ABOUT US

It was summer of 2017 and MMARA™ co-founder, Crystal, had just returned from a family trip to Nigeria. During her visit it became painfully apparent that women were having a hard time finding hair products that are readily available in the U.S. to tackle specific hair challenges and achieve their desired hair styles, as they were faced with a limited selection of imported products, a problem unfortunately not unique to Nigeria. Women of color all over the world struggle to gain access to products that are meant to care for their unique curls, coils and kinks, and when they do, more often than not, they contain hazardous ingredients. 

Upon returning to the U.S., Crystal discussed her observations with her sister-in-law, Onyi, who had experience in the hair industry, predominantly dealing with the complex nature of protective styling within the black community. Onyi had also noticed similar patterns of limited quantity, poor quality and lack of information in the U.S. as well, and knew she wanted to help find a solution. She told Crystal, “when you’re ready to start this, I’m in.” 

Obi, another sister and self proclaimed hair enthusiast and product junkie, would soon join their mission. Obi had become frustrated because even after countless hours on Google and YouTube, trying to find products for her unique hair type, she never yielded any results. She began to notice that no product or influencer seemed to address the beautifully heterogenous nature of black. 

Obi was onto something, but also knew that attempting to address this issue was going to be far bigger than simply building an online store. Capitalizing on their serendipitous realizations regarding the challenge of getting reliable information about black hair and adequate styling products, Obi decided to pitch Onyi and Crystal on an idea, and MMARA™ was born.