A Black-Owned Holiday Gift Guide!

Nov 12

Ami Colé: Ami Colé prides itself on enhancing your natural beauty. Their company is putting in the work to bring clean and affordable makeup products to melanin-rich skin.
UOMA Beauty: UOMA champions inclusivity and has multiple award-winning products. One of the most notable being their “Say What?!” foundation that has 51 shades and 6 different formulas to fit the unique needs of your skin.

Alaffia: Alaffia offers a diverse array of skin and hair care products, including products for kids, with very affordable prices. But Alaffia’s mission goes deeper than just great hair care. Their goal is to reduce poverty through empowering women in Africa. So far, they have provided 12,000 women across Central Togo in West Africa with jobs, paying them 45% over the Togolese minimum wage for their work turning the shea nuts into shea butter by hand.
Briogeo: Briogeo offers plant-based, clean hair care products to suit the needs of all hair types and textures. They are committed to inclusivity and are constantly innovating their product line to give everyone confidence in their hair. They have already begun their holiday sales and they’re massive, with 50-60% off products.
Mayvenn: Mayvenn provides high-quality wigs, clip-ins, bundles, closures, and frontals paired with high-quality customer service all at an affordable price. The hair is 100% virgin human hair with a multitude of diverse styles and shades.

BeeLove: Beelove’s body care products are made with 100% natural ingredients and unpasteurized honey. Their company trains and employs formerly incarcerated people and helps connect them to jobs. They work to instill confidence in the users of their products and the makers to get back into the workforce.
Brown Girl Jane: Brown Girl Jane was created by three Black women of diverse backgrounds to create perfume that “[lifts] your aura and your outlook.” The company was named Refinery 29's “Beauty Innovator of the Year” and won “Best in Beauty” awards from Instyle, Allure and Popsugar.

Tuma’s Books: Tuma’s Books in an NYC-based online bookstore that offers hand-picked (by Tuma the founder) diverse and inclusive books with a spotlight on multicultural representation. The site has an educators’ program, audiobooks, and a blog and Tuma holds pop-up bookselling events and monthly book clubs.
Authentic Books: Authentic Books is a monthly book box that you can customize. You choose 3 of the best new reads from each month and they’ll curate additional goods that appeal to all 5 senses (candles for smell, a custom Spotify playlist for sound, and for your heart, a donation of 5% of your subscription goes to supporting children’s education and literacy projects).

S by Serena: The widely accepted G.O.A.T. of women’s tennis, Serena Williams, launched her own clothing line. She is dedicated to creating clothing that is sexy and sophisticated, empowering women to feel their best.
Oluchi Vintage: Oluchi Vintage offers a curated selection of vintage and used clothing items. Their mission is to show that luxury is not limited to designer items and it can be affordable.
Mifland: Mifland’s clothes and accessories were designed with form and function at the forefront. Their clothes are durable with unique and bold designs that suit both men and women.
Smash Shoes: Smash Shoes was created to bring on-trend shoes to women who wear larger sizes. Their styles are vibrant and bold, giving taller women the freedom to choose whatever shoes they desire.
PRU Apparel: PRU Apparel’s mission is to empower women of color to be seen, heard, and uplifted in fashion and fitness. PRU fused modern apparel with culturally inspired prints to create activewear that celebrates blackness.

Grace Eleyae: Grace Eleyae offers silk and satin-lined hair accessories to keep your hair protected. Their hats and beanies prevent hair-damaging friction and lock in moisture, keeping your hair’s natural oils untouched.
Murway: Murway offers all the accessories you can imagine and they’re all handmade. They pride themselves on their craftsmanship and ability to bring their unique designs to all at affordable prices.
Shady Side Up: Shady Side Up’s mission is for its customers to be empowered by having glasses that showcase who they are. Shady Side Up champions individuality and this is the reason for their diverse and unique frames.
SPGBK: Springbreak, or SPGBK, Watches draws inspiration from its creators’ community and culture to create its colorful and luxury, yet affordable watches. Each watch is named and made in honor of a community in their hometown of Fayetteville.
LeliaMae: LeliaMae is a luxury jewelry brand with unique staple pieces that will endure the ebb and flow of current trends. They use quality certified precious gems and recycled gold and sterling silver so the designs are built to last.

Alvin Ailey Extension: Alvin Ailey believed dance should be accessible to all and provide a welcoming environment. Ailey Extension continues his legacy through offering public technique, dance fitness, and world dance classes and workshops to dancers of all levels, both online and in-person.
Flyest Tea Co.: Flyest Tea’s creator, Shanae, noticed that the wellness community is exclusionary, untrustworthy, and largely tied to whiteness. Her mission is to replace harmful wellness practices with ones that are inclusive, diverse, and more true. She encourages you to use Flyest to “create your own path to health, peace, and happiness on your terms.”
Lumi Bloom: Lumi Bloom is a beauty and lifestyle brand with a goal to prioritize women’s health needs and inspire confidence. They offer CBD products, hair products, spa products, and wellness products.
Lauren Leavell Fitness: Lauren Leavell is a fitness instructor who helps people take their fitness and mental health into their own hands on their own terms. You can join her Leavell Up membership and get moving wherever and whenever.

Be Rooted: Be Rooted is a stationery and home goods shop that features women of color at the spotlight of their designs, giving them a safe space to express themselves through writing. They are the first Black-owned stationery brand to be featured in Target and will make for a great stocking stuffer.
Copper and Brass Paper: The creator of Copper and Brass Paper Goods, Ariel Young, noticed that stationery lacked diversity and now she makes sure her products feature Black people. Their gorgeous illustrations showcase the beauty of Black people and culture in wrapping paper, gift bags, cards, notebooks, and more.
Joe + Monroe: Joe + Monroe is an eco-friendly and hand-crafted candle company. Their candles are gluten free, toxin free, paraben free, and phthalate free with a plethora of scents to suit any occasion or mood.
Don’t Sleep Interiors: “Don’t Sleep Interiors started from a desire to combine interior decor and culture from the African diaspora with social and political consciousness.” The company sells wall hangings, mugs, pillows, and more that celebrate Black visionaries and history.
A Predominantly Black Candle Haus: A Predominantly Black Candle Haus offers handmade candles, home fragrances, and face and body products. They are committed to making products that are eco-friendly and quality while still being accessible.

Kayla Thomas

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