Have You Tried Them Yet?

Poppy Seed Health

Simmone Taitt went through various phases of sorrow after losing a pregnancy before speaking out for herself in order to get the care she needed. She became dissatisfied with her own care and embarked on a quest to learn more about childbirth and develop a tool that would lessen the suffering and loneliness she was feeling.

For people experiencing the complete life cycle of birth experiences—particularly pregnancy, postpartum, and loss—Taitt designed the Poppy Seed Health app as a tech-based support system. Users of the app can connect with doulas, midwives, nurses, and advocates for loss support for tailored text-based support. A monthly, quarterly, or gift subscription to the service is available.

Girl + Hair

When Camille Verovic, DO, a physician who had previously worked in marketing, couldn't find any treatments that would help her natural hair grow and stay healthy while it was braided, she founded Girl + Hair.

By minimizing breakage and damage, Dr. Verovic's solutions primarily aim to maximize protective styles like braids with extensions or sew-in weaves. Products like her Scalp Detox Shampoo and Daily Hair Balm, which are free of silicone, parabens, phthalates, and sulfates, employ all-natural ingredients to cleanse and hydrate naturally textured hair, including castor oil and apple cider vinegar.

Eleven by Venus Williams

Yes, Venus Williams created the SPF beauty brand. And though it's reasonable that the tennis legend would have some knowledge of sun protection for people with darker complexion, these products are for anyone searching for hydration and protection without an obtrusive white cast.

The Game Day Perfect Form Lip Balm and Ace the Day Face Lotion, two items with a lot of punch that are part of Williams' bigger tennis equipment range, have received good feedback from both athletes and beach goers.

Coils to Locs

Dianne Austin is aware of how challenging it can be to locate wigs that complement natural hairstyles. Following chemotherapy for breast cancer in 2015, Austin lost her hair and had trouble finding a wig that matched her tightly curled hair. She co-founded Coils to Locs, a company that sells highly textured wigs through cancer treatment facilities, hospitals, and medical hair loss salons, with her sister Pamela Shaddock, who suffers from traction alopecia.

Therapy for Black Girls

The mental well-being of Black women is supported in numerous ways by Therapy for Black Girls. Its online resource center aids Black women and girls in locating telehealth or in-person mental health care that is identity-appropriate.

There is a subscription-based community for Black Women to support one another, hold one another accountable, and participate in events and seminars related to mental health in the online space as well as a podcast with more than 260 episodes covering various topics related to mental health and personal development.

Afrosexology

Information and resources for promoting sexual health and safe experimentation are available on this online learning platform. Afrosexology is a sexual liberation center that was co-founded by two Black women. It provides workbooks, workshops, and courses to assist women reclaim their bodies, especially after experiencing sexual trauma. This online forum allows privacy and discretion for anybody, anywhere, at any age, and from any background. Sex education is both taboo and restricted in so many cultures.

Browndages

While brands like Band-Aids have been synonymous with skin bandages for a long time, none of their "nude” colors did much to complement Black skin tones. That’s where Cleveland residents Rashid Mahdi and Intisar Bashir come in.

Browndages is a line of skin-toned bandages that was created in 2018 by an African-American Muslim couple to provide a remedy. After appearing on SharkTank in June 2020 and signing a deal with Mark Cuban, Daymond John, and Lori Greiner, the company is well on its way to becoming a household name.

Ivyees

Ivy Lawson, a Boston native who spent 19 years working as an engineer in corporate America, felt it was time for a change and relocated to Jamaica with her two sons to start a beekeeping business. Lawson founded Everything Honey in 2018 on Boston's North End, the first company run by a person of color in the neighborhood, bringing with her some of what she loved from the Caribbean.

Sadly, the pandemic forced the closure of the physical store, but despite this, the Ivyees online store is still prospering. It now offers an even larger assortment of health and wellness products, such as bee pollen in bottles, honey and peppermint toothpaste, and honey lip balm color.