Manzi Organics Makes Beauty for the Greater Good
Mia Azani wants to “take over your lip beauty care” regimen with her organic balms and glosses.
Manzi Organics is a natural, small-batch lip balm brand whose products are handmade locally. Founded by Mia Azani, the company launched in September 2021, during Azani’s junior year of college. The idea, though, began back in childhood, when Azani’s chronic lip-picking problem (called dermatillomania) forced her to rely on Chapstick or Vaseline. Neither product ever worked for her, Azani said, because “the ingredients are synthetic and made to keep your lips staying chapped.”
Azani is a Yemenite-Israeli Jew, born in Atlanta. Her mother is Jewish and adopted, with Ashkenazi and Mizrachi roots. Her father is Yemenite, her grandmother having been born in Sa’ana, Yemen, and her grandfather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, though their family quickly immigrated back to Yemen. Azani takes immense pride in her Yemenite roots and culture and heavily identifies with her identity as a brown Jew.
“I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but it is my dream to involve myself in a business that supports the greater good,” she said. That’s why Manzi strives to put social responsibility first and is run by queer women of color.
Since launching, Manzi has established a presence on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, along with an online store where customers can purchase its products.
Azani has done one local farmer’s market and is getting ready to feature her wares at other Atlanta markets, having established Manzi Organics as a licensed business.
As of September, Manzi has sold over 70 lip balms and drop-tested a new product — a tinted natural lip gloss called SPICE that Azani says has been very well received. Now Azani wants to bring completely natural products to the beauty market to “take over your lip beauty care,” with ambitious balms that go way beyond chapped lips.
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