Black-Owned Cosmetic Chemistry Company Inspires Black Girls to Pursue STEM Careers

Recent years have produced a spike in minority-owned businesses, specifically Black-owned businesses. As has been widely reported, Black entrepreneurship fueled business creation during the pandemic, led by Black women.One of those entrepreneurs is Kristen Wells-Collins, founder and lead creative chemist of Black to the Lab, a STEM-based company launched in 2020 with a unique mission: namely, to inspire Black girls to pursue the field of cosmetic chemistry by bridging beauty and science.& Black to the Lab Cosmetic Activity Set (from blacktothelab.com)That first creation was the Cosmetic Chemistry Activity Set. This starter science kit allows Black girls as young as six to start creating their own beauty products while learning about an industry that is heavily marketed toward them.Wells-Collins cites the lack of representation in the cosmetic industry as the inspiration behind the brand. Despite gains made to diversify the industry, as of 2021 only 4.4% of chemists in the United States were Black.“I wanted to create something that gave young girls an early introduction in a way that they could learn by playing. But also see themselves represented in toys and in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in a culturally relevant way…” When asked about what sparked her inspiration...