Black Girl Magic: Check Out The Black-Owned Company Delivering Boxes Of Beauty To Women Of Color

“We Are Onyx” Sends A Monthly “Onyx Box” Specially Made For Black Women

A new e-commerce business is carving its own niche in the beauty space by catering to what black women want.

“We Are Onyx” sells subscription-based beauty kits and standalone products to help address black women’s hair, skin, makeup and beauty concerns.

The subscription-based service launched five years ago, and for about $20 a month customers receive a box of beauty products that are curated for women of color. Each box comes with five to seven products for hair, skin, and nails. January’s box includes a serum, eyeliner, a highlighter brush and nail polish.

“This is a black beauty playground,” co-founder Chaia Raibon told BOSSIP. “It’s curated with melanin in mind.”

Raibon said that she and the “We Are Onyx” staff try out every product in the box and on the site to make sure it meets black beauty standards. The company also goes out of its way to highlight other black-owned brands as well as organic ones. For example, March’s box will include a vegan lip and cheek tint pod from The Organic Face, which is female owned and operated.

Co-founder Delali Kpodzo got the idea for the business after a major hair emergency: Kpodzo had an event, but her hairstylist canceled at the last minute even though she already took out her braids, Raibon explained. She turned to YouTube tutorials in an effort to do her hair herself, and the results were less than ideal.

“She said, ‘there has to be something easier,’” Raibon recalled. “And that’s how Onyx was created.”

Fast forward to 2018, and “We Are Onyx” has a separate retail arm, “The Onyx Shop,” and Raibon said there are plans in the works to create kits to tackle other beauty issues, like eczema and hyperpigmentation.

“We’re going back in the lab to address specific beauty concerns for black women,” Raibon said.