We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sabine Henderson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sabine below.

Hi Sabine, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Sabine Jean LLC is a luxury cosmetic brand that formulates skin and hair care products for people of color, or people that identify as people of color. The mainstream market has always excluded people of color, although our community makes up an overwhelming amount of total sales. We definitely spend the most dollars in the beauty industry. The big brands are now trying to include people of color by marketing products to us, but it still lacks quality and efficiency for our skin type and tones. As a women of color myself, I specifically formulated all of our products with us in mind. It is a line from me, directly to my community, people with melanated skin tones.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

We are Sabine Jean LLC, a luxury skincare line where we encourage you to know that “you are beautiful in the skin you’re in”. Our company aims to cater to the unique beauty needs and preferences of individuals who identity as people of color, providing them with high-quality products that enhance their natural beauty and empower them to embrace their heritage. I am Sabine Henderson, and I started Sabine Jean in my kitchen with only $99. I am also a Celebrity Hair Stylist located in LA. I left Atlanta, GA in 2017 to relocate to Los Angeles, CA with $30 and a dream of becoming a celebrity hair stylist. I left everything behind to pursue a calling that I felt was placed on my life. Fortunately, for me, it did not work out as planned, and I quickly had to pivot to a different market. Moving out to Los Angeles posed a challenge for me, as it was difficult to find black skin care that could cater to my skin care needs. So, I decided to re-create and reformulate a whipped body butter I started in Atlanta. Instead of recreating the original scented whipped body butter, I decided to add an emulsifier to the formula which produced a cream. With only $99, that I received from my mom, as well as being in the process of eviction from my apartment, I began to produce the body crème. I began selling it at a local church, which she was attending at the time, and turned it into the company we now have today! I personally formulates and develops all my products. This ensures that the consumers receive the highest quality products that will cater to their specific skin care needs as people of color. Sabine Jean Classic Skin Nourishing Body Crème is formulated with Shea butter, from Ghana, as well as a grapeseed oil and glycerin as our key ingredients. Shea butter is renowned for protecting the skin from TEWL and has been used in melanated community for thousands of years. Shea Butter is non-comedogenic, rich in vitamins A, E, and F, and helps repair damaged skin and fade dark spots and blemishes overtime. It is difficult to find products in the mainstream market that are made for people of color. Sabine Jean LLC also offers other skin care products like facial creams, serums, and will be launching a foam cleanser in the next coming months. Our Facial Care Line is formulated with niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, green tea and licorice root extract, exotic oils, and peptides, that will help brighten our skin, and produce a healthy glow. Sabine Jean LLC is also proactive in the community. We donate clothing, skin care products, and goods to women’s shelters. We also give back 10% of all sales to the homeless community. We are dedicated in developing and offering a comprehensive range of high-quality skin care products tailored made to compliment the various melanated skin tones and beauty concerns specific to our black community. Sabine Jean LLC Cosmetic is looking to bridging the gap, in the marketplace, by provide luxury products that will cater specifically to the beauty concerns of our beautiful community of people of color.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

I started Sabine Jean LLC with $99 in my apartment kitchen. I tried looking for a Contract Manufacturer, to manufacture the product for me, but because I was a small brand they didn’t take me seriously. I couldn’t even get them to return my phone calls or emails. I started making the products with cooking pots, kitchen mixers, spatulas and kitchen scales. I bought jars and had a local company make labels for me. I put the labels on the jars myself. Because I couldn’t afford, at the time, to have the different scents printed on the labels, I would make separate stickers and add it to the sealing disk. I eventually was able to get my jars screen printed, but I still had to put the stickers on the lid to identify the different scents. I am still manufacturing the products myself, just on a larger scale up. I had to figure out how to scale up myself, because no one would share their knowledge with me. I was definitely self-taught. I was told I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I didn’t allow that to stop me. No is not an option for me. The lesson I learned is whatever you put your mind to, if you believe you can do it, you can achieve it. I also have strong, unwavering faith. I believe in the Creator of the Universe. He sees me through everything I do.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first moved to LA, I came as a hair stylist. In my mind, I was going to be a super famous celebrity hair stylist. I moved from Atlanta, GA to Los Angeles, CA. I left everything behind, including my husband and daughter, and came to an audition and didn’t get the job. I had to find another salon to work at 2 days after I moved to LA with no clientele. They took a chance on me, the salon owner, because I had no clientele and they had never seen my work. We are still family to this day. I am grateful it didn’t work out the way I thought it should have in my mind. It worked out better. I did eventually become a celebrity hair stylist, I just had to take a different course. I also started my cosmetic line that I am very proud of and thankful for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sabinejean.com
• Instagram: @realsabinejean
• Facebook: @realsabinejean
• Linkedin: Sabine Henderson
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7cTtXAg2t8RwPtie12KNTw

Image Credits
Goodley Productions