helped me to realize how high their price point was). They are better black-owned natural companies out there.
From what little I know of mass manufacturing I believe that lower-quality products = more product produced = more shelf coverage (figuratively speaking). If CD had gone back to using the formulas that made them my go-to product company for a few years back in the 90s, I’m assuming the prices would have gone way up, particularly if the company was still using mass production techniques AND it was still trying to cover a bunch of major-player shelves as opposed to only a few scattered beauty salons and supplies (I believe you can get Qhemet Biologics at only a handful of retailers). Would black women have bought CD products still? Personally, I don’t think so.
People have been griping about how expensive Kinky-Curly products are for ages and yet they’re still in business AND they’re available at most Target stores, and a fair number of Whole Foods stores, around the country. I’m not an economist and I got C’s in both my college economics classes so someone more educated than me can explain what they’re doing right that CD did wrong. Smaller batches, maybe? More affordable production techniques? I don’t know. Unlike HHB, KCCC isn’t easily reproducible at home (yet, lol) so maybe that’s one thing.
One reason why I quit using the HHB is because I figured out how to make my own version for less money. Once I saw that the brand had hit the big time, I tried a sample and sadly it just wasn’t the same. That said, if she’d still been offering the Khoret Amen hair oil (by itself) and it still had the same ingredients I’d still be buying it. I guess I’m one of the 20 people in the world who liked that scent… 🙂
ANYway…perhaps y’all have forgotten where this is. This is AMERICA, land of the ain’t-nothing-free and home of the ain’t-nobody-brave. And black folks know (or SHOULD know) better than anybody else that this country is ALL about the $$$. We overlook a lot of serious ratchet behavior because the person doing it has, or appears to have, money. (Insert musician/misogynist/criminal here) Plenty of us have screwed others of us, in more more personal and devastating ways, over money and yet we act surprised and hurt when one more black business owner, after experiencing a kind of success that can only be described as stunning, does what black business owners have been doing for DECADES: taking advantage of American-style economics.
Tell me: what was Lisa Price and any of these black business owners who want to survive and make a better life for themselves and their families do? News flash: Charity, in the form of lower prices (among other things) is NOT the main reason most people start a business. Was she supposed to go back to being a cottage business just to make YOU feel good? C’mon sis…
Another newsflash: MOST businesses, regardless of who’s running them, FAIL. They don’t even get the chance to be bought out by a major conglomerate. One more newsflash: ALL major conglomerates are questionable. Yet I’d bet money half your bathroom contains products made by them.
I’m not even going to touch on the race/colorism issues except to say that last I checked, the type-3’s were STILL getting more likes on YouTube than the type-4’s…and what color are the fingers clicking those buttons, exactly?
Preach, baby! Preach!!!
This is where I have the problem with CD:
I want to thank all of you for the support and the love and for being beside me, and I want you to hold my hand as we walk into this next chapter of the Carol’s Daughter life
Hold your hand!! Just say you want my money.
With the change in her ingredients her once hand is now a claw. The only hand holding I’m doing is holding on to my wallet.
How many big companies out there you here saying hold my hand, walk with me. How can I walk with you changing ingretents. Left and right. …… Please!
One more newsflash: ALL major conglomerates are questionable. Yet I’d bet money half your bathroom contains products made by them.
This is the most sensible comment I have seen. So much so that I just had to comment. I understand people are upset that CD is being bought by L’Oréal and that yes it is a white own organization and that the main interest is getting our money. But why is it suddenly that we are so consumed with where our money is going when we buy hair care products? Are people paying close attention to where their money is going when we buy our food, our clothes, our jewelry, makeup, etc.? My guess is no. It’s just does not make sense to me that we are all up in arms about this yet we happily buy things from companies with questionable practices.
Personally I’m not questioning where the money goes, I’m questioning where the ingredients went. We purchase things because we find use for them in our lives. They get the job done. CD products just don’t get the job done anymore. I wish her the best she is a business woman. She may loose her once base clients for new clients. Just stop with the hand holding and walk with me comments. It’s a turn off for me
What I DO care about is where I funnel my Black dollars. I have MY values when choosing where my hard-earned cash is going.
Yes, I know a (large) portion goes to White/Asian-owned businesses, however I value having the OPTION to support Black enterprise, though I know CD hasn’t been Black-owned for a while. I actually have license to choose such, it’s not a debate. I don’t care that the sale to a conglomerate is a tenet of modern CAPITALISM (not solely the American way, btw) and Keynesian economics, I want to support Black-owned business. When CD sold, it was a massive disappointment. When Black-owned businesses sell to ‘others’, it’s ALWAYS a massive disappointment for me. I own my own business, I want to see Blacks in the U.S. and around the world retaining ownership of their businesses once again, it’s a big deal.
Thank you! It IS a big deal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliane_Bettencourt
This woman is a multi-billionaire because we make her one. If 95% of the consumers of a product are black, the owner of the product should be black PERIOD. Until we get this we will remain at the bottom; praying to white Jesus, begging democrats, talking about black life matters and white privilege. We must see to it that our dollars circulate more than the 6 hours they currently do. It could easily be 6 days just from black women committing to black businesses for everything that has to do with their hair. It’s that simple.
LOL at getting C’s in econ. Keeping it real!
Kinky Kurly is targeted at a bigger market segment i.e. everyone who has curly, coily and kinky hair regardless of the ethnicity of the person. CD is targeted at Black folks which is a smaller segment of the US population.
Over the years I’ve seen lots of different products come onto the market from cereals, condiments to tech products. I also know and have met entrepreneurs in these fields. The ones whose businesses succeed don’t have the best products but have the best marketing. This marketing targets their products at a small demographic that includes a wide range of people.
I came back to respond to this because I recently bought my fourth bottle of Knot Today (4th bottle in 4 years) at Whole Foods and there was a sign underneath that said, “I’m a Best Seller!” I think you’re right about targeted demographic…and now that I think about it Kinky-Curly has always sought out the curly hair dollars rather than just the black hair dollars.
Those Beyonce picture is deceiving on both ends. Because that is Beyonce when she tans and when they white her out. She is in between.
I agree Ne. Good point!
I used CD products alot when my hair was relaxed and it worked great for me. I also loved their body products too. When I became a natural, the products just couldn’t hold up against my type 4C hair. And when they started advertising more lighter skinned women and started going all “multicultural” on us, along with the formulation changes, I was truly turned off.
I can’t get mad that Lisa Price made a decision to sell CD to L’oreal. Business wise it was a smart move. But I cannot help feel alienated by the brand I invested so much of my hard earned dollars on. I understand the need to include others in order to reach a bigger audience, but why was I shut out completely?
My natural hair is doing so much better now with Shea Moisture as well as Eden’s, and Oyin Handmade products. I truly hope that they never sell their companies to any white owned corporation and forget the very ones who believed in them from the start and helped them to come up.
Personally I do not feel any white owned corporation should get to benefit from us black women who have chosen to break free from the caustic chemicals used to relax their hair…simply because mostly white owned companies profited from that, without using quality ingredients and discriminating against us as well!! For my natural hair maintenance I will strictly stick to my people. As much as I love the Creme of Nature argam oil line, I am not buying it. This is my personal view.
Well said. I completly agree. I am a big fan of Shea Moisture and Nubian Heritage and I will be sticking to those.
COMPLETELY offtopic but your hair in your icon is gorgeoussssss
I used to use Carol’s Daughter a lot when my hair was relaxed. And my hair drank it up. It was full and healthy. I also bought many of their body products as well and I loved that too. As a natural, the products did not work well for me at all. The products just couldnt hold uo to my My type 4c hair jus
Wow me too, except my mom and niece who were relaxed at the time used her products and loved it. Yet, on my Afro textured hair they did absolutely nothing!
I have never bought any Carol’s Daughter products prior to the buyout.
Sorry, but the natural haircare business is becoming more and more competitive everyday. It just seems like CD dropped the ball when it came to marketing.
After this buyout, I’m not sure if I’ll buy any of her products.
This isn’t the first take over by a white company and won’t be last. For those who say that White people haven’t been paying attention to the Black hair industry for so many years need to look under the lens. Companies like “African Pride”, “Dark & Lovely” and majority of big Black hair industries were acquired by white companies and controlled by them.
Rather than getting upset, we should challenge Black millionaires and billionaires to support other Black businesses.
http://www.coilsandglory.com
as long as sheamoisture doesn’t go this route i’m ok and i wish her the best
I completely agree with this article, all of a sudden they want to buy into a growing market when they have been involved in the perpetuation of the limited mindset that promotes euro-centric beauty to be ideal over all others. All for money. It’s a great business decision for L’Oreal but the PR statement is not fooling anybody. The don’t care about multiculturalism they care about money.
I never bought Carol’s daughter products to begin with. They are glorified mineral oil. Nonetheless, yet another black, WOMAN-owned business has sold out. What a shame.
Sad news but in my opinion it’s the nature of the business. It is true that the large multinationals have ignored the black community for many, many years. For whatever reason someone has turned on a light switch in a corner of their brains and all of a sudden the black beauty and cosmetics industry is one worth pursuing and each one of them is on full pursuit to grab the biggest slice.
For an already established black owned “small” business, if you don’t sell, your brother/sister next door will. Once the sharks have their foot in the door they will eat you alive with the financial backing they have. It will be extremely difficult to compete on a level playing field. I don’t blame Lisa for selling and certainly don’t blame all the others for pursuing this avenue.
Not good news for the black community but also the business world is not a fair one.
On the bright side, this will at least push the remaining & new black own businesses to diversify by providing more targeted products & services along with better customer care – better service for all of us.
The sad part is that White people actually believe and perpetuate this idea that only Whiteness sells.They act like Whiteness is the end all and be all of beauty (gross). Instead of just calling it lightwashing I would take a step further and say “anglowashing”. Not only do they only select light skin toned women but also women with Anglo like features. Seriously, when is the last time we saw a button nosed/wide nosed celebrity be held as the beauty standard!?
Black, especially in America, comes in many shades and yes even a variety of features but there is something very insidious and wrong when the only Black women put in ads are light and anglo looking.
This sort of anglowashing happens across the board with Asians and Latinos. When do round faces, broad nosed and almond shaped eye people get to shine?
It is very sad that Price chose money over influence. L’Oreal is certainly not going to have her be apart of the decision making but to be honest it sounds like she wouldn’t be the type to champion for all of Black beauty. People who care about that don’t often gravitate to the perilous industry of shallowness and beauty consumption. We’ll never find the support we need through money making corporations. I’ll put my money towards smaller brands and put my faith in micro communities like this that actually have critical discussion about Blackness. As we talk online these companies will eventually have to start to pay attention and change their practice because they damn sure aren’t getting my money.
Huh.
Well, that’s gross.
[“I know I’ll be with the right shepherd..”] And was the religious allusion really necessary? I mean, she’s signing a merger, not joining a new denomination.
She seemed eager enough about jumping ship, though… So. Perhaps she was never really onboard.
Maybe this IS the best for everyone involved. Especially customers; they know to stear clear now.
[“Please know, this is good (for my wallet). I promise you.”]
Went ahead and fixed that quote. lol
I think this is good for Lisa Price and her family, but it is bad for the black community. L’Oreal don’t just have a problem with black women, they have a problem with women who are not white, period. To them, dark skin is Noemie Lenoir – I know because that was the woman they used to model ‘dark’ foundation circa 2008. I’ve never bought anything from Carol’s Daughter, and I won’t now. But congratulations to her for making money. I hope she can plough it back into the black community somehow.
Yea I understand this is business…but I’m not putting my money towards a company who honestly couldn’t care less about us. They only want our money and they won’t be getting it. Sorry Lisa Price! My money will only go towards Shea Moisture. Hopefully they won’t sell their company.
I’m happy for her though. She has to eat I guess and this probably was a huge step towards her success.
I think Shea Moisture is no longer black-owned
It still is. Richellieu Dennis is still the head of the brand, Sofi Tucker’s grandson.
really?
A few years ago, I attended an event where Lisa Price said, plainly, that she was looking to exit from the running of Carol’s Daughter and her definition of success was to be bought by a major brand.
Today, she has achieved her goal.
I commented then (via twitter, I believe) that why wasn’t success becoming a global black hair care brand, why wasn’t success her buying over other smaller black hair care brands and building her conglomerate, or why wasn’t success offering her brand to the public market (including her customers) through an IPO?
I know personally that running a small business and growing into a large brand is a LOT OF WORK and sacrifice; Perhaps Lisa was just weary and wanted to spend time doing something else. I don’t know and I cannot make the decision for her. Who knows, perhaps she may take her $$$$ and start a foundation or invest in other ventures which are more fulfilling for her at this time. But of course, she may not disclose her plans immediately until the deal is completed.
But, I do salute and commend her for sticking with the business through thick and thin; for raising private equity, for getting major distributors; for building her customer base and for getting a major buyer. And it may be she tried to find a black owned buyer, but none with the right fit emerged. As a business owner building my brand, I can tell you it is a tough undertaking and I salute her.
I do wish she had a different vision of success, but we have to be careful about putting heavy burdens on individuals.
I support black owned brands when I can. Carol’s Daughter’s products did not help me and so I never used them more than once. But I salute her for her resolve. (I now salute Tyra for starting her cosmetics line!)
But remember she is an individual and has to make her own choices.
No doubt, there are other brands which will be built and remain with the original owners for generations and stay black-owned.
What I find interesting is the need to look at the economic realities of running a business and see how we can keep businesses started in our community within our community. For this we need seed investors, angel investors, private equity investors, lenders, crowd funders, etc, who are willing to back our home-grown companies, with solid business plans and help them grow to the next level. Perhaps there are groups and individuals doing this out there. If so, great. Is there a crowd funding platform where we, the big spending black-hair care crowd, can support our own?
Perhaps we can start identifying strong brands with growth potential and incubate them here through BGLH.
Until we use our money to support our business with growth capital, we can’t fault individual owners from exiting after 20+ years to the best buyer who comes forth.
I am elated to see the thrival of any business owner and hope that this will give the brand the stability it needs. The original target market (women like her) lost interest in her brand years ago once the ingredient quality went down while the prices stayed up. Then we have new comers to the market offering comparable and better performing products for a lower price. It’s a recipe for business disaster UNLESS you now market to who the products (based on ingredients) are most suitable for…The “multicultural” read (looser curls on down types of hair requiring less emollients etc) market. It’s a business decision that will keep her brand alive. Who’s to say her vision for it hasn’t changed? Continued blessings to her and all that use the products.
Let me get this straight. Black women stopped buying CD products due to price hikes, formula changes, ect. Black women referred to Nap85 as a sellout when she did YouTube ads with CD products. On any random article, black women openly stated how they no longer buy CD products. CD files for bankruptcy, has to sell. Loreal purchased the company that initially bought CD and secured Ms. Price’s financial future after black women lost interest in the brand. Now we are GRIPING about her no longer being “black owned”?! Seriously? Was she supposed to fold so she could stay “black owned”? I can’t handle this level of hypocrisy from black folks. It’s too much. She made the best fucking business move I’ve seen a struggling company make in a while and all we care about is how it makes US feel. Reflect without emotion people.
The real question is why instead of her complaining about customer complaints and constantly trying to justify changes that led to her failure as a business owner, why not listen to your customers and go back to the actual QUALITY products that were somewhat worth the price?
I hope her ventures with Loreal fail as well.
Here, here!
@Heather, Black Women(majority) did not refer Nap85 as a sell-out…maybe 1 or 2. Black Women stopped buying CD products as a whole because she stopped catering to us …nothing to do with price hikes or formula changes. Also this is not a surprise to anyone if they followed CD over the years they would see this was in the cards
I wont be purchasing anymore Carols Daughter. The ingredients for sure will not e the same. Another one bites the dust.
Basically.
I’m sorry, but I thought Beyonce was mixed with other racial backgrounds? What was really the issue with that statement being made in that commercial? Was it not her truth? It’s unfortunate that she had to result to such measures to sell her company, but like most companies that have experienced financial hardships in the past, this is to be expected. When it comes to business in order for one to stay afloat if they can not afford to they partner up with larger companies to stay in business. I don’t feel she “sold out” to the black community, she’s simply taking care of her own. Can’t really be mad about that. I think it’s great that she’s been able to make millions off of her brand with out the backing of a larger company. Yes, this is a great move for her in business, but it shouldn’t be disheartening to us.
I first bought Carol’s Daughter over 10 years ago, well before there were plenty of other natural hair lines to choose from. Since then, I’ve moved on to other brands but I’ll admit, this is kind of disappointing news. I’ve noticed the more “multicultural” looks in the CD advertising; when the company started, it was definitely more “black woman” centered, not the ethnic ambiguity that’s all the rage now. Black women supported this company when CD first started and while I understand Price wanting to branch out (to make more sales?), I could respect it more if the company focused more on the people who helped make it so successful in the first place.
This is great for Lisa and I cheer that but I am a bit saddened that she’s sold the company. I’m not saddened on the grounds of L’Oreal lightening Beyonce, etc. Christina makes great points about the cultural impact but I am an economist and what I lament is the loss of a successful black owned business. It is critical for our community that there are thriving enterprises that we control. This is how jobs/income/wealth is built in any community. That loss to the community is unfortunate. How many black people will L’Oreal employ in the Carol’s Daughter division and who will ultimately take home the wealth from sales? How many of L’Oreal’s shareholders are black?
It’s great that Lisa created wealth for her family but what of the rest of us? I was never a big fan of her products so I haven’t been buying them and the buyout won’t change that. I try whenever possible to spend my money with black owned business. I encourage everyone to do the same. Cheers.
I am sad to hear that news. It seems to me black people sell their family businesses while white and Spanish people keep their businesses. Our beauty is not their beauty. Just look at tv how many natural hair women are portrayed in commercials in tv shows in movies. They do not find beauty in our natural state. Even though they secretly want to look like us but with straight hair. I.e butt,lips,and etc. What are we teaching our daughters and our sons. This is just my opinion and I don’t want anybody to take offense and please forgive me if I have offended you. I just know I went natural because I wanted to stop hiding who I really was and it is still a struggle even within the black community. Even our own community thinks are hair is nappy and I wonder who told us that lie and who shows us that lie.
She surely hit it big. Who doesn’t hope for that? I don’t think the sell to L’Oreal will move away from their current path of diversification.
I wouldn’t say that it’s a blow to the natural hair community as there are so many more brands to choose from and more coming out every year. My sister got the body wash once years ago when it was only via mail-order, but I haven’t used the products. Plus, they can get expensive. :/