In 2014, a Black woman living in Italy opened a Facebook group for other Afro-Italians. This is, in retrospect, the origin story of a cosmetics company now headquartered in Ghana that exports hair care products to European markets. But that through-line wasn’t visible yet. What Evelyne Afaawua was doing in 2014 was simpler and more urgent: creating a space for people who shared her hyphenated identity to find each other. Born to an Italian mother and a Ghanaian father, raised between Italy and France, she understood precisely the particular isolation of being a Black woman in European spaces not designed with you in mind. The community came together because belonging is a practical need, not a sentimental one.
For nearly four years, that community thrived. Women shared experiences, celebrated their heritage, and built the kind of solidarity that comes from mutual recognition. Afaawua was listening throughout, and what she heard — consistently, across thousands of conversations — was a specific frustration: the European beauty market did not have products that worked for textured, natural hair. The formulations available assumed a hair type that was not theirs. The products that claimed to serve their needs frequently did not. The gap was not subtle. It was structural — the result of an industry that had spent decades optimising for one customer while treating everyone else as an afterthought.
The Vision
The decision to relocate to Ghana and build production infrastructure there — rather than manufacturing in Europe at prohibitive cost — was both strategic and symbolic. Afaawua established Nappytalia’s production hub on the African continent while maintaining Italy as her primary export market. This supply chain runs opposite to the assumptions embedded in most European consumer goods brands, and that is precisely the point. Beauty innovation does not have to originate in Paris or New York. It can originate where the community knowledge is deepest and the ingredients are closest to their source.
The Business
Nappytalia produces cosmetics and personal care products specifically formulated for textured and natural hair—the kind of products that the mainstream beauty industry has historically ignored or misunderstood. From leave-in conditioners to scalp treatments, each product is developed with the understanding that Black hair requires particular care, particular ingredients, and particular respect. The brand has become the go-to choice for Black Europeans seeking products that celebrate rather than “fix” their natural texture.
What makes Nappytalia distinctive isn’t just the products themselves, but the philosophy behind them. This is beauty rooted in community feedback, refined through nine years of intimate conversations with her audience. Every formula carries the weight of real need, of women telling Afaawua exactly what they required. That relationship between founder and customer remains the brand’s greatest asset—a direct line between production and purpose that larger corporations spend millions trying to replicate.
Where to find them: Follow on Instagram: @nappytalia.
