BACON MAGAZINE
HUE Affair Marks 10 Years With Its Biggest NYC Marketplace Yet

Ten years in, the Black beauty marketplace is still doing exactly what it set out to do: put the brands the community built directly in front of the people they were made for.

Ten years in, HUE Affair is still doing exactly what it set out to do: put Black beauty brands directly in front of the community they were built for. On Saturday, May 30, the platform brings its 10th Anniversary Marketplace to the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan for a one-day celebration of beauty, culture, and commerce. The event runs from 1 to 6 p.m. and is expected to draw more than 800 attendees.

This year’s marketplace will feature more than 60 curated brands spanning haircare, skincare, cosmetics, and wellness. The confirmed vendor floor includes a powerhouse lineup of Black women-owned and Black-founded brands created with the textured hair community in mind — from household names with major retail shelf placement to indie founders building momentum on their own terms. Among the brands taking the floor: Pattern Beauty, Bask & Lather, Kaleidoscope Hair Products, The Doux, Camille Rose, Ashunta Sheriff Beauty, Salt.xo, Moodeaux, and many more. Together, they represent the full spectrum of what Black beauty entrepreneurship looks like in 2026 — gritty, global, and undeniable.

Founded in Brooklyn in 2016 by New York native Sabrina Boissiere, at the height of the natural hair movement, HUE was created to bridge the gap between Black beauty entrepreneurs, independent retailers, and the consumers actively seeking their products. What started as a single marketplace expanded to Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Austin, where HUE pioneered the first natural hair-focused beauty event at SXSW.

The name has always said it plainly: Hair Unites Everyone. That mission has not shifted. What has changed is the scale. Under the curation of Ylorie Taylor, the platform has grown into what she describes as “an ecosystem where culture, commerce, and community meet.” Taylor approached HUE with a business-first lens, restructuring its revenue streams and positioning the event to attract major retail buyers and corporate sponsors alongside the loyal community that built it. CVS returns as the presenting sponsor for the 2026 season.

Bacon Magazine spoke with Taylor earlier this year about what it took to grow HUE into one of the most respected Black beauty platforms in the country. “The first thing I did from a business perspective was look at where the revenue streams were and what the expenses were,” she said. The result is an event that now commands the attention of retail buyers and corporate partners without ever losing the community feel that made it worth building in the first place.

What to Expect at the 10th Anniversary Marketplace

Beyond the marketplace floor, this year’s edition will include beauty and wellness demos, product activations, founder meet-and-greets, a live DJ, and giveaways throughout the afternoon. For the first 200 attendees through the door, a curated HUE swag bag is included with admission.

General admission tickets are $25. VIP tickets are $50 and include express check-in and a gift bag. The event welcomes up to 1,000 attendees.

Event Details