5 Inventions By Black Women

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Long before the beauty pioneers of today made their first dollar, Madam C.J. Walker made her first million. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, created the first line of homemade hair care products for Black women after suffering her own hair loss. And long before Mary Kay or Avon sent aspiring beauty entrepreneurs knocking door-to-door, Walker employed Black women called “beauty culturalists” to sell her product.

See, without the ideas, innovations and inventions by revolutionary Black women like Madam C.J Walker, Lyda D. Newman, Marjorie Joyner, Mary Kenner and Theora Stephens, the beauty industry would look drastically different. From hair care to personal feminine hygiene, these five women revolutionized the beauty industry before it even started.

Madam C.J. Walker

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Walker is probably the most well-known of any female inventor in the beauty space. She created the first line of Black hair care products while treating her own scalp for hair loss. Her five original products were Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, Temple Salve, Tetter Salve, Vegetable Shampoo and Glossine. Taking business to a whole new level, Walker employed her own saleswomen which she called “beauty culturalists” to sell her products. Walker was ahead of her time, so as you might’ve imagined incredibly successful, becoming “the first black woman millionaire in America.”

Octavia Spencer will star as Walker in a drama based on her life on Netflix. Self Made airs March 20.

Lyda D.  Newman

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Who knew your everyday styling tool was invented by a Black woman? Newman created the improved model of hairbrush. She applied for a United States patent and it was granted on November 15, 1898. Information on Newman is limited, but her contributions to women goes far beyond beauty. She also organized African-American women to join the suffragist movement to earn their right to vote. According to Biography.com, Newman worked on behalf of her fellow African-American women in New York and canvassed her neighborhood to raise awareness of the cause and organized suffrage meetings in her voting district.

Marjorie Joyner

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Karl Nesser may have invented the long-term perm in 1905, but it was Marjorie Joyner, one of Walker’s mentees and the first black woman to graduate from a renowned Chicago college of “beauty culture,” who created the permanent wave designer machine without the use of chemical process. Joyner realized she could heat and bend hair bonds from the inside out while looking at the rod inside of her pot roast. She was given the first patent for a permanent wave machine in 1928. She went on to draft some of the first state cosmetology laws in Illinois with political activist Mary Bethune in 1954.

Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner

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Every month women everywhere should thank Mary Kenner for forever changing feminine hygiene care. In 1956, she invented the sanitary belt, basically the OG maxi pad. Kenner’s belt held sanitary napkins in place and prevented leaks thanks to a moisture-proof napkin pocket.  Kenner’s invention wouldn’t be patented until 30 years later because — you guessed it— the company who was initially interested in Kenner’s invention rejected it when they learned she was African American. Regardless, she got the job done, honey! Kenner’s innovations didn’t stop three. She also improved upon the bathroom tissue holder, designing a holder that allowed the loose end of a bathroom tissue roll to be accessible at all times.

Theora Stephens

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Looking to create a more efficient way to style hair, hairdresser Theora Stephens invented the pressing/curling iron. She was granted a patent in 1980. There is very limited information on Stephens, but one thing is clear, today’s beauty culture would be the same without her contributions.

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