The Afro Tax: solving social economic disparities
The journey to get the best hair products and services as a black customer is an expensive investment
Illustration by Cumulux Creative
If you've never heard of the Afro Tax, it's understandable. Nevertheless, it is a fortunate reality that the salon where I have been employed for 11 years has attempted to address it head-on. However, we believe that the Afro Tax can become a thing of the past as we strive for a more just and equitable society. In this article, I will explore some collected data and discuss the steps we have taken to propose solutions to this pervasive issue within our industry.
Let's examine some data that substantiates the existence of this prevailing concern within the current cosmetic industry. According to statistics gathered from the experts at Unilever through the All Things Hair* survey:
“5.2% of women with coily hair in the U.S. spend more than $100 on hair products each month, followed by women with curly and straight hair at 2.5% and 1.7% of women with wavy hair.
Only 19.2% of Black/African American women shop at drugstores for their hair products, compared to 42% of Asian women and Multiracial/Biracial women, 30.1% of White/Caucasian women, and 26.1% of Hispanic/Latino women.
75.9% (3 in 4) of Black/African American women in the U.S. are more likely to purchase their hair products from beauty supply stores.
19.6% of Black/African American women have to travel more than 1 hour to have their hair styled, followed by 15.2% of Hispanic/Latino women, 12.2% of Asian women, 8.7% of Multiracial/Biracial women, and 3.9% of White/Caucasian women.
5.2% of women with coily hair have to travel more than three hours, compared to only 0.5% of women with straight hair
More than half (51.1% – double the consumer average of 23.9%) of women with coily hair spend more than $100 at hair salons, followed by 28.1% of women with curly hair, 22.4% of women with wavy hair, and 18.9% of women with straight hair”
Basically, you have to travel more, spend more, consume more, go to the salon more, spend more time when you have a type 4 hair and want to get or level up to a high paying job.
By focusing in on this hair type and type 3 hair more broadly from the beginning of my hair journey and as well of Inhairitance’s journey as a business we tried to:
Be accessible as possible in-person in the salon as well as be available online
Offer free education to our clients to be able to take care of their hair using our methods at home
Maintain a diverse clientele that pays for levels of expertise instead of retail prices for services
Provide complimentary consultations for hair products to ensure that you only acquire what is truly necessary for your hair care routine. Thus, eliminate the need to purchase excess products that may go unused, thus saving money. Additionally, we offer guidance on product usage, enabling you to accurately determine the appropriate amount based on your hair density. By doing so, you can minimize waste and further maximize cost savings.
The products also founded during my years at Inhairitance are uber-concentrated. Meaning they implore a less is more policy and thus all curly people can use less product and add water to the hair to make up the difference. In doing so, we aim to save the planet by producing less plastic. We also support the consummation of the client. The ultimate difference being that you can budget and calculate when you will buy your next shampoo, conditioner and stylers (all between 3-6 months) A huge step in the right direction for financial literacy.
Even though our research is cutting edge and meets the long term needs of our diverse clientele, our service prices for those clients coming every single to 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 weeks are super reasonable for the gained benefits and education. For those skillful and patient clients doing their 3 hours service at home, they can calculate when they need to get a trim at the salon based on their consultation between 3 and 6 months. Not based on stress and lack of vision for their hair but based on the need of removing new split ends that are less frequent which they are then able to maintain their financial literacy and plan in advance.
We have systemised pretty much every part of the service at the salon to maintain a professional environment that can be replicated through franchising as well as education. A big factor when the curly hair industry is still privatized and has differing systems of service.
Now why is it so important to create balance, tax equally, and make people feel that they are not fighting to be heard when they think there is a discrepancy. And how important was it for us as a private enterprise to do what the industry failed to do for decades. Balance.
Balance creates harmony and harmony brings meaning and contentment.
“Creating harmony in life is to ensure you have the ability to manage social, emotional, physical, personal and financial parts of life in combination with work goals to create meaning and contentment. Harmony is about creating boundaries and prioritizing what is most important for a person.”**
Once we solved the problems causing breakage and dryness in type 4 we improved and solved issues for everyone else. Our clients were able to create boundaries in not getting taken advantage of by unknowing culprits in the hair industry and prioritize their budgets and lifestyle in a way that values the health of their hair and their health. The products at Inhairitance are also non toxic and our values are steeped into using ingredients that are anti cancerous. A standard hopefully soon approaching in the hair industry.
In this industry natural product producers are some of the most even handed and generous people hands down. They are not using fillers like microplastics, petroleum and mineral oil that disproportionately impact the environment, healthcare spending, and devalue the actual product. The prices of natural products are absolutely reasonable for the value it brings and are often under priced to the benefit of its consumers.
In conclusion, the topic of the Afro Tax will continue to be addressed in future articles, along with other socio-economic realities, as it represents a significant aspect in the pursuit of establishing an equitable community within our industry. It will serve as an ongoing theme, acting as one of the foundational building blocks towards fostering a fair and inclusive environment.
*Ghansah, Nelly. “Hair Facts: The Prevalence of Hair Inequality in the U.S. and How it Affects People of Color” All Thing Hair. Accessed July 9, 2023. https://www.allthingshair.com/en-us/hairstyles-haircuts/hair-inequality-in-the-united-states/
**McGrath, Sally. “Create your Harmonious approach to life.” eBubble Life. Accessed July 9, 2023. https://ebubblelife.com/create-your-harmonious-approach-to-life/