A self-described third culture kid and founder of the region’s first beauty shopping platform for melanated skin called Thekür, Jessica Usenbor, stepped off a plane four years ago in Dubai by way of Nigeria and NYC. She felt “immediately at home” in the city and embarked on a lucrative career in PR, events management, and retail organization.
While thriving in the region, she noticed one *major* thing was lacking – “finding the right beauty product for me and other melanated people.” As someone who loves a good challenge, Jessica set her site on remedying this problem and we got the chance to chat with Jessica to get the tea on her innovative solution.
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Cosmo ME: What is Thekür?
Jessica Usenbor: I truly believe my entire career experience and my personal journey led me to this moment – from my jobs in marketing and PR to my all-time love for beauty and technology, there is not a single skill that I have acquired that has gone unused.
When I first arrived in the UAE in 2018, I found it very challenging to not only find the right products for my skin and hair but also trained professionals who I could trust to take care of my beauty needs. This is when I noticed that there was a gap in the market among products that are geared towards people of colour, specifically addressing the needs of melanated skin and textured hair.
Even with the limited products found in the Middle East, professionals with the required know-how are in short supply. Speaking with other people of colour in the region, I realized that I wasn’t the only one facing this issue and, being a solution architect, I took it upon myself to bridge the gap with Thekür.
C: What is the story behind the name Thekür?
JU: Good question! Thekür is a play on “the cure”. Better yet, a ‘cure’ for the dual problems of product scarcity and lack of professional education when it comes to melanin skin and textured hair, particularly for people with coily and kinky hair in the region.
Via Instagram @thekurbeauty
C: What kind of brands do you carry on Thekür’s platform?
JU: THEKÜR is built around three pillars—safe and effective ingredients, tailored solutions, and the celebration of an all-inclusive community. It offers effective products focused on skin and hair that are reliable, safe and sustainable, with delivery and discovery options to match each customer’s needs.
These brands have been brought to the region for the first time and are available, some exclusively, on Thekür. They include Baby Tress, Bea Skin Care, Vitamin Injections and Kazmaleje. Community favourites such as Timeless Truth, Black Girl Sunscreen, and Masodi Organic are also in the product portfolio. These solutions have been carefully selected based on product research, brand values, and quality ingredients.
C: How does Thekür empower women-owned and black-owned beauty businesses?
JU: We empower women-owned and black-owned beauty businesses by acting as a community that promotes diversity and inclusion as well as developing and bringing to light the great work these businesses are doing.
In the coming years, Thekür will help develop women-led and black-owned businesses through literacy programs and charities. I seek to place women and people of colour at the forefront of these exchanges, whether they be technical or commercial partnerships, as I believe it is extremely powerful to bring us together.
Via Instagram @thekurbeauty
C: Does Thekür only contain brands that are UAE startups?
JU: No, we source brands globally that align with Thekür’s ethos and most importantly those that we trust to be right for our community. We choose brands that genuinely solve the problems melanin-rich individuals or naturalistas with hair and scalp concerns face. We aim to work with partners who also choose quality over quantity and niche over-generalization.
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C: How does Thekür address the lack of representation across the industry?
JU: Although Thekür is inclusive, I’m flipping the script and putting people of colour at the forefront of everything that we do. It’s important for me to not submit to the tokenism that plagues the beauty industry, especially in marketing content. We tackle the lack of representation in the industry by investing in the underrepresented community and giving them a voice and a platform to shine.
C: How has the lack of representation impacted you in your life’s journey?
JU: Despite being surrounded by loved ones who made me feel proud of who I am and confident in my own skin, sometimes, I couldn’t help but think that there is something wrong with my hair or that my skin wasn’t good enough.
Mass media and society at large have a lot to do with this but today, that is changing. Women, black women especially, are shaking things up. They create space and room at the table for melanated women, allowing people like myself to step up.
My journey has put me on a personal mission to pay it forward. My journey didn’t defeat me. It made me stronger. I remember going to a salon in New York, when I was younger, and the beautician whispered to her colleague “I don’t know what I am supposed to do with this.”
Today, salons in the USA ensure they have texture hair stylists, some even specialise in this. But in the UAE, these experiences of decades ago still exist. There may be a place for the loose-curl girls to go but that’s much less the case for coily, kinky, afro-hair girls. They are being ignored. Therefore, the trust barrier still exists. For instance, I still do my hair myself. The few times I’ve attempted to get my hair done in the UAE, it has been mistreated so poorly.
You can shop Thekür here.