MYAVANA Brings Personalized Haircare to Africa
MYAVANA, a company known for its innovative approach to hair care technology, is expanding its reach to Africa with the opening of its first brick-and-mortar retail store, the MYAVANA Hair Lab, located in Uganda.
Candace Victoria Mitchell, the visionary behind MYAVANA, launched the company with a modest $1,000 investment. Her mission was to provide improved hair health solutions for Black women.
“Originally, my ‘why’ was really to provide a more personalized approach for people to really be seen and heard in the beauty industry,” Mitchell shared in an interview with AfroTech™. “Because, at the time, there were not many products catered to women of color or textured hair. And it just felt like it was just a huge oversight, and we were just kinda out there figuring it out on YouTube. I feel that hair is deeply connected to our purpose and identity, especially in Black culture. So my ‘why’ was just deeply rooted in people understanding who they are and also having the technology that could cater to our personalized journeys.”
MYAVANA’s technology includes the MYAVANA HairAI, which delivers detailed hair analysis and provides customized recommendations based on an individual’s hair type and texture. Additionally, MYAVANA HairAI evaluates hair conditions, creating personalized care plans with customized products, ingredients, and regimens. For stylists, the company also developed the MYAVANA HairScope, a hardware device that identifies issues like product build-up or breakage on the scalp, displaying the findings on a screen.
Photo Credit: MYAVANA
The new Uganda location will provide customers with one-on-one consultations with hair experts, access to the HairAI analysis, educational content on hair care, and product recommendations. The store will also feature premium brands and products, including those from Black-owned businesses such as Moisture Love, Texture Crush, Afro Unicorn, U Go Girl Hair, and LushUs Hair.
Mitchell emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting Black-owned businesses.
“When you look at the history of product development, marketing, and distribution in the beauty industry, African-American brands and businesses have lost equity and ownership over the past decades. We want to change that,” Mitchell stated in a news release. “We’re putting black-owned hair care brands front and center and providing them with strategic opportunities to foster community engagement and drastically increase global distribution.”
