Oyin Handmade is the quintessential small business. With humble origins, from the kitchen to selling in stores nationwide, founder, Jamyla Bennu, and her husband manage the majority of the business operations. Wanting to stay true to her all natural upbringing, Jamyla quickly noticed a need for chemical free food based hair products, especially for ethnic hair, in the market. After a run to the grocery store, she started experimenting, and never looked back. Please read our exclusive interview below to learn more about Oyin Handmade.

Where are you based?
I’m based in Baltimore MD.

On your website, you mention that Oyin Handmade is derived from Yoruba origins. Oyin = Honey in Yoruba. Can you talk about Oyin Handmade's inception? How did Nigerian culture come as a source of inspiration?
I heard the word Oyin at a Yoruba baby naming ceremony when I was a little girl, and it’s been one of my favorite words all my life.

Oyin represents joy, sweetness, and love—everything our family and products stand for. Honey is also a powerhouse ingredient - a natural humectant and amazing moisture booster in natural hair and skin care.

As a business owner and brand that takes pride in the use of an abundant assortment of natural ingredients, what made honey standout as an ingredient? What properties do you look for when deciding on ingredients?
My ingredient checklist is similar to my grocery checklist — I look for nutritional density. Honey is one of nature’s most versatile beauty products because of its nourishing qualities and soothing effect on skin and hair. It promotes healing and moisture and it’s a natural humectant (attracts and retains moisture) and a natural antimicrobial.

The food-grade, high-quality ingredients we use help the entire family enjoy personal care with a wellness focus.

You were an early adopter of natural, holistic beauty. What encouraged your decision to pursue natural beauty products for personal use?
As a child, my parents had used natural Castille soap and plant-based body oils for my siblings and I, so it felt natural for me to purchase personal care products in the food aisles of my grocery store. In the late 90s, when I started learning more about the moisture needs of my natural hair, I started to realize a problem: organic products existed, but they weren't formulated for my hair's moisture needs. Ethnic haircare products existed, but many of them were full of chemicals or non-nourishing ingredients. I wanted healthy, effective products that were good for the environment and good for my hair and skin. So, drawing on my creative background, I researched recipes, purchased ingredients from my local grocery store, and set about to make my own. That creative impulse is the spark that led to Oyin Handmade products, and it's one that, as a maker, I continue to nourish with every formula.

Your main focus seems to be hair products. What made you decide to focus on hair?
In the ‘90s, I was part of a huge wave and community of Black women who were beginning to wear our hair naturally (not straightened either chemically or thermally). We were rediscovering the natural beauty, resiliency, and flexibility of our natural textures, and asserting our right to not have our beauty, professionalism, or ‘polish’ questioned because of such a fundamental facet of our phenotype. We shared styling tips, photo albums, and hair care recommendations on online message boards and blogs.

At the time, there weren’t a lot of products geared toward our hair’s texture needs AND also made of natural ingredients. So, I started whipping them up in my kitchen. Now, Oyin Handmade ranges across hair care and body care for women, men and kids, and our food grade ingredients make it safe for the whole family.

With COVID, no one can get their hair done. How have you been helping your customers cope with their hair during this time?
With our DIY roots, we’ve been helping our customers keep their hair happy and healthy for years. We focus on the health and moisture with items like our deep conditioner, gentle shampoos, epic detanglers, and moisture-rich gentle stylers that work with your hair, not against it.

Your natural deodorant looks very interesting. Can you tell us a little bit about it and how it works?
Our all-natural cream-to-powder deodorant is the answer to all the unwanted funk in your life. This odor-eliminating product is powered by Baking Soda with microfine Vegetable Powders and Kaolin Clay for a natural, odor-free experience that lasts up to 24 hours. Our natural deodorant is equally great under arms and between toes. It’s also available in three delicious flavors: unscented, mango, and black cedar fig. We’ve been selling it for nearly 10 years now, and it’s one of our bestsellers.

Do you have a favorite product of yours that you can not go through your day without using? If so, why is it your favorite?
I don’t know if I could live without our Honey Hemp conditioner. I love its versatility… it can be used as a pre-cleansing moisture treatment either alone or mixed with Whipped Pudding; and it detangles like a dream.

A lot of people are struggling with getting out of their sweats. Do you find that they are also less likely to perform other forms of self care?
Actually, no. It seems many people are finding comfort in certain rituals of self-care. We find that our deep conditioning treatment “What The Hemp” is selling quite briskly in this moment, as well as our bath and body care items.

Now is an especially difficult time for small businesses with COVID. How was your business impacted by the shelter-in-place order?
We've had to be nimble when dealing with the national packaging shortages which are being felt across our industry, and we've had to close our brick and mortar storefront. We've leaned into e-commerce, which has actually always been the backbone of our business.

We're a really small brand. There are less than 10 of us on the whole team. We are very fortunate that we’ve been able to continue working, with safe distance, within our production and fulfillment center — and that demand has continued. We’re thankful to be considered an essential part of our customers’ self-care rituals.

Our country is going through unprecedented changes. We have BLM protests happening all over the world. What are your thoughts on the George Floyd tragedy and police violence?
James Baldwin once said, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.”

The tragic deaths this spring of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery were a tipping point for many people — but as a Black American with a strong grasp of my history, culture, and what my ancestors have survived and endured for centuries, my thoughts on police violence haven’t changed one bit. I am heartened to see that the blinders on many Americans’ eyes have finally been lifted as to the true nature of what policing has long meant to black and brown bodies.

Many of us are in pain, outrage, despair, and hopelessness right now and are looking for ways to make a difference. We are faced with the shared consumption of horrifying facts: black bodies being brutalized in state violence AND being disproportionately affected by the virus because of systemic radicalized inequality. We are facing these huge, systemic, institutional issues and we want to do something.

Welcome to the party. Let’s change some things.

It seems like one of the positives that the protests have inspired is an increased interest in African American owned businesses. Please let us know your thoughts on that.
Honestly, I think Black-owned businesses are serving a surrogate role in this moment, allowing people to 'vote their values' and make supportive purchases. Let's face it: purchasing from a black business is not going to directly manifest the kind of sweeping policy and social justice changes that are going to be necessary to remake our world.

But as we work together to do just that, I think that there is something full of resistance about investing in self-care at this time. This should be more than a purchase, but also a practice. You can buy our lotion or deep conditioner, and you should; they're amazing, but also, you should do some deep breathing. You should put down your phone for an afternoon and connect with your thoughts, meditate, or journal. You should call a supportive relative. You should march/vote/fill out your census. You should put your toes in the grass. As a brand focused on health and wellness, we emphasize these actions all the time, and it doesn't stop being vital in difficult times.

How are you staying positive during these times?
As a Black American, I come from people who have always managed to create, to love, to experience joy, even during times more excruciatingly difficult than these. Our ancestors danced. I honor this legacy just as much as I honor their legacy of struggle, of survival. I try to laugh hard every day. I try to rest. I try to create. We are fighting for equity and justice. Joy is part of our inheritance.

Connecting with nature is vital to me. I take nature walks with my kiddos whenever work and distance learning allows; and when it doesn’t, we make sure to utilize our yard to its fullest for games, marshmallow roasting, or just reading outside in the sun. My husband, artist and illustrator, Pierre Bennu, has been doing Art Meditation classes on instagram live (@exittheapple) that have been giving me LIFE. He’s a big proponent of the power of creativity as self-care.

What is your motto in life?
There’s a lyric from a Gil Scott-Heron song: “I’m gonna take myself a piece of sunshine, and paint it all over my sky. Be no rain.” It’s not exactly my motto, but it’s been one of my email signatures since like, 1999. I see it every day. It’s a reminder.

To learn more about Oyin Handmade please follow them via the below platforms: www.oyinhandmade.com
Facebook: oyinhandmade
Instagram: oyinhandmade
Husband’s Instagram: exittheapple

Images provided by Oyin Handmade.

Oyin Handmade: Black-Owned Food-Based Hair Care