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.
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.
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.