Most hair products are still not tested on textured hair.

As Tracee Ellis Ross points out, this isn’t just a cosmetic oversight—it’s systemic erasure. The natural hair movement redefined beauty norms, yet Black consumers still navigate a beauty aisle not built for them.

Despite the explosion of natural haircare brands and visibility, testing standards still favor Eurocentric hair textures.

Brands conduct instrumental product testing to determine the efficiency of their products.
Kinky, curly, and coily hair types were eliminated from hair testing.
Testing labs stopped hair testing on tighter hair textures because the equipment wasn’t built to handle more diverse ethnic hair types.

Why it matters

Scientific exclusion = cultural exclusion. When beauty products aren’t made with Black hair in mind from the start, it sends a clear message: our texture is seen as too complex, too niche, too “other.”

This isn’t new. It mirrors a larger issue in marketing—where we’re brought in after the decisions have already been made, rather than being part of the blueprint.

Doing it right

Pattern Beauty’s testing lab is setting a new standard for textured hair based on Pattern Beauty’s suggestions, aligning with their core consumers’ behavior. The testing lab has integrated:

Silicone fingers that measure the force used to mimic fingers
Replaced fine-tooth combs with wide-tooth combs
A regular water mist cycle throughout testing to prevent snagging.

Ireaby’s Insight

“Non-white customers are always underestimated and not always understood.” ~Tracee Ellis Ross

This conversation is a powerful reminder of the shared realities within the textured hair community—where the journey toward understanding, acceptance, and celebration is often met with systemic neglect. What stood out was how Pattern Beauty built a team rooted in the brand’s mission—people who not only understood textured hair, but cared deeply about the communities they were serving. That intention has raised the bar for what textured hair testing should look like—scientifically, culturally, and emotionally.

As a cultural research marketer, it underscores how often textured hair is still overlooked in product development, even when we’re the target consumer. It also reinforces why building culturally fluent teams—who reflect and respect the lived experience of the community—isn’t optional. It’s the difference between representation and real investment.