With practised accuracy, Gladys Maina fills a series of 250ml bottles with hair butter. Then she places branding stickers on the bottles, and with that, the bottles are ready to be deployed to the market.
Maina is part of a growing list of entrepreneurs venturing into the business of formulating products that target Afro-textured hair, long overlooked by mainstream hair companies.
“My innovation was driven largely by the realisation that my natural hair lacked something unknown to me. The hair strands seemed crispy and generally unhealthy,” Maina, owner of Geenylove, told the Star.
“So around 2017, I started mixing a few formulations here and there in a bid to find the right hair product. Before long, I came up with a hair growth mist that worked wonders for my hair.”
After nine months of using her newly formulated hair mist, Maina shared a before-and-after video of her remarkably transformed hair, triggering an overwhelming interest from her followers on Facebook.
Inevitably, in 2018, the favourable feedback set her on a path of manufacturing chemical-free hair products.
For centuries, black women were condemned to using hair products that were not specifically formulated for their kinky and curly hair strands. The resulting outcome was that their hair was perpetually lacking essential nutrients, making it hard to manage.
Many started applying relaxers to make their freestanding hair cascade down their shoulders just like that of Europeans.
Around the start of the 2000s, the natural hair movement stirred up hair companies into a frenzy of developing hair products that did not alter ethnic hair patterns, much to their relief.
"I think the love for afro-hair stems from a conscious choice to be healthy and also a visible declaration of our true authentic self," Maina said.
I think the love for afro-hair stems from a conscious choice to be healthy and also a visible declaration of our true authentic self
SMALLER COMPANIES PREFERRED
Maina says her products are formulated with the distinct attributes of natural hair in mind.
"Conditioners like what I sell are meant to smoothen tight, curly strands so the combing tension does not break the hair strands. Generally, the handling you give straight hair is not the same as kinky hair," she said.
Maina says her selection consists of primary products easily used at home. Her inventory includes shampoos, conditioners, hair butter, hair treatment and a line of children's hair products, all sourced from nature.
The financial engineering graduate currently runs two shops, one in the CBD and another in Eldoret. Between 300 and 400 units of her product are bought every month, generating an income of Sh500,000 per month.
Euromonitor International, a global research body in its 2018 country hair report, observed a growing trend towards a preference for smaller companies that manufacture natural hair products as opposed to multinationals.
According to the report, customers are yet to be persuaded by multinational offerings of natural hair products as they still believe the products do not suit their hair textures.
In addition, small enterprises are seen to be using natural products more sustainably, playing to the advantage of small companies like Maina’s.
The Kenyan hair market is awash with multinational companies who have acquired natural hair enterprises or introduced their selection of chemical-free products to tap the lucrative market.
In 2017, giant beauty company L'Oréal launched Dark and Lovely Au Naturale's range of hair care products to the African market. At the same time, American-based Sundrial brands partnered with Kenya's leading distributor of beauty products, Lintons Beauty World, to retail their acclaimed natural hair and skin products.
Euromonitor puts the value of the haircare market in Kenya at Sh12.7 billion in 2017, growing at 7 per cent per year.
The report notes that the growth of the sector is being driven by an expanding middle class with more disposable income to spend on desirable hair products, and the growing influence of social media.
And relaxers, long sought for smoothening hair strands, are rapidly being abandoned in the face of the natural hair movement.
Imagine a colleague of mine once asked me when my birthday was so they could get me a comb. While it was funny it just showed there was ignorance around natural hair
EMERGENCE OF NATURALISTAS
Njerie Gitau, natural hair evangelist, can distinctly trace the progress experienced in the natural hair movement, once called a hair craze but now a permanent identity for droves of Kenyans.
“Can you imagine a colleague of mine once asked me when my birthday was so they could get me a comb? My hair was in twist-outs. While it was funny it just showed there was ignorance around natural hair,” Gitau said.
Around 2015, Gitau brought a coup to the natural order of wearing relaxed hair, choosing to wear hers naturally when only a few confident individuals dared do so.
The choice to cross over was motivated by the sheer damage her hair suffered under repeated heat. She was also influenced by those who had made the switch.
“By the time I was transitioning, I did not find local companies I could confidently use, and again accessing the few products that were there was a challenge; I had to cross a few roads to get a hold of them," Gitau said.
“But over the years, there has been a proliferation of brands such as Marini and Chao Botanicals, which have put in thorough research to develop good products."
A spot check in the Central Business District reveals a sizeable number of shops dedicated to selling natural hair products from numerous brands.
The shops stock a range of wet hair products alongside dry hair products, whose texture mimics African hair.
“We have faux locks, distressed braids among other natural-looking extensions, which have struck a chord with customers," said a salesperson who wished to remain anonymous.
"Most of our customers are women who can easily spend Sh10,000 on both wet and dry hair products in a single buy."
The shop relies heavily on referrals and social media to create visibility for its wares.
The advent of social media has made access to information easy and global interaction effortless, enhancing awareness of afro-textured hair to a great extent.
Today, representation of natural hair is present on all social media sites and blogging avenues, in addition to international movies, magazines, TV shows and academic writing.
“I would get asked questions regarding my hair so I thought, why not share what I know on a common place accessible to all? That is how I started blogging about hair,” Gitau said.
The HR professional followed up the blog with a YouTube channel around 2018 to provide hair videos relevant to the Kenyan woman.
Also, local celebrities who wear their natural crowns publicly, such as Sheila Ndinda and Joyce Omondi, have given the movement mileage.
Globally, Kenyan-born Lupita Nyong'o and Issa Rae have also disrupted the earlier set standards of beauty.
UNBEARABLE COSTS
Esther Kamau went into active manufacturing of organic hair, skin and consumable products in 2018. Venturing into this, she envisioned two things: solving a problem and making a living.
"Hajash Naturals was birthed to provide solutions to the hair and skin, but the cost of running the business is unbearable, if not sustainable," Kamau said.
She decries the prohibitive nature of operating a business for a young person like herself, saying some taxes are unnecessary and only work towards thwarting dreams.
“Kenyans are very innovative and brilliant, but it almost seems like our systems are designed to extinguish that ingenuity,” Kamau said.
“For example, the taxman wants some Sh3 million from me, never mind that my sales have been inconsistent for a while. I think the government needs to do away with blanket regulations and give preferential treatment to small businesses."
Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector was affected adversely by the slowdown of economic activities, the 2021 Economic Survey indicates.
The number of persons in formal manufacturing employment decreased by 10.3 per cent from 353.3 thousand in 2019 to 316.9 thousand in 2020.
Just as Kamau was thinking of scaling back her business ambitions this year due to numerous hurdles, she received what she calls a divine sign to keep at it.
She was nominated under the manufacturing category for founder of the year (FOYA) awards, where she emerged in the third position.
“I was thrilled because I was on the verge of giving up but the recognition reminded me that my role in this business still counts," Kamau said.
Edited by T Jalio
