Cardi B says she will launch haircare line to teach people about ‘Afro-Latina’ hair
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Cardi B has said she will launch her own range of haircare products, in an attempt to teach people about “Afro-Latina” hair.
The rapper said she was inspired to work on the products after receiving offensive comments about a video she posted about her natural hair.
“This year I will be coming out with a haircare line,” Cardi B wrote on Instagram. “I think [it is] time for people to educate themselves on nationality, race and ethnicity.”
She added: “People [are] thinking every Hispanic is Mexican or something and must have the same hair texture, colour and features.
“Being Hispanic/Latina don’t make your hair long, don’t make your skin light [and] don’t make your face features slim especially [if you come from] Latin countries from the Caribbean islands … DNA has something to do with your hair not your nationality.”
In another tweet, Cardi B wrote: “Hair texture [doesn’t] make you a race, however I am Afro-Latina.”
Cardi B said the haircare line was something she had been working on for herself and for her daughter’s hair. It is not known if the line will contain a hair mask product, a recipe for which she shared online last year. The mask included avocado, argan oil, mayonnaise, black castor oil, olive oil, two eggs, honey and banana.
In 2020, Latino consumers under 35 spent $663m on beauty products, with haircare, hair colour and nails dominating, according to Nielsen.
Juvan José Amaya, a partner at Juve consulting, said the Latino beauty market was in transition.
“We are slowly shifting the idea that Latinas have nice hazel or green eyes, or look ‘exotic’,” he told WWD. “As a generation we hate the word exotic, that’s a big ‘no’… [beauty is] starting to become a little more … inclusive and accepting of natural features, such as curly hair.”
Other celebrities have launched hair brands. Tracee Ellis Ross launched Pattern beauty in 2019, while earlier this month Rihanna’s company, Roraj Trade, filed an application for Fenty Hair to produce shampoo, hair straightening items, hair weaving preparations, bleaching and coloring products and hair glitter.