If you’ve been on TikTok or social media the past month, I’m sure you’ve seen the Mielle Rosemary Oil go viral leading it to be sold out almost everywhere. Popular influencer Alix Earle talked about how much she loves this hair oil and how it’s improved her hair drastically. However, there’s a catch. Alix Earl is white and Mielle Organics has been a staple in Black women’s hair care routines. And yesterday, Mielle Organics announced that they have joined the P&G Beauty family.
Monique Rodriguez founded MIELLE in 2014 after her healthy hair care regimen for her tailbone-length hair became somewhat of a craze among her social media followers. The company began on the back of one product, the Advanced Hair Formula and has now created over 10 collections. If you asked any Black girl if she uses Mielle Organics, she most likely does. So, what happens now? Black women on social media have shared their frustrations of white girls “discovering” Mielle Organics. We all know how extremely difficult it is for Black women to find hair care products that work for them and it’s not many. They have stated on popular social media platforms such as Twitter and TikTok that they do not want to share their beauty products made specifically for them with white women. If you recall, popular brand Shea Moisture was once Black owned and was made specifically for Black textured hair. It was definitely considered a “holy grail” for Black women across the world. In 2017, Unilever acquired Shea Moisturizer and Black people believed that the formula had drastically changed to be more “inclusive”. Black people started noticing how their “holy grail” products no longer started giving them the results that it used to. Black brands being acquired by white companies is nothing new, and we’ve seen this happen time and time again with companies such as Cantu and Carol’s Daughter.
On January 2nd via Instagram Mielle Organics released a statement: “We’ve been together on this ride for awhile, so you know that my journey with Mielle started from a place of creating the product I wasn’t finding in the marketplace. We remain forever committed to developing quality, efficacious products that address the need states for our customers’ hair types! Sincerely, The Queen of Hair.” Instagram Announcement
Following this statement on January 11th, CEO Monique Rodriguez of Mielle Organics announced their partnership with P&G Beauty via Instagram: “We are so excited to tell ya’ll Mielle has joined P&G Beauty in another historic boss move for black-founded, women-led companies.
Monique’s goal has always been global expansion so Mielle can better serve our mavens and mavericks around the world. The P&G family is helping her to achieve this goal. P&G Beauty is a best-in-class organization, and we are excited that this partnership will bring additional resources so that Mielle can continue to serve our incredible customers with rapid innovation and greater reach. Melvin and I will continue to lead Mielle with the focus on excellence, customer commitment and integrity that have been the core of our brand since day one nearly nine years ago. Both P&G and Monique & Melvin have each committed $10 million to Mielle Cares, a non-profit aimed at providing resources and support to advance education and economic opportunities in Black and Brown communities.” Instagram Announcement
There have been mixed reactions to the announcement of Mielle’s partnership with P&G Beauty. Some Black women are excited for this partnership explaining how difficult it is for Black brands to attract other customers outside of their target demographic. While other Black people feel as though the community needs to gatekeep more. Mielle has reassured its fans that their formula will not be changing and this partnership is an amazing opportunity for Mielle Organics and Black business. Only time will tell what this partnership means for Mielle Organics’ day-one supporters, but we hope that they continue to listen to their customers and continue to prioritize Black women’s hair. See some of the opinions below.
@simplysimone #stitch with @simplysimone We called it and knew this would happen #mielleorganics #pgbeauty
@lavvishlivv #stitch with @alixearle team meeting bc y’all are not making well informed purchases. 😭 #miellehairoil #mielleorganics
@marshmallowmoney People are canceling @alixearle for THIS REASON😭👀 #alixearle #miellehairoil #mielleorganics #blackhair #blacktok #canceltok #tea #drama #exposed
