Chioma Joy Ezechukwu-Alaebo is young, smart and intelligent. She’s an inspiration to young African women. She speaks to Elorasblog in this interview.

Please introduce yourself and tell us more about your background?

My name is Chioma Joy Ezechukwu-Alaebo, a native of Umuchu in Aguata LGA of Anambra state. I’m 26 years old, a beauty entrepreneur an natural hair advocate who is dedicated to helping African women grow their natural hair with ease. I’m the founder of Favent Beauty Cosmetics and Black Hair Community. I’m also the author of Healthy Hair Secrets. And presently working on a natural hair documentary film that will expose the hair discrimination against African women and their children and suggest ways to create policies that will help you address this. I can’t wait to let the world see this.
You’re an Entrepreneur, what does your business entails?
Favent Beauty Cosmetics is a sustainable natural hair care brand that formulates hair care products specially made for Afro textured hair using locally sourced ingredients that are eco friendly and safe.

What is the name of your business?
Favent Beauty Cosmetics.
Did you attend any form of training?
Yes, I have attended countless business training so far even before I launched my cosmetics brand and I will keep attending training.
What inspired you to start up your cosmetics brand, Favent cosmetics?
Sometime 2014-2015, I had a terrible experience that almost ruined my self confidence and self esteem as a young girl of 22. Prior to the aforementioned period, I was known by neighbors, friends and family as the girl with a very long dark colored hair and a beautiful melanin popping skin. These and many more beauty accolades remained my description till I met my ruin.
It happened that I was deceived by the beauty trends of those days – skin bleaching, hair perming and dyeing. Yes, I was this gullible then. I danced the music because I wanted to belong. With my hard earned money as a sales girl then, I will reluctantly buy as many body creams and hair relaxers as I can lay my hands on, so far they were meant to lighten my skin, soften and relax my hair. I was so ignorant of the cancerous chemicals used in the production of these beauty products and their side effects…… What do I know? And I never cared to know, all I wanted was to just belong to the trending babes in town….. Lols.
This continued till I started experiencing exceeding skin reactions such as eczema, rashes, stretch marks, dark knuckles, tremendous hair loss, receding hairline and dandruff. These ugly experiences reshaped my mind that I started seeking for helpful information, because at this point it dawned on me that ignorant is never an excuse. I learnt it the hard way.
I sourced for information with everything I had. I was so passionate and dedicated about this. All I wanted was to gain back my self confidence and self esteem because I lost them already.
“Knowledge is not power but knowledge applied is”….this statement summed up my struggle. I applied the information I got and my skin and hair experienced a drastic change. To an extent, just to get results, I decided to cut my hair on 12th of April, 2016, and started growing the hair again but in a more healthier way.
On the course of all these experiences, challenges, mistakes and lessons, I found out that so many black women both old and young all over the world are passing through a lot just to look good and beautiful. So I started helping to fight this menace that is about ruining the beauty life of black women, by giving out free beauty and personal care consultation to women around my neighborhood , family and friends. Within a short period of time, I started getting amazing feedback from them. The joy of being able to help solve their problems was overwhelming. So I decided to enroll for an Online Organic Cosmetics Training Class and also carried out a whole lot of researches on hair care and skincare ( I never stopped learning) in order to get advanced knowledge of organic beauty products formulation and personal care. After which I started formulating bespoke organic hair care and skincare products. The results never stopped amazing me. In spite of the fact that these products were not branded, it didn’t stop me from creating quality problem solving products for the black women. I was so passionate.
Today, I have a sustainable natural hair care brand –FAVENT BEAUTY COSMETICS.
How were you able to raise fund to start up your business?
Personal savings, grants, friends and family.

How have you managed to grow your natural hair for the last three years?
In the last three years, I have been able to master my natural hair and discovered what actually works for it. Our hair are different in types and porosity levels. All that is required to achieve a healthy and beautiful natural hair like mine is to find out the porosity level of your hair, create a healthy hair care regimen for it, buy the right hair care products specially made for it, buy the right hair tools and most importantly, eat meals that contains the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for hair growth. That’s how I was able to grow my hair in the last three years.
You’ve trained over 1000 women on how to grow an healthy hair in an online platform, how did you achieve this?
Training over 1000 women on how to grow a healthy natural hair wasn’t achieved in a day or in a particular platform. Between 2017 and 2019, I have been able to create different online trainings on different online platforms in different occasions but for a particular purpose (teaching women how to grow a healthy natural hair). And presently, I have a Facebook group (BLACK HAIR COMMUNITY) with over 500 women from different countries of the world for that same purpose. In fact, the goal is to help as many African women as possible grow a healthy natural hair with ease.

You published a book on healthy hair secrets, how did you discover the secret of an healthy hair?
Healthy Hair Secrets is a book that was written out of my personal experience with growing my natural hair and that of my clients. I discovered the secrets to a healthy hair by paying attention to my hair and that of clients, testing different techniques and finding out what really works for different hair types and porosity levels. My new book that will be launched soon will be a better version that will explicitly explain the A-Z of Natural Hair Care.
What major challenges have you encountered in your business?
There are so many challenges that I have encountered. But, the most pressing ones have been raising funds for the business and building a formidable team that are so committed to achieving our set goals.
What platform do use to advertise your business?
My team and I use Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Immediately after rebranding, we would launch our website and mobile app.

Will you say it’s been financially rewarding?
Yes of course.
Where do you see your brand in 5 years?
In the next 5 years, Favent Beauty Cosmetics will definitely be in the faces of every African woman on natural hair. We are committed to dominating the Natural Hair Care Industry by introducing user-friendly technology that can’t be resisted. So, in 5 years time, we would have our presence all over Africa.