Two students have made beauty supply products more accessible for their peers.

While attending the University of Michigan, Mia Wilson and Rico Ozuna-Harrison recognized securing beauty products for people of color was far from easy. The nearest beauty supply store requires a 20-minute drive to Ypsilanti, MI, forcing students to purchase last resort products from nearby stores.

“Supplies aren’t directly on campus and there are no stores or beauty supplies for students of color nearby. The stores on campus are just Walgreens and CVS,” Wilson told AfroTech. “So, oftentimes you can’t find the proper products that will best suit our hair types in those stores.”

The inconvenience sparked the inception of YOUniversity Beauty Supply Machine through their business Innovending LLC, to ensure Black and brown students were represented at the University of Michigan. The beauty dispensary can be found in the basement of the university’s Union building and students can purchase hair oil, durags, bonnets, hair ties, brushes, lashes, and more.

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“Innovending as a whole finds social inequalities and we fix them. So, our YOUniversity vending machine is a business that gives students a voice,” Harrison said. “We want Black and brown students to have something that is theirs and in the future, we also plan on having some Black and Brown-owned businesses by students in our vending machines.”

Innovending LLC

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