Black-ish star and former Girlfriends star, Tracee Ellis Ross has been many women's "hair crush" for years. Just this week she announced the launch of her haircare brand that been in the making for the last 10 years. She calls it, Pattern Beauty, and it's for curly, coily and tight textured hair. The products will be available on Monday September 9th at patternbeauty.com and on Sept. 22 at Ulta ($9 to $42).
Products include a shampoo, three targeted conditioners, a leave-in conditioner, two hair serums, a shower brush, a hair clip and a microfiber towel to enhance and nourish curls.
Ross said on Instagram that the brand was 10 years in the making, though she’d been dreaming of the concept for 20 years. Ross wrote her first brand pitch in 2008, after wrapping her TV show Girlfriends. As the new black-ish spinoff, mixed-ish debuts this fall, Ross explains how she spent two years working with chemists, explaining that she and her panel tested 74 samples in order to select the seven initial formulas with safe ingredients.
“@patternbeauty is here to empower,” Ross wrote. “@patternbeauty is for those of us who need more than a quarter size of product. large conditioner sizes that actually fulfill the unmet needs of our community. accessible pricing because everyone should have access to their most beautiful hair in their own shower, and gorgeous packaging that conjures the legacy of our history and makes us all feel like the royalty that we are.”
Naturalists will sure be doing unboxing and reviews about this product soon, so stay tuned.
Ross added, “I’m excited for PATTERN to join the natural hair movement, and to celebrate our hair for what it is: beautiful!”
The natural hair movement has indeed gained steam this year with laws passed in California and New York in July that ban racial discrimination on the basis of natural hair textures. Known as The CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act, the California law explains that the...
... history of the U.S. is "riddled with laws and societal norms that equated 'blackness,' and the associated physical traits, for example, dark skin, kinky and curly hair, to a badge of inferiority, sometimes subject to separate and unequal treatment." It says this has influenced American standards of professionalism, which are based on European features.
Investment from beauty industry giants has helped natural hair products move from specialty stores to the shelves of major retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart and CVS — making it easier for customers to get their hands on what were once niche products.
“The Black haircare industry has undergone quite a transformation over the past five years and that should continue heading into the next decade. As more and more Black consumers are embracing their natural self and walking away from relaxers, it is presenting opportunities for natural brands to enter the market. Our research indicates that wearing their natural hair makes Black women feel liberated, confident and different from others, giving them a tremendous sense of pride in being Black while displaying their natural beauty,” said Tonya Roberts, Multicultural Analyst at Mintel. “The prominence of the market reflects the high price tag of many natural haircare products, but consumers appear willing to pay the price for a natural look.”
Mintel research shows that the natural hair movement comes at a time when image is everything to Blacks, as half (49 percent) of Black consumers agree it’s important to always look their best, regardless of the circumstances. Another 38 percent agree that they do whatever they can to look as attractive as possible. The drive to not just keep up appearances, but continuously improve points to the one third (32 percent) of Black consumers who agree that many of the beauty and grooming products they use help them look their best and the 30 percent who enjoy trying new haircare and beauty/grooming products.
To find the perfect product for your hair pattern, go to www.PatternBeauty.com