Sometimes, I feel like Im chasing something unattainable.
After all, how do you pursue wellness in a society thats unwell?
So often, wellness is branded and marketed as an exclusivelywhite space.
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Aggressivelyeurocentric beauty campaignsdominate the public eye.
But the truth is, my culture is rich in wellness traditions.
We saw the potential in discarded parts of fruits like banana leaves, cocoa pods, and mango peels.
Innovative women before me turned waste likecassavaand plantain peel ash into antimicrobial black soap.
We mixed together purified plant alkali and palm kernel oil and let the mixture solidify.
And then we lathered our beautiful brown bodies.
Age-old recipes were passed down from generation to generation for centuries.
We called the preservative-free soap alata samina, sabulun salo, osedudu, or anago soap.
From the bees to the trees, we saw it all as inspiration.
Five thousand years ago, Egyptians had been making lead soaps and storing them in cosmetic containers.
We just look at wellness through a white lens which is so sad.
Black wellness is always about us trying to connect to our past at all times.
With our products, we give a shot to make it feel regular.
Whiteness isnt the default.
As a brand, we are here for you product-wise and mindset-wise.
I love Hanahana Beautys fresh takes on ancient and ritualistic beauty.
This is great news for those who struggle with fungal acne.
I have the option to select any old cleanser from the supermarket beauty aisle and call it a day.
After all, these are the same suds my mother would rinse from her skin.
Those are the hands that burn plantain peels and transform that ash into soap.
Buying black soap from Black-owned brands like Hanahana Beauty is liberating because it turns self care into community care.
This way of thinking actually shows that the founder is living ubuntu.
Ubuntu is a South African philosophy, its often translated as I am because we are.
It means that through interdependence, we have the power to give dignity to both ourselves and our community.
Hanahana Beauty couldnt exist as a brand without the rich and diverse array of local women that it employs.
And isnt that the true meaning of wellness?
Honoring interwoven human relationships and watching them bear fruit.
To be human is to recognize and support the humanity of others, a sentiment that Boamah-Acheampong lives by.
At the end of the day, she says, self care should be selfless.
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