Jaé Joseph on Broadening Notions of Luxury and Well-Being
With his company BAO (Black Apothecary Office), the cultural producer embraces a sensibility he describes as “bodega beauty.”
June 13, 2023
11 minute read
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As the founder of BAO (Black Apothecary Office), Jaé Joseph aims to create more than just another skin care company with yet more hydrating and exfoliating cleansers, toners, lotions, and creams. (BAO does produce a line with all that, too: a range of papaya “essentials” that pull from Joseph’s Caribbean roots and embody a sensibility he describes as “bodega beauty.”) Joseph—who, in addition to running BAO, is also a cultural producer working in the worlds of art and fashion—is especially focused on transforming the way people interact with Black- and Latinx-owned beauty and wellness brands. “‘Black-owned’ does not mean only Black-consumed,” he says. “Forty to forty-two percent of the client base for my product line are not people of color.”
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