Your new favorite black owned beauty brand is here! The recently launched Aari & Co. provides a nourishing, herbal infused experience for your skin and hair. Offering a collection of products that are toxin-free, cruelty-free, environmentally friendly with ethically traded ingredients, Aari & Co. is committed to creating safe and transformative results.
Tell us about the Aari & Co. story.
A few years ago my grandmother and aunt passed away about 6 months from each other. I started researching illnesses and food related issues. I decided to go vegan for a week. I just wanted to see after one week what would happened. By the end of the week, I felt better, I was sleeping through the night, my skin looked better, I could finally think again and I just felt normal.
Then I started looking up the type of products I was putting on my body because if I was putting all these crazy things in my system, there had to be something wrong with what I was putting on my body.
I have type 4b hair and I’d been wanting to find something that would work all the time. I would go a few months with a product that was working and then it would stop. So I started formulating new products. I decided I wanted to do herbal infused products. I wanted to make sure they were organic and that’s how it all started.
I overheard a lady who lived in my complex talking about her daughter. She mentioned locking her hair or shaving it all off because her daughter was tender headed and didn’t like getting her hair done. I butted into the conversation and asked her if she would try my products for kicks and giggles. At this point in time I had no name and I had no packaging. She called me by the end of the weekend and said “you saved my daughters hair”.
You experimented with these products in your home and you started taking it more seriously when you saw that people were experiencing results. What then became the mission for the brand?
I wanted to include things that were important to me in the brand. Our line of soap products are named after my grandmother. I wanted to have something to remember her by. Her name is Hattie Q., a really southern name. She use to make soaps herself. My grandparents had a farm with lots of herbs and things, so we infused our products with different types of herbs and butters. I wanted that to be a focal point, that it was organic and that it was herbal.
And then also, I care about the climate. The soaps are wrapped in recyclable paper. The facial moisturizer, the hair oil and the conditioner are also packaged in glass, so you can reuse the bottles.
I love animals, so I also wanted to tie in a component of not testing on animals.
On social media we see you whipping up what I’d like to call “skin joy”, because since using the products, it’s been such a joyous experience for me. What goes into making your products. Are you really in the kitchen?
Yes! I am in the kitchen. All of our products are sourced, so I get a lot of things from Africa and India that are fair trade. Then I mix those ingredients together depending on what they’re supposed to do for you. I sit down with pen and paper and write out what worked and what didn’t.
Talk to me about the various products that you offer.
We have 2 different hydrating shampoo bars right now on the market. We have serval soap bars that include ingredients like lavender, rose petals and cocoa. We have two facial bars and a facial moisturizer right now on the market. We also have a natural hair growth oil and a 4-in-1 deep conditioner.
If we had to add one product to our beauty bag which should it be?
For skincare, I would say Goodnight Beautiful.
Your products provide an amazing personal care experience. What does personal care mean to you?
Black women are superwomen. We do everything. Sometimes we do everything without getting that validation back. So, you have to have something for you. Let’s take care of ourselves so we can recharge. When you can take care of yourself wholly and completely, you can take care of other people wholly and completely. I believe so much in personal care.
Talk to me about the importance of Black ownership and buying Black.
It is important. We need black entertainers. We need black business owners, doctors. lawyers and NFL owners because we know what our community needs. If we know what our community needs we will do the best for our community. We are more than capable, obviously. We need black owned businesses.
