In the late 1990s, Curtisha Johnson moved to Atlanta to find her place in the thriving music scene. She was 22 years old, working as a singer, choreographer and makeup artist professionally known as Madam CJ.
Johnson managed to reject certain beauty standards that were encouraged by the entertainment business. But it wasn’t until 2008 when she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids — noncancerous growths of the uterine muscle — that she embarked full-scale on a journey to change her relationship with the beauty industry.
Once she discovered the dangers of certain chemicals and their potential impact on women’s health and hormones, she overhauled her diet, skin care and personal care products.
“Synthetic chemicals across the board have really infiltrated our community and I feel like it is a form of biological warfare,” Johnson said. “What we put on our skin and everything that you bring into your home affects your hormones.”
As many as 4 out of 5 women in their lifetimes will develop uterine fibroids, the most common type of tumor in women. Black women are disproportionately diagnosed with fibroids compared to women of other races, and they often have more serious outcomes.
The link between fibroid development in women and certain chemicals in beauty products has been established in scientific research. Still, while the cosmetics industry has responded with safer formulations for consumers overall, that isn’t the case for products specifically aimed at Black women.
According to a new report from the Environmental Working Group, beauty products marketed to Black women are more likely to be rated as high-hazard than products without any demographic marketing.
Black women have fewer safe products targeted to them than a decade ago when the Environmental Working Group released its first report on products marketed to Black women in 2016.
Stores in neighborhoods with large populations of women of color are repositories of products that EWG has rated as high-hazard, such as hair styling products, skin creams and fragranced lotions.
Black and Hispanic women have higher exposure levels to the harmful chemicals that are flagged in these products, including parabens and phthalates. When Black women buy the very products that are marketed to them, they have a higher likelihood than other women of ending up with a moderate or high-hazard product.
The list of the more than 4,000 products tested by EWG features many of the brands revered by Black women as beauty staples such as Aunt Jackie’s, Carol’s Daughter, Cantu and Mielle.
Some of the least harmful brands are among the lesser-known brand names, which are not easily found in big box stores.
The only product categories that showed safety improvements were styling aids, facial powder, facial moisturizers and bar soap, which is already one of the least hazardous products on the market.
Shampoos, conditioners, eye shadow, hair treatments and styling gels all seemed to regress, offering fewer low-hazard options in 2025 than in 2016, according to the report.
Parabens which are used as preservatives and fragrances are among the most hazardous ingredients in cosmetics marketed to Black women. These chemicals, particularly with cumulative usage, can lead to health hazards including reproductive harm, skin sensitivity and cancer.
In 2009, Johnson launched Divine Clementine Bath and Body. Her soaps, soaks and body butters are made with locally sourced, sustainable ingredients such as coconut milk, shea butter and essential oils.
She is also invested in educating women about the potential hazards of toxic beauty products and encourages women to pay attention to their bodies as well as their choices.
“We have not Montgomery bus boycotted any of these companies and now we don’t have a choice and people are scrambling,” Johnson said.
She takes groups of Black women and girls on field trips to local farms and farmers markets to build connections between purveyors of natural products and consumers. She also gives talks at local high schools about the toxins found in personal care products and how teens can avoid them.
“We have to make sure we have done our due diligence and know what we need to thrive,” Johnson said. “We need to be joining forces with people who have knowledge about natural products. We need to be looking and seeking out people who care.”
Before buying new products, check EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetic database to make sure it has a rating you can live with and that your regimen is well-balanced with low and moderate-hazard products. If you must use a high-hazard product, make sure any other products with the same health impacts are low-hazard.
Demanding better safety standards and increased transparency from manufacturers will change the beauty industry not only for Black women but for all women.
And sometimes, we have to make those demands with our dollars.
Read more on the Real Life blog (AJC.com/opinion/real-life-blog), find Nedra on Facebook (facebook.com/AJCRealLifeColumn) and X (@nrhoneajc) or email her at nedra.rhone@ajc.com.
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