Three North Carolina Brands You Should Be Shopping With

Natural and great quality products, easy to use, long-lasting, and thoughtful are just a few features that stand out about these upcoming brands. Today, I introduce you to KOKO Body Care, Goddess Minx by Taura Amoy, and Nourish Personal Care, three Black-owned beauty and skincare lines based in North Carolina. I’ll be sharing my experience using a selection of their products, along with how to support and buy from each brand.

Review by Karmen Brown (Beauty Editor) For INSIDE Monthly | Follow on Instagram @karmsbro

1. KOKO Body Care

KOKO body care is on a mission to “promote health, beauty, and wellness” with its all-natural and luxurious skincare products. The brand is based out of Apex, NC and was founded by Debi Ndindjock. Debi’s dream is to build healthier communities through the use of sustainably sourced ingredients and transparency with consumers about what they’re using.

The first thing I noticed about KOKO was the packaging. It was so fresh and vibrant, but still warm and inviting, which is the exact feeling the products gave me when using them! I tried the Body Butter and Lip Balm in the Citrus Gold scent, along with the Renewing Argan Face Oil. It only took a small amount of product when using each of them, so I can tell they’ll last a long time. I love that all ingredients are listed on the back of the products and that I could actually understand what everything was! 

REVIEWED: BODY BUTTER | FACE OIL | LIP BALM

BEFORE & AFTER (PHOTOS)

What I LOVE about each product:

Body Butter – Citrus Gold

• The scent is a mixture of lemon and orange, which I adore! It smells great!
• Once you rub it in, it absorbs into your skin quickly and doesn’t leave a lasting greasy feeling.
• Lasts long throughout the day, especially with the weather getting colder and my skin feeling dryer. I don’t need to constantly reapply.
• My skin peels badly around my cuticles and the butter helped a lot! My cuticles are softer and more moisturized now. 

Lip Balm – Citrus Gold

• Only takes a couple of swipes to get the job done!
• Moisturizing, but still very light. 
• It works so well as a layer underneath my glosses or lipsticks to keep my lips smooth and moisturized throughout the day. 

Face Oil – Renewing Argan

• After using it for a few weeks, it cleared up acne breakouts I had!
• It’s not too heavy and literally only takes 2 drops. 
• My face feels smoother, brighter, and more moisturized.  

Follow and support KOKO Body Care on Instagram @koko_bodycare. 

2. Goddess Minx by Taura Amoy

Through their high-quality products and captivating packaging, Goddess Minx by Taura Amoy creates an amazing and thoughtful beauty experience for their customers. After working as a freelance makeup artist since 2016 and going to school for esthetics, Taura launched Goddess Minx as the cosmetics division of her Goddess Beats & Beauty brand. The line is based in Raleigh, NC and focuses on creating vegan and paraben-free beauty products.

Goddess Minx truly lives up to the expectation of “eye-catching packaging.” I got the Billionaire Babe Faux Mink Lashes and the box they came in is the most gorgeous lash box I’ve ever seen! I love the gold theme and the jewel-filled bag the items come in. The “how to use” instruction cards were the cherry on top and would be great for someone new to makeup. In addition to the lashes, I also tried the Lustre Lip Gloss in 02 (Lavish Life) and 08 and the Goddess Lip Liner in the shades 2005 and 2007. 

REVIEWED: LASHES | LIP GLOSS | LIP LINERS

What I LOVE about each product:

Faux Mink Lashes – Billionaire Babe

• I’m not a big lash wearer, so I like my lashes to look and feel natural. This style works great for me because they’re wispy and spread out across the strip.
• They’re so fun and different, but not too dramatic. Plus, there are all sorts of other styles to choose from.
• They come long enough to be cut down and adjusted for different eye shapes. I had to snip the ends because my eyes are small, but they still looked super cute and it didn’t take away from the style at all.
• Easy to apply and stayed on all day.

Lustre Lip Gloss – 02 / Lavish Life (Nude) & 08 (Red)

• Layers beautifully over other products! I used both with the lip liners and they worked so well together. Can also wear nude alone as an everyday light gloss.
• The gloss applicator makes for easy use .
• It’s not very thick or sticky.
• Creates a stunning shiny look. Can also achieve a sheer or shimmery effect depending on the shade you get!

Goddess Lip Liner – 2005 & 2007

• I don’t normally wear lip liners because they often form harsh lines, but these were so creamy and blended in seamlessly for a softer look.
• I’ve never considered lining my lips in a purple-fuchsia shade before, but these completely changed my mind! This will probably become one of my go-to colors, now! It blends nicely with the red gloss, but also makes a cute and unique look with the nude gloss.
• Can roll the liner up and down by twisting the bottom and it comes with a cap that locks tightly in place.

Follow Goddess Minx @_goddessminxco on Instagram or Goddess Minx by Taura Amoy on Facebook. Products will also be dropping soon at goddessbeats.com.

3. Nourish Personal Care

The purpose behind Nourish Personal Care is to ensure people have access to quality essential goods. They provide products that cater to sensitive skin rather than irritating it. Zsajuan Alexander Powe founded the brand during the pandemic, when he recognized a huge shortage in necessary household goods. He started going door to door, sharing Nourish products with local communities in Greensboro, NC. Attending school at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University (NCAT), Zsajuan also began doing business on campus and created his entire sales, marketing, and accounting teams through the students there. 

Nourish prides themselves on the amazing smell of their products and the positive, healing impact their all-natural ingredients have on the skin. I whole-heartedly agree from my experience with their soap and cream! I used the Oatmeal Milk & Honey Soap Bar and the Miracle Everyday Body Cream.

REVIEWED: BODY CREAMS | SOAP BARS

What I LOVE about each product:

Soap Bar – Oatmeal Milk & Honey

• Cleared up my skin after one day of using it as a facial cleanser. I was actually really surprised! I had a couple pimples coming up and they almost immediately started fading away.
• It smells so fresh and clean.
• Exfoliating, but not harsh on the skin.

Miracle Everyday Body Cream

• It smells like I just stepped into a bakery! I’m a big scents person if you couldn’t tell! This one reminds me of warm vanilla with a hint of spice, which I love. 
• I enjoy the consistency. It’s similar to a lotion with how it spreads, but it’s thicker. However, it’s not too thick.
• Leaves your skin with a glow.

You can stay up to date with Nourish Personal Care and support them @thenourishofficial on Instagram.