Lisa Price’s story is one of passion, persistence, and vision. Long before the shelves of Target and Sephora carried her products, Price was in her Brooklyn kitchen in the early 1990s, mixing oils and butters for her own hair.
What friends dismissed as a “hobby” quickly became a movement — a natural haircare brand that spoke directly to women who had long been ignored by the mainstream beauty industry.
That brand was Carol’s Daughter, named after her mother. What began with small neighborhood sales blossomed into a national sensation, driven by Price’s commitment to authenticity and representation.
By the time French cosmetics giant L’Oréal acquired Carol’s Daughter for $62 million in 2014, the company had already reshaped the conversation around Black beauty and natural hair.
But the acquisition wasn’t without controversy. Some longtime customers accused Price of “selling out,” worried that a beloved Black-owned brand would lose its identity under a global conglomerate. Price addressed those concerns directly, saying she never viewed the decision as a betrayal but rather as an opportunity to secure the brand’s long-term future.
“This was 21 years of hard work,” she explained in an interview with Afrobella, pointing out that her role as creative visionary would continue and that the integrity of her formulas would remain intact.
The business world saw it differently too. Analysts noted that the sale allowed Carol’s Daughter access to research, funding, and global distribution that would have been impossible otherwise — ensuring that the brand could compete and thrive for decades to come.
Price’s story highlights a broader truth about entrepreneurship: it’s about solving real problems, often against doubt and resistance. She identified a gap in the market, built with purpose, and scaled her vision until it reshaped an entire industry.
For some, her journey is proof that growth — even when it involves corporate acquisition — doesn’t erase legacy. Instead, it multiplies it.
Today, Carol’s Daughter has become an inspiring story of how one woman’s kitchen-born dream grew into a movement powerful enough to demand global recognition.
