"We can start by hiring Black people in front and behind the scenes."Author:Stephanie SaltzmanPublish date:Sep 15, 2020Gabrielle Union was never going to be content with lending her name to just any celebrity beauty brand. The actor/activist/producer/author's hair-care company, Flawless by Gabrielle Union, is a deeply personal one. But it didn't start out that way.
Beyond being mission-driven in its goal of delivering quality hair-care products Union, her hairstylist and her family actually use themselves, Flawless by Gabrielle Union is also setting out to support and elevate other Black-owned businesses from the outset.
When I originally launched the brand in 2017, I was experiencing a stage of hair loss, due to IVF therapy, an unfortunate side effect of the treatment that many women endure. At that time, I felt anything but 'flawless.' My original investors' core values and direction for the brand differed from mine, which led to the decision to take back my company and reclaim Flawless by Gabrielle Union.
I've always been interested in my hair and understood how hairstyles have shown my personality and represent me to the world. I recall people always having an opinion on what my hair should and shouldn't look like, from family to work environments. I've gone through all the stages of hair that most Black women go through, including braids, relaxers, wigs and weaves.
Through the process of growing my hair, I've gained a major learning of patience. Along with hair loss, a big hair struggle was just accepting my hair for what it was. Growing up, hair-envy is so real — especially when you're working on a movie set and your hair doesn't look like everyone else's. It doesn't lay as flat, isn't as long or the hired stylists don't understand it.
Isaiah 54 16“See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; 17 no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you