Lifestyle
SUPPORT BLACK-OWNED: THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS LIST
We'll keep this post short and simple, we all want to keep supporting black-owned businesses. So, as a black founded, ran, and owned business ourselves, BODY COMPLETE RX know's the importance of word-of-mouth amongst our community. So, we've put together a listicle of 11 Health and Wellness Black-owned brands to help promote awareness. Stay well ladies, this list includes everything from mental health, community, food, hair, sex toys, and menstrual care.
- Supporting Black Motherhood, is Vancouver based wellness brand, Mumgry. They’re all about quote-on-quote the good stuff, and we agree. Mumgry says all of their products are, “plant-based, low in sugar, high in protein, iron and calcium.” This mom-founder says her brand was created to fill the void of safe-to-eat snacks “pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and beyond.”
- Supporting the wellness of Multiracial Creators, is an online Literary Community, MixedLife. Here’s a little about their mission: “MixedLife strives to be a space where all mixed identifying folx of color, no matter race, ethnicity, or walk of life - can read, absorb, and most importantly explore their individual mixed identity. We are a safe space[...].”
- Sex On The Table, a Black ran: Podcast, Blog, YouTube Channel, And Online Sex Toy Shop. Here’s what they have to say about their purpose: “We strive to ensure that people are afforded their birth right of being a sexual being. We aim to have an inclusionary environment where everyone’s voices are heard on issues that are important to them.”
- Supporting Black Mental Health and Community, is wellness-experience cultivator Sinikiwe Dhliwayo, founder of Naaya Wellness. “Sinikiwe is dedicated to changing the conversation around what it looks and feels like to be well.” They have upcoming events on Rage and Respectability on July 22nd, Racism and Child-rearing on July 31st, and a virtual retreat coming up September 11th-13th.
- The Circle By Black Girl In OM, is a virtual wellness community and learning initiative. The group should be wrapping up their (now closed) pilot program at the end of this summer. But don’t worry The Circle will be opening up it’s doors again, to welcome new members into their full-fledged 2.0 version of the virtual wellness space. “Each member is provided an intentionally curated blueprint for healing and expansion, and a supportive community to grow with.”
- The Butters Hygienic Co., founded by Jerome Nichols, was created because when it came to skin care and hair care, Nichols says he tried everything from “salon to dollar store [to] over-priced disappointment.” Nothing really took care of (as he puts it) that “ashiness or thin hair.”
- BLK + GRN, The Online Black Wellness Marketplace. They have brands for everything from hair, menstrual care, body, and your home. “Vote with your dollar to cultivate your community,” they say and to raise the standards for black wellness, “Every product we carry has been carefully tested by industry experts to ensure that products are not only natural, but work.”
- Love, Vera.com, is a lingerie boutique in celebration of black women's bodies. The brand was created in 2018 by founders Vera Moore and Nate Johnson. Their collection ranges from a size S to 4x. The brand uses black models almost exclusively and backs up their reasoning with this statement,“Love, Vera is an intimates brand that celebrates black women, black entrepreneurship, and black cultural influence.”
- HanaHana Beauty, founded by Abena Boamah-Acheampong, has had a great year so far (and they’re currently sold out) but you’ll want to keep this brand on your radar. From their important message, fair-trade sourcing, and beautiful packaging, HanaHana Beauty’s products are made with rich African Shea butter and essential oils. Here’s what the brand has to say: “Hanahana supports the uplifting of women of color through designing and making all our products with natural ingredients. Our products are made with love and shea butter directly from the Katariga Women's Shea Cooperative in Ghana combined with natural oils.”
- The Honey Pot, Founder Bea Dixion created the women’s health brand because she says she was “suffering from bacterial vaginosis for months and couldn’t get relief.” The brand aims to keep you clean, balanced, and staying fresh with products for your menstrual cycle that are all natural. They keep the herbal-infused pads chemical free, and their tampons even have a cooling effect.
- HomeBody, Founder by Rebecca Grammer, is a pastel wellness dream. HomeBodyWorld.com says, "Our HOMEBODY team is made up of wellness enthusiasts, artisan makers, bath addicts and clean self-care fanatics."
-BCRX Content Writer, Klarrisa Arafa