Black Owned Product Haul & Review

Keep reading for reviews on The Honey Pot Company, The Lip Bar, Coloured Raine, The McBride Sisters (Wine) Collection, Black Girl Sunscreen, Aunt Jackie’s Curls & Coils, Pear Nova, Fanm Djanm, The Doux, and Rosen Skincare.

#BlackLivesMatter is a global human rights movement that highlights and fights against the systematic injustices and violence experienced by Black people. BLM has reached feverish heights as Black people and allies head to the streets to peacefully protest the latest murders within the Black community.

It’s gotten to the point where corporate brands are publicly showing solidarity for BLM with social media posts, donations, and pulling up with action plans to better their corporate hiring practices and work environments for current Black staff. Whether their support is genuine is to be determined (we will hold them accountable and check in to see how the action plans are being implemented!) but it has also served as a rallying call to SUPPORT BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES!

2% of businesses in America are owned by Black Americans compared to 81% of white Americans. I’ve saved so many posts on Instagram under “Black Owned” (Instagram serves as a mini Pinterest board for me!). When it’s time for me to restock a household item or buy new clothes etc, I can check to see if I can first support a Black business. Below are a few products I picked up and have used over the last several weeks. This is not the first time I’ve supported Black owned businesses but I am certainly a lot more conscious about where I choose to spend my money moving forward! I hope these reviews inspire you to shop Black where you can! xo, Lania

There are a few referral links within that should you choose to purchase based off my review, would afford me a small commission. I also make mention of Amazon and the Target app to offer a variety of options to accommodate various means of purchase.

I first heard about The Honey Pot Company earlier this year when bothered Karens decided to share lies about their products due to not feeling centered enough in The Honey Pot Company’s Target commercial. Nearly everything was sold out online, so I took a trip to Target and picked up the Everyday Herbal Infused Pantyliners along with the Normal Feminine Wipes which were the only products in store at the time.

Everyday Herbal Infused Pantyliners: 30 count for $6.99. (30 count for $11.50 on Amazon.) Compared to other similar natural products on the market, this is the most expensive for the least amount of product. But it’s also the only one I saw herbal infused with mint (cooling agent), lavender (calm inflammation + minimize discomfort), and aloe (tone + reduce inflammation) which provide a temporary cooling sensation. This product uses plant-based feminine care and is free of all of the wretched chemicals found in your standard menstrual products. I’ve experienced a bit of a problem with them sticking properly after some wear but overall I really like it!

Normal Feminine Wipes – Fragrance Free: 15 count for $7.99 via their website and $4.99 within the Target app. If you’re able to get a hold on the 30 count, it’ll run you $9.99 via their website and $8.99 within the Target app. Compared to similar natural products on the market, this is one of the most expensive items but not the most expensive. The wipes work just as any other wipes do but I feel better knowing it does not contain harsh chemicals, is Ph balancing, and uses 99% natural and herbal ingredients.

I first become aware of The Lip Bar when I learned they experienced disgusting racism/colorism on The Shark Tank. Despite this setback, they worked hard to snag a deal with Target! They are a vegan and cruelty free makeup line that believes beauty shouldn’t compromise health. I’ve seen them explode at BeautyCon and all across social media. I’ve tried their lipgloss before so I decided to pick up two different products from them in-store at Target.

Lip Liner – Straight Living : One for $9.99 at Target and $10 on Amazon. It is priced moderately compared to similar products on the market. I own lip liners as cheap as $6 from ColourPop and as expensive as $22 from Charlotte Tilbury for reference. It claims to be smudge proof with added jojoba oil and aloe vera. It is not a twist up pencil, so you will have to sharpen it as needed. It is in fact very creamy and does not smudge! (If you apply a lipgloss over it, it will feather slightly, nothing crazy!) The color is true to the packaging and on me reads dark brown. I really like it!

Liquid Matte Lipstick – Savage: One for $13 on their website and $12.99 on the Target app (lol). I’ve tried their lipgloss before and the consistency is not like other lipglosses on the market. The one that I have is not as wet, for lack of a better word, and does not glide as easily. I still have it, as Goddess is a beautiful gold shade but because of this, I opted to try their liquid lipstick instead. I am very happy I did!

The shade is a beautiful deep brown on me. It goes on super shiny and dries down fully matte. It’s very lightweight and doesn’t crack upon applying extra layers if you’re extra like me. If you’re eating something greasy/oily you will have to reapply but otherwise it’s a solid lightweight lip product.

I was initially shocked at how small the lipstick tube really is (it’s about half the size of the actual packaging) and thought I was receiving less product. Upon further research, I realized that we receive .24 oz in their product versus .17 oz of product in a standard Huda Beauty liquid lipstick. Huda typically comes in a standard size for liquid lipsticks and costs roughly $20. I found this to be true of other liquid lipsticks such as Fenty as well. The more you know!

I have vaguely heard of Colored Raine before but I never purchased anything from them due to inconvenience quite frankly. I primarily shop for makeup at Sephora and Ulta. Colored Raine is sold online and mostly within Target. I signed the 15 Percent Pledge petition which calls for larger retailers to pledge 15% of their shelf space to Black owned businesses. In the meantime, Target is officially added to my list for locations to shop for makeup.

Focus Point Glowlighter – Selfie: One for $19.99. Take a quick peek on Sephora.com and you’ll see most highlighters priced at $22 and up, emphasis on the up. This highlighter is vegan, cruelty free, and free of other ingredients such as talc and gluten. I had no idea gluten could be a nuisance to folks in makeup as well. A little bit goes a long way! It is a powder product and can appear chalky on your face if you use too much and do not blend properly. You can see the product in all it’s glory HERE in my latest Insecure HBO recap.

I never thought to look into Black owned wines before since my alcohol consumption typically takes place at bars and restaurants. Thanks to COVID, I now have my own personal minibar. The McBride sisters grew up separately, one in New Zealand and the other in California, both with an affinity for wine. Once they met, they went into business together which I think is amazing!

McBride Sisters Collection 2019 Marlborough New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: One bottle for $16.99. I won’t pretend to be a wine connoisseur, I am not. But I can tell if something is palatable! This particular wine is smooth, has popping citrus notes, and is right up my alley price wise. It’s a win – win! The sisters also have a collection called Black Girl Magic that contain red, white, and rosé varieties. I haven’t been able to pick one up in store yet but I am definitely on the search for it. Imagine how cute it would be to repurpose the bottle in your home to hold flowers. **Chef’s kiss** You can find their products online and in a few local grocery stores, check their website to find a store near you.

Never let anyone tell you Black people do not need sun protection. It is false. Skin cancer and sunburn do not discriminate! But some sunscreen’s do discriminate, leaving a ghastly purple/blue cast on folks with darker complexions. I’ve heard of Black Girl Sunscreen for a while now but again, due to inconvenience, I haven’t picked it up until now. They are sold online and at Target and it’s clear I never hit the cosmetics/skincare aisles while at Target, but that’s now changed.

Black Girl Sunscreen – SPF 30: One bottle for $18.99 on their website and $15.99 on the Target app. If it’s your first time ordering with them, you can get a 20% discount by providing your email which will bring the cost down to around $15. This is what I did! I ordered this product on a Tuesday and I received it that Saturday. I live in California and it was shipped from California, so this most likely helped with the speediness. This lotion boasts no harsh chemicals and contains avocado oil, vitamin e, jojoba, cocoa, sun flower oil and so many other amazing ingredients. It is vegan, natural, cruelty free, and REEF safe. Get into this!! It is a chemical (vs. physical) sunscreen and spreads very easily while clearing dry. I really love it!

Now, it is smaller than most other products on the market and if you use this product as you should, it can go very fast. They do have a kids version in the same size with a higher SPF but priced at $9.99. It does not come in the very cute and chic black packaging but if you want the same benefits, I say it’s worth getting!

Most of my hair products are from Black owned businesses but there’s a few brands I’ve yet to try. I picked up three Aunt Jackie’s Curls & Coils products from Target so I may conduct a full review of the line. You can check out the review here of my results, if you’d like to see how they performed.

Oh So Clean Moisturizing & Softening Shampoo: One bottle for $7.79 on the Target app or $9.53 on Amazon. This is a sulfate free shampoo that oddly enough suds A LOT! I used a pea size amount and it was still a lot. My scalp and hair felt clean but definitely not moisturized. I didn’t even attempt to lightly finger detangle. Since I have it, I will use it again but nothing screamed amazing to me.

Knot On My Watch Conditioner: One bottle for $6.99 on Amazon. Because the shampoo left my hair feeling stripped, it was very important to me that the conditioner worked on detangling my hair. Thankfully, I had no issues detangling with this product. The conditioner is very thin in comparison to other similar products on the market. It felt like I didn’t put anything in my hair as I couldn’t see or feel it but when I ran my wide tooth comb through my hair while under the water, it worked just fine!

Don’t Shrink Flaxseed Elongating Gel: One jar for $6.99 on the Target app or $7.97 on Amazon. I first applied the Melanin Hair Care Elongating Style Cream (another Black owned product!) to moisturize my hair and then applied the gel. My hair did shrink but not as much as it’s capable of. There’s not much hold with this gel but the definition is superb. My twists came down super soft and defined and I can live with that. I went outside and my hair did not survive the humidity. I’m not entirely surprised by this due to the lack of hold. Any slight frizz before became more apparent as my hair swelled but I’m not opposed to this gel at all. I experienced no flaking and it paired well with other products in my stash. I’ll use it again.

I discovered Pear Nova from a Black owned shopping list I came across on Instagram. I’ve been painting my nails for years and was very excited to try their products. I ordered four gel shades (Novacaine, Casa Corazon, Horticulture, and Peariwinkle) on 6/10 and received them on 6/17.

Each shade was on sale from their standard price of $18.50 down to $14.80 per bottle. This is pretty expensive, even for a gel polish compared to others on the market. When I received them, the bottles were huge with each containing .5 oz compared to the Red Carpet Manicure (.3 oz), Beetles minis (.17 oz) and the standard Beetles size (.25 oz) that I currently own.

Upon my initial test of the polish, they would not cure under my lamp. What normally takes 90 seconds max, took forever! I simply could not figure it out why they polish was not opaque and instead very streaky/patchy. I removed the initial set and tried a different color with a different gel base and I was so disappointed that I received the same results.

I reached out to them to see what could be the issue and they told me that I MUST use their gel base and top coat. I found this to be a bit odd as I have so many other gel nail polish brands that I use interchangeably, regardless of formula, that work well with one another. Since I already owned multiple gel base coats and already spent $66 dollars on four gel colors I truly didn’t think it would be necessary. Though suggested to use together online, the verbiage didn’t make it seem to me that I CANNOT use their gels without their gel base and top coat.

In any case, customer service was prompt in responding and nice. They apologized for my experience and gave me a discount code to use in the future.

Unfortunately, the gel base and top coat are still out of stock but once they return, I will order it and attempt to use them again but at this time I cannot recommend their gel products. They have really beautiful regular nail polish shades that may offer you a better experience if you go that route.

I discovered Fanm Djanm on my search for head wraps. I wear my short hair in twists and braids a lot prior to unraveling them and admittedly, they don’t always looks super cute! I wanted to wear something fashionable to cover my hair when I go outside.

I ordered one of each type of headwear they offer as they serve a different purpose and look. I ordered a full head wrap (Mojave – $32), a bandana (Checkmate DjanmDanna – $22), and a headband (Fini Double-Sided Headband – $25) on 6/11 and received them two days ahead of schedule on 6/18. I washed them in cold water upon receiving them and the colors did not bleed onto my other clothes which is a huge plus. I hung them up to dry.

They are better than I could have imagined, are made out of 100% cotton, and are so beautiful! The headband wraps twice around my (big) head comfortably. For the bandana and head wrap, I will try and find a silk base to lay down first since cotton can be abrasive on our hair but otherwise they’re a dream! The hardest part about them is figuring out how to wrap them as there’s so many different styles you can do. I’ll be glued to YouTube learning different styles but you can see how I wore Mojave here and here.

Rosen Skincare is a company that I personally discovered via Instagram. They believe in normalizing acne and create clean beauty products to address acne concerns. While I do not suffer terribly from acne, I do get the occasional bump that I’d like to zap away. Since my Glossier spot treatment ran out (it was a very good product too!) I opted to try the Rosen’s skincare Break Out spot treatment instead.

One tube costs $12 and I placed my initial order on their website on 6/10. The next day I received an email stating my order was ready for shipment and I would be able to track it. I thought that was SO fast! As the days passed and the tracking showed no movement, I thought it was weird but didn’t think to contact anyone due to COVID and delayed shipments. On 6/19 the owner, Jamika Martin, reached out to provide some answers. She apologized for the delay and informed me that the main ingredient in the paste (zinc) never arrived to their facility and that they placed a third shipment and it was coming ASAP! She provided a $15 coupon code for the inconvenience. After all of this I finally received my product on 6/25.

I had a pimple that was slowly going down on it’s own but was taking forever! I used the break out paste and two days later, it was already flat. The paste slightly tightens around the pimple and it’s best to let it dry completely before you lay down to sleep to avoid it coming off prematurely.
The paste dries out the pimple and in my experience, as it shrinks it starts to look like a whitehead (do not pick at it!) until it disappears completely.

Despite the delays, the product works very well and I used my coupon to order another one to have on hand. This time around, from ordering to delivery, it took approximately 1 week.

The only downside to this product is that it comes in a concealer-like bottle and has a doe foot applicator that can over time contaminate the product. Most nights it’s the last step I do in my skincare routine and I have oils and other products on my face that get on the brush. I do my best to wipe it down before putting it back into the bottle. Other than this, it’s a definite in my routine at the moment!

The Doux Mousse Def Texture Foam– One bottle for $14.99 at Target. Mousses have become one of my favorite styling tools for my type 4 hair. They perfectly clump my curls and give maximum definition with enough hold that can oftentimes revel that of a gel. It smells like a peach Bellini and that made me happy LOL. I used this product alone on freshly washed hair to do mini braids and left the mini braids in for two weeks as a protective style. They held up beautifully and were very soft. Upon takedown there was normal frizz from two-weeks wear but the definition was still there and the style held up when I went outside in the LA heat. She’s a keeper, for sure.