Racially inclusive beauty boxes satisfy a long-ignored segment

“To any dark-skinned ladies, which beauty boxes have worked well for you?” wrote Reddit user @syd_shep on the site’s dedicated Beauty Box thread six months ago. Up until recently, the answer likely would have been none, but the last year or so has seen a widely welcomed rise in subscription boxes that cater to women of color. Companies like Hues Box, Cocotique, The Ebony Box and Onyx have entered the market to fill a void previously stocked with products strictly for light-skinned, straight-haired women.

“People are starting to be vocal about what they’re not getting from subscription boxes,” said Jasmine Harris, a college professor who launched Hues Box in November of last year with her mother and younger sister. “Previously, since it was a new business model, everybody was focusing on what you were getting. Now, as it loses its novelty and we start to really dissect it, we see what it’s missing.”