The Story of Nylosi
The entrepreneurial spirit from which Nylosi was envisioned, was passed down from Isolyn, Vinette’s mother and Tamika’s grandmother. Nylosi, our company name is her name in reverse thus honoring her as the vision behind the company.
As a young woman, in rural Jamaica, Isolyn lost her mother at a very young age. She was a very kind, community-focused, and enterprising woman who did not let her loss destroy her. She moved forward with creating and building a sustainable business in her district. She became the owner of a grocery store that served her small community providing food staples, personal care, and other items.
Operating her business, created a stable income that supplemented the income of her husband, thus enhancing the resources needed to care her children and her family. It was important to her that her children were cared for to the best of her ability. This included nutritious meals, the finest clothing she could afford or make herself, as well as natural and beneficial personal care items. One of the items, she hand-crafted was a unique hair pomade using primarily coconut and castor oils, which she concocted on a regular basis for her family to use in caring for their hair and moisturizing their skin.
Fast forward to 2014 when Vinette’s sister visited the U.S. from Jamaica, where she still resides. During this visit they chatted and reminisced about their mother and growing from such humble beginnings to being very educated and successful women. They found themselves recalling “Mama Iso’s” coconut and castor oil concoction and as a fun activity, decided to attempt recreating this treasured moisturizer. They purchased the main ingredients coconut and castor oil and any other ingredients that they could remember. After several attempts, they eventually got the consistency just right and decided to share it with their daughter/niece, Tamika. After using the “Mama Iso’s Concoction” re-imagined, fondly referred to as “Mama Iso’s Concoction 2.0,” Tamika fell in love. She was amazed at how soft and moisturized her hair and skin felt, without any greasy feel as she had initially expected. Over time, sharing with friends and family returned positive feedback, as well.
This mother/daughter duo believes that it is essential to nourish our bodies, very much the same way, with natural and pure organic ingredients, internally and externally. This led them to taking an in-depth look at Mama Iso’s homemade creation. With minor additions and improvements to her original pomade formula, Nylosi’s first product, Coconut & Castor Hair + Body Moisturizer, was created.
Today, Nylosi is a small family-owned business that honors, the name, hard work, life, legacy and spirit of our family’s matriarch.