In case you missed the memo, in-person brand events are so back.
Black Beauty Club, a community-based organization comprised of “builders and believers driving beauty’s next chapter,” is the latest to get in on the action. This week, it announced the launch of Beauty on the Block, an event that transforms a city block into a live shopping destination, where consumers can shop beauty brands and discover service providers (braiders, barbers, makeup artists and estheticians).
Taking place in New York City on June 21 and Chicago on Aug. 8, Beauty on the Block is part block party, part marketplace and part immersive experience. Participating brands include Blue Water Girls, Koba Skincare, Moodeaux, Hanahana Beauty, Good Weather Skin, Rebundle and JolieDen, with more to be announced. The event is free and open to the public.
Black Beauty Club Founder Tomi Talabi noticed a shift in how consumers are discovering beauty brands in interactive environments, like festivals, conventions and activations. Recently, Ulta Beauty World held a one-day immersive expo, attracting more than 3,000 attendees and featuring 220 brands. Earlier this year, Sephora also hosted an in-person beauty experience featuring brand activations and masterclasses.
However, Black beauty brands and consumers are being left out of these experiences, Talabi points out. “Through The Black Beauty Club, we have spent years building rooms for beauty founders, creators, operators and consumers. What became clear is that the community needs more than just visibility,” she says. “It needs more formats that create real access, discovery, commerce and cultural momentum. Beauty on the Block is a response to the gap.”
Photo: Caitlyn Gaurano/Courtesy of The Black Beauty Club
The event has been months in the making. The founder strategically chose Harlem and Chicago because they are both important cultural centers of Black life, style and entrepreneurship. Talabi was also mindful of the opportunity she hopes Beauty on the Block provides participating brands, which is to create direct access to consumers, provide product education, drive sales, gather feedback and build relationships in real time.
“That kind of proximity is incredibly valuable, especially for brands that may not yet have major retail distribution or large marketing budgets,” she explains. “Beauty is built on trust, and live environments can build that trust in a way that a shelf placement or digital ad alone cannot. […] The opportunity for all brands is to participate in beauty where it actually lives: in community, in public, through services, through discovery and through real consumer interaction.”
Cash App and Square have partnered with Beauty on the Block to sponsor the events: All participating vendors will operate on Square as their point-of-sale system, while attendees using their Cash App Card will receive exclusive discounts.
Looking ahead, Talabi hopes Beauty on the Block will change how the industry thinks about Black beauty and its lack of infrastructure. “[Black beauty] should not be treated as a niche, a theme or a seasonal conversation,” she says. “It is one of the engines of the beauty industry. Beauty on the Block is about building the kind of platform that reflects that.”
Beauty on the Block will take place in NYC’s Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building Plaza on June 21 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. On Aug. 8, it will be in Chicago’s Fulton Market/West Loop area from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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