September might have been the end of summer but it was the start of new beginnings at Ustawi Skincare. Last month, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary and there was no better way to celebrate than with our community. As a company that is rooted in support, trust, and respect, we didn’t want to just celebrate with an online sale or with a cake in the office, we wanted to embrace our community and be with the ones that made our first year as a brand possible.
Together, we decided to take the journey of Ustawi on the road. We planned a city to city tour that consisted of wellness activations, authentic conversations, sisterhood, and of course, skincare. We kicked off the Ustawi wellness experience in the peachy city of Atlanta. We collaborated with The Yoga Studio Atlanta, which is also a black owned and woman owned business, to curate a day of self-care, hosted by one of Atlanta’s favorite personalities, Liz Smith. Our mission was to educate, embrace, and enlighten the women from the greater Atlanta area about their “ Ustawi ” or wellbeing. We encouraged them to let go and let flow with a 1 hour yoga flow led by The Yoga Studio Atlanta owner, Ryan Kornegay, which left everyone feeling refreshed and ready to start their new wellness journey with some Ustawi skincare products. Take a look at the rejuvenated flow that everyone was talking about.
After Atlanta, the Ustawi team headed to the windy city of Chicago for an evening of smooth vibes, tea, and girl talk, hosted by Chicago based creative and yogi, Lamiah Gholar. She charmed with her eclectic playlist, sensual incense, and calming energy. Ustawi founder, Natacha Paugam, started the evening by sharing her personal skincare story and why she started Ustawi Skincare. The room was fully engaged with her story, which made it easier for these young women to understand our mission of catering to melanin skin. While Natacha got our minds thinking, Lamiah got out hearts pumping with a hatha yoga flow.
After a heartwarming 1 hour flow, everyone walked away feeling better about themselves and had a understanding of what Ustawi represents, along with a custom goodie bag filled with full size Ustawi products.
We kept the same energy from Atlanta and Chicago and travelled far out west to the sunny city of Los Angeles, CA, for our last stop of our wellness tour. The vibes were immaculate thanks to our host, Ace, who wowed everyone with her energetic flow, uniquely flavored water bar, and her ability to make everyone feel welcomed to share their own personal story about what wellness means to them. Sharing space and transparency with melanin women about Ustawi, a product line that caters to the melanin rich, a group that often gets overlooked, encouraged the women to reflect on their skincare routine. This is why we really wanted to take Ustawi on the road, because sometimes it takes a little reflection or education to discover what products are really made for your skin type. We love catering to our Ustawi community on a virtual level, but there is no better feeling than connecting with consumers face to face. We want everyone who uses Ustawi to know that their melanin matters and we must maintain the beauty of our melanin from the inside out.
We hope that in the future, we can take the Ustawi Wellness Experience around the world and showcase to a bigger audience that Ustawi isn’t just a product, it is a lifestyle.
