Who makes this, and why
Why a beauty store lives here
This site began as Black History Declassified. Today the same follow-the-money research is pointed at the shelf — who owns the brands in the Black beauty aisle, and what you’re paying per ounce. Same receipts, different aisle. If you found us through the ownership videos, you’re in the right place; the guides are those investigations, in writing, yours to keep.
“Is this Black-owned? Who runs it?”
You’ve asked this on the record, more than once, and it’s a fair question to ask anyone selling you a guide about ownership. Here is the straight answer:
These guides are made by an independent, Black-owned team, funded only by the guides you buy — no sponsors, and no affiliate links in these guides.
What the guides are
Every guide is a set of researched receipts: who owns a brand, since when, and what it costs per ounce — each claim tied to a named, dated source. We deal in disclosed ownership facts and verifiable prices. We do not make claims about any product’s effect on your hair, skin, or health — not anywhere, ever. Read every label yourself. Selling a company is not a sin, and no guide says otherwise; the point is only that your choice should be made with the real owner in front of you.
How the money works
The free directory is free, and stays free — a community reference shouldn’t have a price on it. The paid guides carry the deep work: the full receipt cards, the price-per-ounce math, the corporate histories, the buy-direct maps. Buying one funds the next round of research. There are no affiliate links in these guides, and no brand or store has ever paid to be included — or to stay out.
When we get it wrong
In a market where brands change hands quietly, someday we will print something that turns out wrong. When that happens, the correction goes in the log at the back of the directory — dated, in plain sight. That’s the standard the videos are held to, and the guides inherit it.
Start with the free Ownership Directory, or browse all the guides.