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TheBlacBox: The Black Woman’s Solution To The White–Washed Beauty Industry
TheBlacBox is a Copenhagen-based company, that sends black beauty subscription boxes, contributed to by black–owned companies who provide natural and organic products for black women in Europe. Promoting a variety of Danish, British and American black brands, the subscription service offers a specially tailored experience to black women, a demographic that is often overlooked in the beauty and hair care industries, not only in the Nordics, but worldwide. I spoke to theBlacBox’s founder, Abi Olusanya, about the inspirations, struggles and creative processes that went into founding theBlacBox.
What encouraged you to start theBlacBox?
As someone who loves all things skincare, haircare & beauty, I wanted to discover different products that were black girl friendly on a regular basis. I looked for (and tried) ‘personalised’ subscription boxes myself, and realised that there weren’t many in Europe that catered to black women well enough, or consistently. So, creating a subscription box specifically for black women seemed like a no brainer – If I was already looking for this solution, I was sure others were too.
How did you go about starting theBlacBox?
I started by testing my assumption that other black women were looking for a solution like this. I began by posting in online groups for women of colour/black women to see what the reaction was like and creating surveys, and sharing them far and wide, to get as much early feedback as possible. Alongside that, I was also doing a lot of research into what I would need to have in place for the first edition, and where to find black owned brands to partner with.
In terms of ideas, I used a lot of my own instincts as a consumer of subscription boxes. I thought about what I had liked/disliked from my previous experiences, and how I could improve on them for theBlacBox. For example, when creating a beauty profile, I had never seen any questions on the type of hair style I had. As a black woman, my hair style definitely has an effect on the products I should receive – If I have braids/locs, the products i’d use over the next few months are definitely different than what I use when I’m rocking my natural hair.
Once I began looking for brands to partner with, I very quickly learnt that I needed to approach partnerships in a different way. I suppose I would call this a setback, as I was expecting a different reaction from brands than the ones I initially received, if they got back to me at all, that is! Now, I have a much better understanding of how to create mutually beneficial relationships, by thinking more about what brands aim to achieve and how partnering with us will help them get there.
Tell us about some of the brands you have onboard, and how you got them involved.
A huge part of theBlacBox for me is shining a light on black-owned brands that have created amazing products, either for all consumers, or black consumers specifically. I find that those are the brands that fully understand our challenges and are actually creating solutions with black consumers in mind, because they are one themselves.
One brand that immediately comes to mind is Christal Cosmetics. Christal Cosmetics is a botanical skincare brand that specifically targets the needs of black and ethnic skin i.e. hyperpigmentation, keloids etc. I was super excited to have them in our May edition, because although they’ve been around since at least 2016, i’d never come across the brand before, and I wanted to introduce them to others. After researching more about the brand and the quality of their products, I reached out to see if they were open for a partnership, and the conversation flowed from there.
Another brand is Isangs Hair & Body, based here in Copenhagen. I actually met the founder in person months before launching theBlacBox, to speak about using some of their products for promo photos. At the time, I had no idea where this idea would go, so I was incredibly happy to reach out to her a few months later to see if she would like to be featured in our second edition. After hearing such great things about their products and trying them myself, I wanted to introduce at least some of their range to our subscribers. I can definitely see us partnering with them again in the future!
Why is it so important to have something like theBlacBox?
I think it’s important because black women shouldn’t have to settle for subpar experiences or disappointing unboxings. I know the feeling – i’ve been there myself. Instead, we should feel relief & comfort that a brand is knowledgeable about the diverse beauty needs in the black community, and actually provides the value they say they do.
You can check out theBlacBox on their website and Instagram for info on the latests boxes and brands they are working with.