The Doux is bringing beauty and gaming together.
Known for its hair care products, husband-and-wife team Maya and Brian Smith launched The Doux with a commitment to meeting consumers wherever culture is created.
Now, they are bringing that same sentiment to the gaming space through the launch of My Salon Empire on Roblox.
“For me, Black beauty has always been about self-expression, and gaming is another place where people get to express who they are,” Maya Smith told AfroTech Culture in an interview.
“The experience, for us, goes way beyond just hairstyling,” she continued. “As a licensed cosmetologist and mother of five, I have a bunch of gamers in the house. Roblox was, I guess, kind of off the beaten path from the beauty world, but it made a lot of sense to me. We wanted to create something that really represented the users and a place where the people who were playing the game would feel seen and have an opportunity to learn, in a fun way, about entrepreneurship, salon culture, and kind of all it takes to do what we did when we built the brand. My brand started in a salon, so it’s fun, like this tycoon game, but it’s also really a part of The Doux story, which is running a salon, providing excellent customer service, and building a brand based on service to the community.”
Exploring ‘My Salon Empire’
My Salon Empire is a free game on Roblox, the popular online gaming and game creation platform where users can play games made by others and build their own 3D experiences.
Client avatars feature dozens of textured hairstyles created through the Roblox community collaboration. In the future, players will be able to customize their avatars with additional hairstyles that reflect a variety of textures, representing the people The Doux is known for serving.
On empowering the next generation
“If we want to meet what I believe is the future, the next generation, I think it’s important that we show up wherever they are,” said Smith.
She added, “Every age is already creating from their perspective and their viewpoint. For us, it’s also being able to create in a way that our users and our creators are seeing themselves in the end product. Even with our project with Black Girls Code, speaking to a younger generation, bringing them in and showing them that they’re seen in this space and that they belong here, not just as gamers, but also as game developers and creators. I, myself, as a creative, user, and gamer, think it’s important that our younger generation sees that they have a place here, and that when they show up on these different platforms, their hair, skin tones, and cultures are all represented there. I think that’s what we’ve been able to accomplish here with this game.”
Participating in the future of technology
The Doux’s move into Roblox reflects its broader role in shaping the future of Black beauty.
“I think Black innovation is how we got here. I think we see a lot of interest now in the Black consumer when it comes to beauty, because we consume, and we have the best outlook when it comes to where beauty is going,” said Smith. “We are the blueprint when it comes to the trends and et cetera, but I think us showing up from an innovation perspective is really how we’re going to push the needle forward.”
As a player on the My Salon Empire platform, users are able to progress by the following:
- Welcoming clients
- Completing hair consultations
- Shampooing and styling hair
- Delivering efficient, attentive customer service
- Earning rewards and unlocking new features
- Adding salon chairs and hiring staff
- Expanding their salons and growing their businesses
- Visiting salons operated by other players
