Must-Reads, Research & Policy | Data & Reports
Library
The NHBC Institute Library is your central source for the evidence behind the movement. Explore our archives, reports, industry data, and curated advocacy reading lists. We provide the essential tools to understand—and the data to dismantle—the economic and health disparities in beauty.
Dangerous Chemicals Were Detected in 100% of the Braiding Hair Consumer Reports Tested
Consumer Reports has a long history of testing products for chemical contamination and evaluating their comparative safety. When synthetic braiding hair test leader James E. Rogers, PhD, director and head of product safety testing, and his team set out to begin this testing in 2024, he says, he had three goals—to determine whether the chemicals were present, to determine whether you could measure them/how much of each chemical was present, and to find out whether there was a way to determine the possible risk to the consumers who use these products.
Read the full article here
BDD was founded and designed by Dr. Achiamah Osei-Tutu, a Board-Certified Dermatologist based in New York. It was the result of countless, frequent requests from people of African Descent around the world seeking support and understanding of the unique dermatologic issues they faced from dermatologists with similar backgrounds.
NHBC
Must Reads
Milady Standard Natural Hair Care & Braiding
Authored by NHBC Cofounder, Diane C. Bailey, this book introduces the technical and creative aspects of braiding, styling, and grooming hair that is naturally curly, kinky, or multi-textured.
Textured Tresses: The Ultimate Guide to Maintaining and Styling Natural Hair
Authored by NHBC Cofounder, Diane Da Costa, celebrity stylist and master designer of natural hair, defines textured hair and provides readers with information on the proper care of natural hair.
Laid to the Side: Disrupting the Silence of Black Girls' Hair Stories in School
Co-authored by NHBC Cofounder, Erin H. Maybin. This book is a landmark collection of hair stories that explore the meaning of hair and Black women's identity development in school contexts. Edited by Dr. Afiya Mblisihaka (creator of Psychohairapy) and Danielle Apugo.
Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women's Activism in the Beauty Industry
Looking through the lens of black business history, Author Tiffany M. Gill argues that the beauty industry played a crucial role in the creation of the modern black female identity and that the seemingly frivolous space of a beauty salon actually has stimulated social, political, and economic change.