Ladies, get into it! Entrepreneur and influencer Lynae Vanee is gearing up to launch her brand, VANE—to enhance the Black woman’s self-care routine through teacup sets, teas and candles.
On Thursday, Feb. 1, Lynae took to Instagram to ascribe her journey to obtaining her business and what potential customers should anticipate.
Lynae said she sold teacups to commemorate the second anniversary of her Parking Lot Pimpin’ series, having a photo of the first parking lot she shot at on one side of the cup and the parking lot she moved to on the other.
She and another Black businesswoman would learn they were selling teacups from the same manufacturer. Instead of conversing with Lynae, the woman would disparage her online, accusing her of stealing her designs.
“What the devil means for your bad, the Lord means for your good,” Lynae said. “In this whole debacle, so many women in my community crowded around me to see what I needed. To see how they could support me.”
She persisted, “In discussing this conversation, I talked about how difficult it is for creators not having information. Not really knowing how to capitalize on the platforms that they have. Don’t have access to a lot of resources and the ability to make unique products, so we won’t run into situations like this.”
Lynae would connect with a private-owned South Carolina-based tea brand owned by women of Gullah Geechee culture.
“Before I even made that cut, my goal was to make a unique teacup with its own design laid on fine China,” she said. “And I’m so excited to tell you that. I was finally able to do that.”
The entrepreneur and influencer announced that VANE, her self-care brand, will launch Feb. 23. VANE’s products include a teacup set (cup and saucer) that comes in a haint blue and brown patterned or ombré design.
The haint blue color paid homage to the Gullah Geechee tradition that saw its people painting their porch ceilings blue to give the illusion that their houses were surrounded by water to deceive “haints,” a word people from the Carolina coast used to describe a specific type of ghost or evil spirit. They believed haints wouldn’t cross over water.
Lynae’s chamomile and lavender tea is something to get into. It contains South African honeybush, passion fruit and banana melon. VANE’s candle has lavender, eucalyptus, green tea and vanilla fragrances with a wooden wick.
Interested patrons could also buy her bath tea, Steep, a mixture of Epsom salt, Himalayan pink salt, dead sea salt and black volcanic ash. The bath tea is to assist with pain. More is on the way!
The 2023 Crown Reel Impact Award recipient’s brand name, VANE, was a play on her middle name and the word “vanity.”
“I always have thought vanity gets a bad rep because the assumption is the person practicing it is self-absorbed,” she explained. “But one thing I know about me is I’m going to take a break. I need to take a break because I know the work that I do requires me to pour into so many people, into so many communities as many Black women do.”
She added, “You cannot pour from an empty cup if you’re not pouring into self.”
