The History of SheaMoisture: How a Natural Hair Brand Became a Global Beauty Company
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Today, SheaMoisture is one of the most recognizable names in textured hair care, with products lining the shelves of major retailers and collections designed for a wide range of hair types and concerns.
But the history of SheaMoisture began long before the brand became a household name.
Its story traces back more than a century to Sofi Tucker, a Sierra Leonean entrepreneur whose handmade shea butter and African black soap would later inspire her grandson, Richelieu Dennis, to build a beauty business around her legacy.
Over the years, SheaMoisture grew alongside the natural hair movement and expanded far beyond its community-market beginnings. But that growth also brought changes. The brand faced criticism from some of its longtime customers, and in 2017, its parent company was acquired by Unilever.
Looking back at SheaMoisture’s history gives us a chance to see how much the natural hair industry has changed and what can happen when a brand created for an underserved community enters the mainstream beauty industry.
Who Founded SheaMoisture?
Although SheaMoisture frequently traces its heritage back to Sofi Tucker, she did not create the modern SheaMoisture brand that exists today.
According to the company’s account, Tucker began selling shea nuts at a village market in Bonthe, Sierra Leone, in 1912. By the age of 19, she was reportedly selling handmade shea butter, African black soap, and hair and skin preparations throughout the countryside.
Decades later, her grandson Richelieu Dennis drew inspiration from those traditions while building his own business in the United States.
Dennis began selling natural beauty products in New York City with his mother, Mary Dennis, and his college roommate, Nyema Tubman. What started with products sold on the streets of Harlem eventually developed into Sundial Brands, the company behind SheaMoisture.
The SheaMoisture brand was built around Tucker’s legacy, incorporating ingredients and traditions associated with her work into products created for a modern beauty market. Shea butter, African black soap, coconut oil, and other ingredients that were familiar within Black and African beauty traditions became central to the brand’s identity.
How SheaMoisture Grew Into a Mainstream Haircare Brand
As Sundial Brands grew, SheaMoisture became one of the company’s flagship brands. Its focus on textured hair helped fill a gap that many mainstream beauty companies weren’t addressing at the time.
The product line expanded to include shampoos, conditioners, deep treatments, styling products, and skin care.
That expansion put SheaMoisture in an especially strong position as interest in natural hair grew, and consumers searched for more information about caring for their natural textures.
How the Natural Hair Movement Helped SheaMoisture Grow
SheaMoisture’s expansion happened alongside a major shift in the way many Black women were approaching their hair.
During the 2000s and early 2010s, the modern natural hair movement gained momentum as more women stopped chemically straightening their hair and began learning how to care for their natural textures. At the same time, online communities were making that information much easier to find.
YouTube became particularly influential. Wash-day routines, product reviews, twist-out tutorials, ingredient discussions, and natural hair journeys gave people access to information that wasn’t always available through traditional beauty media.
Products also became part of those conversations. Instead of relying only on advertising to discover something new, consumers could watch someone with similar hair use a product from beginning to end and decide whether it might work for them.
SheaMoisture was well positioned for that environment. Products such as the Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie became familiar names within natural hair spaces, while the brand’s growing retail presence made those recommendations easier for consumers to act on.
Why SheaMoisture Meant More Than Hair Products
But availability wasn’t the only reason SheaMoisture developed such a loyal following.
The brand drew from beauty traditions that were already familiar within Black communities while creating products specifically for hair textures that were often underserved by mainstream beauty companies.
For many consumers, SheaMoisture didn’t feel like a company that had simply discovered a growing market. Its identity and history were already connected to the community it was serving, which helped build a level of trust that went beyond the products themselves.
That connection also meant longtime customers had strong expectations about who SheaMoisture represented, something that became especially clear during the brand’s 2017 advertising controversy.
The 2017 SheaMoisture Ad Controversy
In 2017, SheaMoisture faced backlash after releasing its “Break Free From Hair Hate” campaign. The advertisement included women from different backgrounds and hair types, but many longtime customers felt that Black women, the community that had helped build the brand, were no longer at the center of its message.
The criticism became about more than one advertisement. It raised a larger question: Can a brand expand its audience without distancing itself from the community that made it successful?
SheaMoisture removed the advertisement and apologized, acknowledging that it had missed the mark.
The controversy became an important turning point for the brand, especially because another major change was coming later that year: the acquisition of its parent company, Sundial Brands, by Unilever.
When Did Unilever Buy SheaMoisture?
In November 2017, Unilever announced that it was acquiring Sundial Brands, the parent company of SheaMoisture.
The acquisition gave SheaMoisture access to the resources and global reach of a much larger beauty company. Richelieu Dennis initially remained involved with Sundial after the deal.
The acquisition also helped establish the New Voices Fund, an initiative created to invest in businesses owned or managed by women of color.
Still, some longtime customers wondered what corporate ownership would mean for SheaMoisture. Would the products change? Would the brand continue serving the same community? Those questions contributed to a debate that continues to follow the brand.
Did SheaMoisture Change After the Unilever Acquisition?
SheaMoisture has changed since becoming part of Unilever, but that doesn’t mean every change can be attributed to the acquisition.
The brand has introduced new collections, discontinued others, changed packaging, and updated some formulas over the years. SheaMoisture currently states that most of its formulations have remained the same, although some shampoos have been reformulated.
This distinction matters because a new package doesn’t automatically mean a new formula, and a reformulation doesn’t necessarily tell us why the change happened.
For consumers who have used SheaMoisture for years, comparing ingredient lists can provide much more information than relying on packaging or assumptions about ownership.
Related: What a Packaging Change Can Tell You About a Haircare Brand
SheaMoisture Timeline
Sofi Tucker’s Legacy Begins
Sofi Tucker begins selling shea butter, African black soap, and homemade beauty preparations in Sierra Leone. Her work would later inspire the SheaMoisture brand.
SheaMoisture Begins in Harlem
Richelieu Dennis and his family begin selling handcrafted beauty products on 125th Street in Harlem. SheaMoisture currently identifies 1991 as the beginning of the brand.
SheaMoisture Expands
As the natural hair movement grows, SheaMoisture expands its product offerings and reaches a much larger audience through mainstream retail distribution.
The “Hair Hate” Controversy
SheaMoisture faces backlash over its “Break Free From Hair Hate” campaign. The company removes the advertisement and apologizes after criticism from longtime customers.
Unilever Announces the Sundial Brands Acquisition
Unilever announces an agreement to acquire Sundial Brands, SheaMoisture’s parent company.
The Unilever Era Begins
The acquisition moves forward, bringing SheaMoisture into the Unilever portfolio and giving the brand access to greater global resources and distribution.
SheaMoisture Continues to Expand
SheaMoisture remains part of the Unilever family and now sells products across hair, skin, bath and body, baby, men’s care, and other categories
Where Is SheaMoisture Today?
Today, SheaMoisture remains part of Unilever and continues to be widely available through major retailers. The brand has also expanded well beyond the hair products that helped make it popular, with products across skin care, bath and body, baby care, and other categories.
SheaMoisture continues its Community Commerce program, which connects the brand’s business to investments in Black communities and entrepreneurs. The company says purchases help support initiatives focused on entrepreneurship, education, and economic opportunities.
Despite the controversies and changes the brand has experienced over the years, SheaMoisture remains a major name in textured hair care. Its product selection looks very different from its earlier years, but its connection to Sofi Tucker’s legacy remains a central part of how the brand tells its story.
History of SheaMoisture FAQs
Who founded SheaMoisture?
The modern SheaMoisture brand was built by Richelieu Dennis, his mother Mary Dennis, and Nyema Tubman. The brand was inspired by Dennis’s grandmother, Sofi Tucker, who began selling shea butter, African black soap, and other handmade beauty preparations in Sierra Leone in 1912.
Who owns SheaMoisture now?
SheaMoisture is currently owned by Unilever, which acquired its parent company, Sundial Brands.
When did Unilever buy SheaMoisture?
Unilever announced its agreement to acquire Sundial Brands in November 2017. The acquisition brought SheaMoisture and Sundial’s other brands into Unilever’s portfolio.
Did SheaMoisture change its formulas after Unilever bought it?
Some SheaMoisture products have been reformulated over the years, while others have remained largely unchanged. SheaMoisture states that most of its formulations have not changed, although it acknowledges changes to some shampoos. Because products can be reformulated for many reasons, a formula change alone doesn’t necessarily mean it was caused by the Unilever acquisition.
Final Thoughts
The history of SheaMoisture is about more than how one haircare brand became successful.
Its growth happened alongside a much larger shift in the beauty industry. Textured hair went from being underserved by many mainstream companies to becoming an important and highly competitive part of the beauty market.
SheaMoisture helped fill that gap, but its growth also brought difficult questions about representation, ownership, and what happens when a brand deeply connected to one community expands to reach a much larger audience.
More than a century after Sofi Tucker began selling shea butter in Sierra Leone, her story remains connected to a brand sold around the world.
And SheaMoisture wouldn’t be the only company to benefit from the changing curly and natural hair market.
Related: Why So Many Curly Hair Brands Suddenly Appeared
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Official Company Sources
- SheaMoisture — Our Story
- SheaMoisture — Community Commerce
- SheaMoisture — FAQ
- Unilever — Sundial Brands Acquisition
- Richelieu Dennis interviews
