Today we’d like to introduce you to Tahera Rene Christy.
Hi Tahera Rene, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Our Story
I bottled self-love.
I’m Tahera Rene Christy, Founder and Creative Director of Amour Propre® (which is French for self-love). In Match of 2020, while the world slowed down, my home in Mission Viejo became a laboratory of love. Between homeschooling my four children with my husband and baking every sweet we could imagine, my mother called with a simple idea: “Make hand sanitizer.” And I did! I posted it to Etsy, and within 48 hours we had 130 orders. We finished our first month at $20,000 in sales and I realized I’d just opened the door to the company I was born to build.
From Oakland to Orange County: my “why”
I was born in Oakland, California, where I didn’t see many examples of Black entrepreneurship outside of restaurants. Later, in corporate sales, I was consistently top-ranked, yet painfully expendable. A health scare made that clear. That moment reframed everything: I would never again allow anyone else to set my ceiling. I took my gift for product innovation, my coach’s heart, and my sales discipline and decided to put love in a bottle and create products that help people feel seen, soothed, and confident every single day.
Clean Beauty for All®, and I mean all!
I build science-enhanced, plant-forward formulas that are gentle, effective, and priced for real life. For too long, “clean beauty” wasn’t marketed to people of color effectively, or it was wrapped in language and price points that felt out of reach. I changed that. Every Amour Propre® product is created to solve everyday skin concerns like dryness, irritation, eczema-prone skin, while offering a little luxury in your daily routine.
Today, I’ve formulated 400+ products; we actively retail 60.
My signature Sweet Yoni Oil has sold 10,000+ bottles and became the #1 Bestselling Handmade Body Oil on Amazon.
You’ll find our products at AmourP.com, on Amazon, Walmart.com, and Faire for wholesale partners.
How I create (yes, I’m the formulator)!
I’m a maker and a marketer. Ideas arrive at 2 a.m.; by morning, I’m testing, prototyping, naming, and mapping the launch plan. If customers love it and it works, it stays. If not, I retire it quickly. My twins help me bottle, label, and ship. It’s still intimate and hands-on, by design, because quality, safety, and results come first.
Purpose is the business model –
Amour Propre® actually began as a nonprofit initiative. I built and donated hygiene kits to shelters, halfway houses, and rehab centers and often with my own money. That spirit never left. As a for-profit, we continue donating products, time, and mentorship, and we intentionally support local small businesses to keep dollars circulating in our community. When you empower a woman, you uplift a neighborhood. That belief guides everything I do.
Education over intimidation
Skincare should feel welcoming, not elitist. My brand does three things every product must do:
1. Educate clearly: What it is, why it works, and how to use it.
2. Perform: Measurable benefits you can see and feel.
3. Belong: Inclusive visuals, language, and pricing so everyone feels invited.
We’ve also brought back Pamper Parties! We create an intimate, at-home experiences where I teach women how to use our products and reconnect with ritual, joy, and community. Think of it as modern self-care with old-school hospitality.
What’s next?
I am scaling thoughtfully by exploring co-manufacturing for our staples while safeguarding the craftsmanship and integrity our customers expect. I’m expanding our intimate-care line, adding education-forward content, and building programs that help more women turn self-care into a sustainable lifestyle.
My promise –
– Formulas with integrity: clean, effective, and thoughtfully sourced.
– Access without compromise: luxury textures, accessible price points.
– Community in the center: giving, teaching, and hiring with purpose.
Self-love isn’t a trend. It’s a practice. And every bottle I make is an invitation to practice it gently, daily, and without apology.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road here wasn’t easy. Every season of my journey came with lessons: Some humbling, some hard-won, all of them necessary.
1. Representation Matters. Especially When You Don’t See It
Growing up in Oakland, California, I didn’t see many Black entrepreneurs in industries outside of food. Clean beauty didn’t look like me, sound like me, or talk to me. When I entered the space, I knew I was walking into a world where women who looked like me weren’t the target audience, and I wanted to change that.
Creating Amour Propre® was my way of saying: we deserve products that work, that are safe, and that feel beautiful, without being priced out or left out.
2. You Can Start Big Right Where You Are
I built my first batches from my kitchen counter and shipped them from my dining room. My twins helped label bottles, my garage became a warehouse, and our home smelled like lavender and ambition.
I didn’t wait for a perfect facility or a big investor. I started small but thought big. If you can’t build with what’s in your hands, no amount of capital will change that.
3. Funding Doesn’t Define You. Faith Does.
Access to capital is one of the biggest hurdles for women of color. Banks weren’t calling, and investors weren’t lining up. So I bootstrapped, I pitched, I applied for grants, and I won.
From the Fearless Fund to BeyGOOD, the BBB Ignite Program, and others, I’ve raised over $50,000 in grants. But what I learned is that money doesn’t make the vision move. Faith, strategy, and execution do.
4. Corporate Comfort Isn’t the Same as Fulfillment
Before Amour Propre®, I was a top sales performer in corporate America. On paper, I was thriving, until the day I got shingles and my job refused to let me work from home. That was my wake-up call.
I realized I’d given the best of myself to companies that could replace me tomorrow. That moment forced me to choose purpose over a paycheck. And I’ve never looked back.
5. Motherhood Is a Superpower.
Being a wife and mom of four meant that every dream had to fit inside a busy life. But I refused to see my family as a limitation. I saw them as legacy. My children watched me build something out of nothing, and in the process, they learned the value of ownership, discipline, and love.
The best part? Now they work beside me. Entrepreneurship became a family affair.
6. Neurodiversity Can Be a Gift
I have ADD, and for years I thought it was something I had to “fix.” But I learned to work with my brain, not against it. My creativity doesn’t come in neat office hours. It comes at 2 a.m., when ideas hit like lightning.
What others call distraction, I call divine download. When managed with intention, my neurodivergence became my greatest creative engine.
7. Education Builds Trust, and Trust Builds Community.
Selling products for women’s intimate wellness came with stigma and misunderstanding. Many women of color had never been taught about pH balance, skin health, or safe feminine care.
So I decided to teach before I sell. I host Pamper Parties, create educational content, and make every label simple enough for anyone to understand. Because true beauty isn’t just what’s in the bottle, it’s the confidence that comes from knowing what you’re using and why it works.
Looking Back and Forward
Building Amour Propre® has been a lesson in endurance, faith, and love. What began as a pandemic project has become a brand with over 500 formulated products that have circulated on Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, Faire, and AmourP.com.
But my proudest achievement isn’t the sales, it’s the impact. We continue to donate products to shelters and programs supporting women in transition. We buy from small businesses to circulate dollars back into our community. We mentor new founders who look like us, because that’s how you build generational change.
My Message to Every Dreamer
You don’t need perfect conditions to start.
You just need faith, consistency, and a little self-love.
Because when you learn to love yourself, you stop waiting for permission.
And that’s exactly how I built Amour Propre®: one act of self-love at a time.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Amour Propre®️?
We specialize in natural skincare and feminine wellness, crafting every formula with care, purpose, and education in mind. Our best-known products include our Feminine hygiene selection like Sweet Yoni Oil, Clean Yoni Wash, and Natural Deodorant Collection, as well as or luxury lotions, body oils and scrubs, each designed to help people feel confident, nourished, and seen. What sets us apart is that our products are beautiful and they work! They address real skin concerns like dryness, eczema, dark spots, and irritation, using clean ingredients that restore balance instead of masking problems.
Amour Propre® started as a grassroots brand in my kitchen during the pandemic and quickly grew into an award-winning beauty company recognized for innovation, integrity, and impact. We now retail over 60 active products, have sold tens of thousands of units nationwide, and are proud to be the #1 Bestselling Handmade Body Oil on Amazon.
What We Do
At Amour Propre®, we create products that sit at the intersection of self-care, science, and soul. We offer:
– Clean, inclusive skincare and body care for all skin types and tones
– Feminine wellness products designed to restore confidence and comfort
– Pamper Parties & Wellness Workshops, bringing the self-love experience into homes and corporate spaces
– Wholesale partnerships with boutiques, spas, and healthcare providers
– Philanthropic outreach, donating thousands of hygiene and wellness kits to women in shelters and rehab centers each year
Our philosophy is simple: When you feel good in your own skin, you show up differently in the world.
What Sets Us Apart
Most clean beauty brands speak to exclusivity; we speak to inclusion.
Our tagline, Clean Beauty for All®, means every person, regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic background, deserves access to safe, effective products that celebrate their individuality.
We’re not just another beauty brand; we’re an education-first movement. Every product comes with clear language, instructions, and transparency about ingredients. We empower customers to understand why something works, not just how it smells.
Amour Propre® is also built on ethics and community reinvestment. We:
– Source responsibly and formulate by hand in California
– Use recyclable and minimalist packaging to reduce waste
– Employ family and local artisans in production
– Continue to donate time, products, and mentorship to women rebuilding their lives
What We’re Most Proud Of
I’m most proud of the fact that Amour Propre® is purpose-built. We’ve proven that you can run a profitable business without losing heart, that luxury can be affordable, and that representation matters.
Our customers often tell us that using our products makes them feel “seen.” That’s everything to me. We’ve been recognized by organizations like the Better Business Bureau (Torch Award Finalist and Winner for Ethics), BeyGOOD Foundation, and The Fearless Fund, and featured in Orange Coast Magazine and Hulu’s “Side Hustlers” produced by Reese Witherspoon.
But the real recognition comes when a woman writes me to say, “Your products made me fall back in love with myself.” That’s what this brand is about.
What I Want Readers to Know
Amour Propre® isn’t just a skincare line, it’s a self-love as a necessary lifestyle movement.
We help people reconnect with their bodies, their confidence, and their daily rituals through clean, intentional products that heal as they pamper.
If you’re new to us, start with Sweet Yoni Oil or The Kitty Companion, our best-selling feminine care kit. Or experience our products firsthand at one of our Pamper Parties, an interactive, joy-filled event where beauty meets sisterhood.
At its core, Amour Propre® is about healing, confidence, and community.
We create products you can trust, experiences you can enjoy, and a movement you can belong to.
Because self-love isn’t a luxury.
It’s a daily practice and it starts with Amour Propre®.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Some of my earliest and fondest memories are rooted in my grandmother’s kitchen. I can still remember the sound of the pots clanking, the hum of her voice as she hummed old gospel tunes, and the smell of gumbo slowly simmering on the stove, that deep, rich aroma that filled every corner of her home and everyone’s heart who walked through her door.
As a little girl, I used to beg my dad to take me to her house. Not for toys or treats, but just to watch her cook! I was mesmerized by the way she moved. She was so graceful, deliberate, and always with love in her hands. There was never a written recipe, but everything she made tasted like home, like history, like heart.
Watching my grandmother cook was my first real lesson in entrepreneurship, even though I didn’t know it at the time. She wasn’t just feeding people; she was nurturing them. She was teaching me that food, love, and community are all part of the same language. Every sprinkle of seasoning, every stir of the roux, every bowl of gumbo was a reminder that you can build connection and legacy from the simplest ingredients, as long as you lead with love.
That experience shaped everything I do today. It’s why I founded Calou Kitchen, a modern-day homage to my family’s Creole roots. “Calou” means gumbo in French, which is a word that captures both the blending of cultures and the richness of flavor that defines our heritage.
Now, when I cook for others, I do it the way my grandmother did: From my heart and soul. Whether I’m creating spice blends, meal prep menus, or hosting pop-up kitchens, I’m channeling that same warmth I felt sitting on her counter, swinging my feet, watching the magic happen.
Those afternoons in her kitchen taught me that food is more than sustenance. It’s storytelling. It’s culture. It’s love in motion.
And that love, the kind that simmers slowly and feeds the soul, still shows up in everything I create, whether it’s a bowl of gumbo, a bottle of body oil, or a moment of self-care.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amourp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveamourpropre
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveamourpropre
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taherarene
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@loveamourpropre?si=omrdvs0ggE4WmPsb
- Other: https://www.caloukitchen.com
