Hanahana Beauty’s Shea Body Butter Launches at Ulta Beauty
Hanahana Beauty is a Black woman-owned consciously clean skincare + wellness brand whose mission is to disrupt the global beauty industry with the intention is to increase accessibility, transparency, and sustainability in all aspects.
Hanahana Beauty is a Black woman-owned consciously clean skincare + wellness brand whose mission is to disrupt the global beauty industry with the intention is to increase accessibility, transparency, and sustainability in all aspects. The DTC brand has announced its national debut at Ulta Beauty stores and ulta.com. Through Sparked at Ulta Beauty™, the beauty destination’s curated assortment of the best and brightest up and coming brands entering retail for the first time, guests can now discover Hanahana in a new way.
Hanahana supports the uplifting of women of color through designing and making all our products with natural ingredients. The products are made with love and shea butter directly from the Katariga Women's Shea Cooperative in Ghana combined with natural oils.
Their promise is that all Hanahana products are made with all-natural ingredients, will have you feeling smooth + confident in your own skin. From the fair sourcing of their shea butter, to the creation of homemade products, down to the responsible representation of people working with them at every end.
We sat down with Abena Boamah-Acheampon, Founder & CEO of Hanahana Beautyon what the DTC's foray into retail means for the clean beauty brand's future.
Courtesy Hanahana Beauty
How has the journey been so far, from launching Hanahana beauty?
I think the entrepreneurship journey has been consistently inconsistent but also so fulfilling, and for that I am grateful. I've set out to launch something that is impactful - so being able to go from making shea in my kitchen to now launching in Ulta and everything else between the years - from travel to sourcing, has been fulfilling. I have a lot of gratitude for everyone who has supported us.
When sourcing for suppliers, how did you come across Women's Shae Coopreration in Ghana?
In 2017 when I decided to launch Hanahana Beauty, I also wanted to go back to Ghana to find shea butter producers. In July of that year, I went on a trip to Tamale and was introduced to the Katariga Women's Shea Cooperative. It was actually my driver, Paa who was somewhat of a Tamale socialite - I told him what I was doing with Hanahana Beauty and looking to directly source shea - he was the one that introduced the relationship with the women of the cooperative to me.
What does fair-trade in the beauty industry mean to you? Why do you pay over the fair-trade price?
Fair trade in the beauty industry doesn't mean sustainable to me. I think there are a lot of varying definitions - so there's not one exact pay rate. In addition there's always a fluctuation due to environmental factors that can affect the producers when sourcing their shea seedling. That is why we don't pay fair trade - plus currency rates fluctuate - so we wanted to make sure that we are able to fill the gap around the living wage and also encourage growth - whereas paying the fair trade does not allow the producer to think about their future - in harvesting to saving and building. We treat the women of the cooperative as entrepreneurs which is why we pay 2x the asking rate.
How is Hanahana remaining true to their mission, even while being sold in beauty retailers?
We stay true to our mission because it's built in our philosophy - our team and our consumers/community know our story. Even when we were not making much profit, we continued to stick to the mission of intentionality and our community supported us. As the brand continues to grow - we also want to be sure we are also increasing our impact.
What does it mean to you to now be sold in Ulta Beauty? And expand your retail presence in more beauty retailers?
This is such a big opportunity and I am excited for us to scale in Ulta Beauty. The goal of growth has always been around intentionality and Ulta is definitely an intentional retail space to go into because it allows us to be at a different space and different scale - by meeting new customers where they are at. Ulta gives us the opportunity to market in a new space and gain a new community and customers who just no longer want to be ashy.
What advice can you give to start-up beauty brands that have dreams of selling in major retailers?
Take your time - without thinking of how you want to be presented, who you want to attract, who your want to be; take time so you have the capital to sustain the growth that occurs when entering a retailer - from inventory to marketing. It is more than just the launch into a store - it's the sustaining of growth within that retailer.
Hi, I'm Jeanel Alvarado. I has over 15 years of expertise in consumerism, shopping insights, e-commerce, digital marketing and retail real estate. I analyze, evaluate and forecast all sorts of shopping trends, consumer insights and market data. My background includes a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Marketing, minor in Real Estate and experience as the Senior Managing Director at the University of Alberta, School of Retailing (A Top 5 business school in Canada). My insights have been featured in TIME, Entrepreneur, Nasdaq, Shopify, US Chamber of Commerce, HubSpot, US News, The Sun, Glossy, Betches, AftoTech, Footwear News, Luxury Daily, BestLife, Pissed Consumer, Consumer Affairs, The Daily Wire, and more!
