SheaMoisture
A personal-care brand known for hair and skin products built around shea butter, plant-derived ingredients, and an inclusive approach to textured hair and diverse skin needs.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
SheaMoisture is an American personal-care brand best known for shampoos, conditioners, body washes, treatments, and moisturizers formulated with ingredients such as shea butter, castor oil, coconut oil, African black soap, and other botanical materials. The brand developed from a family and diaspora story connected to West Africa and the United States. Its roots are associated with Sofi Tucker, the Sierra Leonean grandmother of co-founder Richelieu Dennis, who sold shea butter and other handmade products in a village market in Bonthe, Sierra Leone, beginning in 1912. Dennis, his mother Mary Dennis, and Nyema Tubman founded the company in Harlem in 1991, initially building a business around culturally specific personal-care products and ingredients familiar to Black consumers and people with textured hair. The brand’s early identity was closely tied to underserved consumers whose hair and skin needs were often treated as a niche by mainstream beauty companies. SheaMoisture helped bring products for curly, coily, kinky, and tightly textured hair into mass retail, while also selling body-care and skin-care products. Its positioning combined natural or naturally inspired formulations, ingredient storytelling, multicultural representation, and a community-oriented business philosophy. The brand has frequently highlighted support for women entrepreneurs, small suppliers, and communities connected to its founders’ African heritage, although the precise scope and structure of these initiatives have varied over time. SheaMoisture became part of the broader Sundial Brands portfolio, which also developed and marketed other multicultural personal-care brands. In 2017, Unilever announced its intention to acquire Sundial Brands, bringing SheaMoisture into Unilever’s global consumer-products organization. The transaction expanded the brand’s distribution and corporate resources while creating tension around how an originally Black-focused brand should communicate to a wider audience. In 2017, a SheaMoisture advertisement for the message “Break free from hair hate” was criticized because it featured mostly white women and only limited representation of the Black women and diverse textured-hair consumers who had historically formed the brand’s core audience. SheaMoisture publicly apologized and acknowledged that the campaign had mishandled the brand’s relationship with its original customers. The brand continues to operate as a hair-care and skin-care label under Unilever ownership. Its portfolio includes cleansing, conditioning, styling, treatment, body, and facial products, with product families organized around ingredients and specific hair or skin concerns. Its best-known equities remain textured-hair care, natural ingredient associations, inclusive beauty, and the use of shea butter as a signature ingredient. SheaMoisture’s history illustrates both the commercial growth of multicultural beauty brands and the strategic challenge of expanding an identity-driven brand without weakening the communities and consumer relationships that created it.
History
SheaMoisture’s origins are connected to a family tradition of selling shea butter and handmade personal-care goods in West Africa. The brand’s founding story traces this tradition to Sofi Tucker, the Sierra Leonean grandmother of co-founder Richelieu Dennis, who sold shea butter at a market in Bonthe, Sierra Leone, beginning in 1912. Dennis later became part of the Liberian diaspora in the United States. Together with his mother, Mary Dennis, and Nyema Tubman, he founded the company in Harlem in 1991. The Harlem-based business developed around products intended for consumers whose hair and skin needs were often underrepresented in mainstream American beauty retail. Shea butter became a signature ingredient, while the broader assortment incorporated plant oils, African black soap, castor oil, coconut oil, and other ingredients associated with natural or traditional care practices. The company’s appeal extended beyond formulation claims: it connected product development and marketing with Black identity, multicultural representation, textured-hair education, and community support. As the market for textured-hair and multicultural beauty products expanded, SheaMoisture became one of the most recognizable brands in the category. The company’s products moved beyond a small specialist audience into national retail distribution, while retaining visual and commercial associations with Black women and consumers with curly, coily, kinky, and tightly textured hair. Its assortment also broadened into body care and skin care, including washes, lotions, soaps, facial products, and treatments. SheaMoisture operated within Sundial Brands, the personal-care company associated with the brand and its founders. In 2017, Unilever announced its intention to acquire Sundial Brands. The acquisition placed SheaMoisture within a large multinational consumer-products group and gave the brand access to broader distribution, manufacturing, and marketing capabilities. It also raised questions common to acquisitions of culturally specific brands: whether a company could expand its audience while remaining credible to the community that had supported it from the beginning. That issue became particularly visible in 2017, when SheaMoisture released an advertisement centered on the phrase “Break free from hair hate.” The commercial featured mostly white women and one racially ambiguous woman, with little representation of the Black women and varied textured-hair consumers who had historically been central to the brand. The campaign produced a strong public reaction. SheaMoisture apologized and admitted that it had handled the communication poorly. The episode became a notable example of the reputational risks involved when an identity-led brand changes its representation strategy. In 2018, Davina Bennett, Miss Jamaica Universe 2017, was contracted as the face of SheaMoisture’s Black Castor Oil product line, reinforcing the brand’s use of public figures and culturally specific product storytelling. SheaMoisture has also received recognition connected to natural and environmentally oriented personal care. In 2015 and 2016, it was reported as the overall favorite brand in Naturally Curly’s annual Best of the Best survey. In 2020, the Environment Possibility Award organization conferred an Award of Earth Defender on SheaMoisture for sustainable-development and eco-friendly product efforts. Today, SheaMoisture remains an active personal-care brand under the ownership structure of Sundial Brands and Unilever. Its principal categories are hair cleansing, conditioning, styling, treatment, body care, and skin care. The brand’s historical significance lies in its role in making textured-hair and multicultural personal care more visible in mass-market beauty, while its continuing strategic challenge is to balance wider commercial reach with authentic representation of its original consumer base.
- 2020
Receives an Award of Earth Defender
[1]The Environment Possibility Award organization recognized SheaMoisture for sustainable-development and eco-friendly product efforts.
- 2018
Davina Bennett represents Black Castor Oil products
[1]Davina Bennett, Miss Jamaica Universe 2017, was contracted as the face of SheaMoisture’s Black Castor Oil product line.
- 2017
Unilever announces acquisition of Sundial Brands
[1]Unilever announced its intention to acquire Sundial Brands, bringing SheaMoisture into its corporate portfolio.
- 2017
Hair-hate campaign prompts public apology
[1]A commercial criticized for inadequate representation of the brand’s core Black consumer base led SheaMoisture to issue an apology.
- 2016
Receives a second Naturally Curly overall favorite recognition
[1]The brand was again reported as the overall favorite in Naturally Curly’s annual Best of the Best survey.
- 2016
Launches the #BreaktheWalls campaign
[1]SheaMoisture launched a campaign promoting ethnic inclusion and empowerment.
- 2015
Recognized as Naturally Curly’s overall favorite brand
[1]SheaMoisture was reported as the overall favorite brand in Naturally Curly’s annual Best of the Best survey.
- 1991
Company founded in Harlem
[1]Richelieu Dennis, Nyema Tubman, and Mary Dennis founded the company in Harlem, drawing on a family and West African diaspora tradition of personal-care commerce.
- 1912
Sofi Tucker begins selling shea butter in Sierra Leone
[1]The brand’s founding narrative links its heritage to Sofi Tucker, the Sierra Leonean grandmother of co-founder Richelieu Dennis, who sold shea butter at a village market in Bonthe.
Products and positioning
An inclusive, ingredient-led personal-care brand with strong roots in Black beauty, textured-hair care, multicultural consumers, and natural or naturally inspired formulations.
Hair care
Shea Butter hair-care range
A core family built around shea butter and designed for moisturizing, cleansing, conditioning, and maintaining curly, coily, kinky, and other textured hair. Products associated with this positioning include shampoos, conditioners, treatments, styling products, and related leave-in care.
Hair care
Black Castor Oil range
A hair-care family centered on black castor oil and marketed around strengthening, moisture retention, scalp care, and the needs of textured hair. The range received additional brand visibility through the 2018 appointment of Davina Bennett as its representative.
Hair care
Coconut and Hibiscus range
A botanical hair-care range associated with cleansing, conditioning, hydration, curl definition, and styling. It reflects SheaMoisture’s use of ingredient-led product families and its focus on textured-hair routines.
Skin care
African Black Soap range
A skin-care family using African black soap as a central product story. The range includes cleansing and moisturizing formats intended for facial and body-care routines.
Body care
Body-care products
SheaMoisture’s body-care assortment includes body washes, lotions, creams, and body butters. These products extend the brand’s ingredient-led and moisture-focused positioning beyond hair care.
Controversies
2017
Backlash over the “Break free from hair hate” advertisement
SheaMoisture faced criticism after releasing an advertisement featuring mostly white women and one racially ambiguous woman, with limited representation of the Black women and varied textured-hair consumers central to the brand’s identity. The company issued an apology and admitted that it had mishandled the campaign.
Marketing campaigns
- 2017Break free from hair hate
United States
An advertising campaign framed hair dissatisfaction as something consumers could overcome. Its casting and representation generated criticism because the commercial did not adequately feature the Black women and diverse textured-hair consumers associated with SheaMoisture’s original customer base.
Outcome. The company apologized publicly and acknowledged that the campaign had failed its core audience.
- 2016#BreaktheWalls
United States
A campaign promoting ethnic inclusion, empowerment, and the removal of cultural barriers in beauty.
Outcome. Expanded the brand’s public association with inclusion and empowerment.
Brand decisions
2017
Join Unilever through the acquisition of Sundial BrandsM&ABackground
Sundial Brands owned SheaMoisture and operated a portfolio of multicultural personal-care brands. Unilever sought to expand its presence in this segment.
Action taken
Unilever announced its intention to acquire Sundial Brands, placing SheaMoisture within Unilever’s global consumer-products organization.
Aftermath
The transaction gave SheaMoisture access to a multinational corporate platform while increasing scrutiny of how the brand would preserve its original cultural and consumer positioning.
2017
Apologize and respond to representation criticismStrategyBackground
The “Break free from hair hate” advertisement was criticized for insufficiently representing the Black women and diverse textured-hair consumers associated with SheaMoisture.
Action taken
The company issued a public apology and acknowledged that it had made a serious mistake in the campaign.
Aftermath
The incident became a prominent example of the reputational risks faced by identity-led brands attempting to broaden their audience.
Recent events
SheaMoisture announces a new beauty collection for Black men[2]
Reported:
SheaMoisture announced that it was launching a new beauty collection tailored to Black men's needs; the article lists its planned products.
SheaMoisture announces #MyStoryMyPower campaign[2]
Reported:
SheaMoisture announced a campaign honoring Black men, including the #MyStoryMyPower digital series featuring the stories of Black men in America.
SheaMoisture launches $1 million relief fund[3]
Reported:
SheaMoisture launched a $1 million relief fund to support women of color entrepreneurs and minority small business owners affected by mandatory non-essential business closures. The fund includes grants and business resources.
SheaMoisture announces $1 million relief fund[4]
Reported:
SheaMoisture and parent company Sundial Brands announced a $1 million relief fund to support women of color entrepreneurs and minority-owned businesses affected by coronavirus. Initiatives under the fund include cash grants and an e-learning lab.
Sources5 sources
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