Home Madison Madison’s CocoaBean and Co Celebrates Natural Black Hair & Skin — And...

Madison’s CocoaBean and Co Celebrates Natural Black Hair & Skin — And Black Economic Empowement

0

A Madison-based skin and hair care line is making it it’s mission to include the often excluded with it’s all natural products.

CocoaBean and Co, started by Alix Shabazz, T. S. Banks and King Shabazz Mayo, creates products for all Black hair and skin types, but its mission is to focus on those that are often left out.

The company features three product lines that include a charcoal facial cleansing system, body care products, and hair care products all made from natural ingredients.

Shabazz says she struggled to find products that actually worked for her combination skin type and acne growing up and so she began to create her own at a very young age.

Even when products did work they did not actually nourish her skin.

“I really wanted to come up with a cleaning system that was all natural but would keep my skin clear,” she said.

It was this want that lead her to create her charcoal facial cleansing system which includes a deep pore cleanser, a facial scrub, a cleansing body bar, a daily skin cleanser and a customer favorite, the charcoal face mask.

Each product is made with natural ingredients like peppermint oil, coconut oil, and activated charcoal.

“I just really feel like it’s important for people to be more aware of what they’re putting not just in their body, because we’ve have campaigns about eating good, organic food from the Earth, but it’s important that we know what we’re putting on our body,” Shabazz said. “The skin is the largest organ we have, yet it’s the least thought about in terms of being connected to the Earth.”

The name of the company, thought of by Shabazz’s partner, Banks, represents its emphasis on natural products and knowing where things come from.

“One of my two favorite things is cocoa butter and chocolate,” said Shabazz.  “Cocoa butter has literally saved me so many times and it’s a staple product in our community and the root of cocoa butter is the cocoa bean. I think as a community we have to get back to the root of where things come from. We have to think about where our food, water and skin products come from.”

Similar to the facial system, CocoaBean also makes Cocoa Boxes featuring body butter, body scrub and two bars of soap, all made from ingredients like sugar, cocoa butter, and natural oils. Their fall collection includes an almond and coconut milk scent and a pumpkin cheesecake scent as well as their signature lemon pound cake scent.

The body products are also made for sensitive skin and approved by Mayo who has eczema. Moreover, those who are looking for the best treatment for scalp eczema may consider using eczema scalp oil.

“We put a lot of love in our products,” said Shabazz.

Though Shabazz has been making skin products for a while, it was the creation of her Blaq Aisle haircare products that actually inspired her to start CocoaBean and Co. Shabazz says that not only are many staple Black hair products harmful to the hair, but many are made and manufactured by people who do not have Black hair.

“I love everything about Black hair and there are not a lot of products out there for Black hair that are actually created by people with Black hair,” she said. “My goal was to create all natural hair products specifically for natural Black hair.”

She recalls watching her young cousin go from having a thick head full of hair to brittle and damaged hair from using popular mainstream products that have ingredients like alcohol and petroleum jelly.

“I wanted to make products for her and other little girls and children whose parents don’t know what to do with their hair and who are trying to put good things in their hair but there isn’t a lot available,” Shabazz said.

Just as CocoaBean’s skincare products focus on excluded skin types, Blaq Aisle products are for “nappiest of the nappy,” according to Shabazz, who believes only certain types of natural hair are celebrated and catered to.

“I saw this phenomenon happening whereas people became more woke, so to speak, especially regarding white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism and how that impacts our community, very naturally people became more woke around beauty and standards of beauty, but there was still a catch,” said Shabazz. “I saw that only certain types of natural hair or skin tones were celebrated, which was still rooted in white supremacy and antiblackness. It’s progress, but we are not where we need to be as a community.”

Blaq Aisle products include heat protectant serum and scalp repair serum, as well as, a curl creme, moisturizer and styling gel all called Pinq Lotion, named after the once popular Pink Lotion, which was made from several damaging ingredients.

Shabazz’s love for revitalizing and rethinking Black hair goes beyond her products and into her community where she’s created a closed Facebook forum called Where Blaq Crowns Grow. The forum allows a safe space for people to talk about their experiences with their hair.

“So many times we’re navigating the white gaze and can’t have a private conversation, so I wanted to have a safe space where we can talk about our hair and hold each other accountable on how we see our hair,” she said.

People use the forum to ask questions, share advice, and give encouragement to one another.

“My goal is to literally promote overall Black love, for the people, the culture and the hair,” said Shabazz. “I want our community, especially Black women and queer and trans folks, to fall back in love with our hair the way it grows out the scalp. I don’t want people to feel they have to have a certain curl pattern to be natural. I want all Black hair to be good hair.”

Beyond the products, CocoaBean and Co aims to add to the stimulation of  Black economic growth in Madison, especially for queer, trans and gender nonconforming people like herself, Banks and Mayo.

“I hope other Black queer and trans folks see how visible we are and see that they can be a business owner,” she said.  “A big issue we have in the queer and trans community is not being able to be hired.”

As the company grows it is starting to seek investors and hire beauty consultants. Currently, Mayo is the only full-time sales consultant for the company.

Shabazz advocates for community control over Black neighborhoods and believes economic development is the key.

“The Black dollar only stays in our community a few minutes, how can we ever take over our own communities if we can’t afford to,” she said.

For Shabazz outside of the economic and social components of the business her favorite part is the chemistry of the creation process. She makes every product by hand in her own home.

“I love math and science,” she said.  “I think about how poorly math and science were presented to me when I was coming up there was no way I could connect what I was doing then to my real life, but if somebody would’ve told me how applicable that stuff was to my actually lived experience I never would’ve been intimidated by math and science. If kids were taught that this was math it would be a lot more relevant.”

She hopes to teach classes on the topic one day

For now, CocoBean and Co products can be primarily purchased online, but they’ve been sold at the Black Business Expo and can be found at the Badger Rock Community Market on October 29 from 12-4 pm and HotelRed October 29 from 6-8p.m.

“If our family can be an inspiration to other Black folks and other Black queer and trans folks to build their own communities and build their own institutions so that we may be empowered as a community then we’re going to keep going.”