Carol's Daughter is an American multi-cultural beauty brand headquartered in New York City. Its founder and president, Lisa Price, established the brand in 1993 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City. The brand was named after Lisa Price's mother, Carol. The beauty brand offers a range of hair, body, and skincare products. In October 2014, the brand was acquired by

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...

USA.

History

Price started the brand as a "side hustle" from her kitchen table in Brooklyn, New York City in the late 1980s. It initially started as a hobby while she was working full-time in television production, notably on "

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

" and its spin-off " Here and Now". She first began experimenting with fragrances and essential oils, which grew into an exploration of body care products. After gifting the homemade products to friends and family, her mother, Carol, implored her to start a business. Her mother died in 2003. In 1993, Price began selling her products through word-of-mouth in her Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, and at local flea markets and craft fairs, building-up a loyal, devoted customer base. The first Carol's Daughter boutique opened in

Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the wes ...

, Brooklyn in 1999. In 2000, the brand launched its e-commerce website. In 2002, Price was featured on the

Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

, which gave her brand an enormous "Oprah Effect" boost. In 2005,

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (; née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show '' Red Table Talk'', for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. ''Time'' name ...

, and Jay-Z were among a group of movie and music stars who invested $10 million USD into Price's brand to help expand its nationwide reach. Other investors included record executive Steve Stoute, investor Andrew Farkas, Interscope Records chief

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces ...

, and music executive

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...

and his wife, singer

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer and actress. Referred to as the " Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most successful and influential Mexican artists. Havi ...

. In 2008, Carol's Daughter launched on

HSN HSN, an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands. Based in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Flo ...

. In 2010, HSN partnered with

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

and Carol's Daughter for an exclusive, inaugural fragrance called "My Life", which rolled-out with an eau de parfum in a limited edition gold clutch, a shower cream, a body lotion, and an eau de parfum rollerpen. In March 2014, Carol's Daughter launched an exclusive collection with

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

. In April 2014, the brand filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the Manhattan bankruptcy court. The brand's chief financial officer, John D. Elmer, stated that most of Carol's Daughter stores had been unprofitable since 2010. Before filing papers, the company closed five of its seven retail stores, and terminated 29 of its 42 employees. Six months later, in October 2014, Carol's Daughter was acquired by

USA. Price's story is frequently cited as an example of the entrepreneurial success story of a "minority-owned business that caters primarily to women of color".

References

External links

* {{Cosmetics Cosmetics companies of the United States