If you’re looking to add a few items to your self-care routine, Hanahana Beauty should be your next purchase. The clean beauty brand is crafting products that are groundbreaking and continuing conversations in the industry about transparency of ingredient sourcing, accessibility of products and responsible environmental practices. “Alot of us came into March, thinking fear as a small brand. We [Hanahana] found our way is this amazing space because we are sustainable, ethical, and a beauty brand. Right away, we saw growth,” Founder of Hanahana Beauty, Abena Boamah tells ESSENCE.
Boamah, a double citizen in Ghana and America uses her historical roots to manufacture her products. From shea body butters to exfoliating cleansers to a moisturizing lip balm, Hahahana’s mockup continues traditional self-care modules with present day advancements.
Boamah exclaims that the past year has been exceedingly paramount when discussing the growth of her self-made brand. The founder made the products herself until last year when she was able hire an operations team and a studio space to house her on-demand business. “It feels like an accelerated year of growth in a time where we actually had time to attend to it,” says the founder. “If all of this was happening, and the world was open outside, I probably would’ve been pulled in so many diffrent areas,” she said.
Last year, the world undertook a global unrest and faced difficult back-to-back happenings of police brutality and racism against Black and Brown bodies. In result, industries across verticals undertook a well-needed evaluation and began to curate steps where underrepresented communities could be provided the same resources as their counterparts. The beauty industry quickly joined providing grants, mentorship programs, and additional shelf-space for Black-owned companies. Hanahana Beauty being a recipient of the Glossier Grant Initiative for Black-owned Beauty Businesses, where each company received $50,000.
“Its the separation of whats genuine and what’s not,” Boamah exclaimed when asked about the recent support that Black-owned brands are receiving. “I’m not going to stop any blessings coming my way but, I am very intentional about what I give my energy too and what we will participate in.”
Under a fresh rebrand with new packing, Hanahana Beauty is going into 2021 with an authentic push. “There’s a lot of room in the clean beauty space, even though people feel like its over saturated. I dont think it is, and I think Hanahana is a testament to that,” Boamah concludes. “It’s all about creating. your narrative and your community and really meeting what your product says it does.”