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Flawless by Gabrielle Union

Source: Flawless / Gabrielle Union

Five years ago Gabrielle Union was approached to launch a haircare line —  an opportunity the actress said was literally “like a dream come true.” However, as the brand got closer to launch, Gabrielle discovered things weren’t quite as they seemed.

“Throughout that process, very quickly I realized when you have a very small bit of equity and you are not Black-owned, that that experience is probably not going to be what they claim it’s doing to be and it’s definitely not going to be what you think it’s going to be,” she explained in a virtual deskside chat. “Very quickly I realized that the voices of Black women were not being heard or centered.”

It’s for that reason Flawless, the haircare line she debuted March 1, 2017, not only lacked the same promotion as we’ve seen with other celebrity haircare lines like Pattern and TPH by Taraji, but also disappeared from shelves almost as soon as it landed there. Nevertheless, three years later, Flawless is back with new formulas and a new philosophy and it’s available to fans and consumers as of today.

Relaunched with her long-time friend and celebrity hairstylist Larry Sims, Flawless is the result of years of personal trial and error. After suffering severe hair loss while undergoing IVF treatments at the same time Flawless saw its first launch, Gabby and Larry began researching homeopathic methods to regrow her hair.

“We took meticulous notes over two years of what was working and wasn’t working,” Gabby explained. Those notes, combined with the work of chemists, birthed the second iteration of Flawless, which is not only better for its customers and infuses natural ingredients like Brazilian Baccuri Butter and a Rice Oil Complex, but is also now majority Black-owned.

“There was no way in hell I was going to relaunch Flawless without the man who was responsible for growing my hair back and literally crying with me and trying to talk me off the ledge when I was wanting snatched-back ponytails and I had bald spots,” the wife and mom said laughing. “This is a FUBU business and it’s for us by us and we had to at least give it a shot to reformulate the products and lower the price point.”

Flawless by Gabrielle Union

Source: Flawless / Gabrielle Union

While the products in the original line ranged in price from $19 to $29, now every item costs $10 –a number the owners agreed upon after intentionally lowering their profit margins to make items more affordable. “What’s the point of figuring out products that actually work if you’ve priced your audience and your customers out of the equation?” the 47-year-old said. And pointing out that it was important for her and Sims to make the line accessible, this time they brought new distributors into the mix. “We partnered with Sally’s because Sally’s actually has stores in our communities and with Amazon so you can get it everywhere.”

The collection was relaunched with a healthy 11 items, but more products are already in the works, one of which is an edge control that Gabby and Larry are making sure they formulate just right, because as she pointed out, “There’s nothing cute about crust.” While that product will be available to consumers around September, click through to see the items in the new and improved Flawless, included a 3-Minute Restoring Conditioner and Exotic Oil Treatment that are Gabrielle’s personal faves.

Flawless by Gabrielle Union

Source: Flawless / Gabrielle Union

Flawless by Gabrielle Union Hydrating Detangling Shampoo

Infused with Brazilian Bacuri Butter, Rice Oil Complex and Acai Palm Oil to gently remove dirt and buildup without stripping hair of natural moisture.

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