When Tiara Lopes began experimenting with body butters, she wasn’t trying to launch the next skincare company. She was a mother searching for better ways to keep her young son’s eczema-prone skin moisturized while simultaneously helping care for her grandmother. Somewhere between motherhood, caregiving, and everyday life, that personal search became Glow Butter by B.A.E. As she learned more about body-care formulation, she became increasingly curious about what existed beyond the familiar shea-butter products she saw everywhere.
That curiosity led her to explore distinctive botanical ingredients from different parts of the world, including kombo butter, an African-origin botanical butter that many of her customers had never encountered before. That exploration helped shape a philosophy that continues to influence the company today: Body butter can be more than shea butter and fragrance. “People know shea butter, but when I start talking to customers about ingredients like kombo butter, many of them have never heard of it,” she said. “I never wanted Glow Butter to simply be fragrance added to shea butter. I want our blends to be intentional.”
Going Beyond Traditional Body Butter
Today, Glow Butter by B.A.E. creates handcrafted body butters, body oils, sugar scrubs, artisan soaps and specialty body-care products. Rather than relying on one standard butter base across the entire collection, Lopes continues exploring different combinations of botanical butters and oils based on the formulation she is creating. Among those ingredients are kombo butter, derived from the seeds of the African nutmeg tree, and kokum butter, which comes from a tree native to India, alongside more familiar ingredients such as shea and mango butter.
The brand also incorporates botanical oils into its formulations and offers both fragranced and fragrance-free options. For Lopes, ingredient exploration has become an important part of the Glow Butter by B.A.E. identity. “There’s something meaningful to me about building a Black-owned skincare company and introducing customers to an ingredient like kombo that has roots in Africa,” Lopes said. “But I also love discovering botanical ingredients from different parts of the world, learning about them and figuring out how they can work together in different formulations.”
That curiosity has influenced products and collections centered around ingredients that customers may not immediately recognize — giving Lopes an opportunity to educate customers while introducing them to something new. “When somebody asks me, ‘What is kombo butter?’ I love that,” she said. “Now we’re having a conversation. They’re not just picking a scent. They’re learning about what’s actually in the product.”
A Business Born From Family
Long before Glow Butter by B.A.E. became a brand, its beginnings were personal. Lopes’ exploration into body care began as she searched for ways to keep her son’s eczema-prone skin moisturized. She started learning about different butters, oils, and formulations and experimenting with products for her family. At the same time, another important chapter of her life was unfolding. She was helping care for her grandmother as her health declined. Instead of building her company during a season of unlimited time, resources and freedom, she was developing products, filling jars, working on labels, attending markets and vendor events, creating content and serving customers while also raising her children and helping care for someone she loved.
“I wasn’t building this during a perfect season of my life,” she said. “I was raising my children, caring for my grandmother and handling everything else life was throwing at me. I built Glow Butter right in the middle of it.” That experience ultimately influenced what the brand came to represent. “Glow Butter represents taking care of yourself while you’re busy taking care of everybody else,” she added. “Women, mothers and caregivers can become so focused on everyone around us that we put ourselves at the bottom of the list. I want this brand to remind people that caring for yourself matters too.”
From the Kitchen to the Community
What began inside Lopes’ home eventually moved into the community. Glow Butter by B.A.E. has grown through online sales, repeat customers, farmers markets, vendor events, and community events throughout Eastern North Carolina. For Lopes, some of the most meaningful signs of progress haven’t come from social-media numbers or online metrics. They’ve happened face-to-face. “One of my favorite things is seeing somebody come back to my table because they bought from me before,” Lopes said. “Then sometimes they’ll bring somebody else because they told them about Glow Butter. That’s bigger than making one sale. That’s when you realize you’re building something people remember.”
Those conversations have also reinforced her interest in ingredient education. Customers may initially approach the table because of a fragrance or colorful product collection, but Lopes wants them to leave knowing more about what they are putting on their skin and why different ingredients were selected. Glow Butter by B.A.E. recently celebrated its first year in business, an important milestone for a company that began with one mother trying to solve a problem within her own family.
Using Technology to Help a Small Business Think Bigger
Lopes has also embraced modern technology while building the company. Like many small-business owners, she does not have the large marketing, branding, strategy, and creative departments available to major beauty companies. Instead, she has incorporated artificial intelligence into parts of her workflow to help organize ideas, brainstorm content, develop marketing strategies, research business concepts, and create systems that allow her to operate more efficiently. But she makes a clear distinction between using technology and allowing technology to define the company.
“AI didn’t create my vision, and it doesn’t replace the work,” she said. “It helps me execute. When you’re a small-business owner wearing five or ten different hats, having technology that helps you organize your ideas and turn them into action can make a huge difference.” Her experience has also strengthened her belief that entrepreneurs don’t necessarily need to begin with a massive staff, enormous budget, or perfect circumstances. Sometimes, they simply need to start with the resources available to them and continue building.
Building Something Her Children Can Inherit
Glow Butter by B.A.E. operates under Black Ambition Enterprises, Lopes’ umbrella company for her entrepreneurial ventures. In addition to founding the skincare brand, Lopes is an author, entrepreneur, and North Carolina real estate professional. Across those ventures runs a common theme: ownership, discipline, creativity, and building something that can extend beyond one generation. But Glow Butter remains especially personal. Its story begins with her son, it developed while she was caring for her grandmother, and its future is connected to the legacy she hopes to leave her children.
“I can look at this business and see my family throughout the entire journey,” Lopes said. “It started because I wanted to take care of my son. I built it while helping take care of my grandmother. And now I’m creating something my children can look at one day and know that we built something of our own.” For her, that connection between generations has made Glow Butter by B.A.E. much more than another entrepreneurial venture. It has become part of her family’s story.
The Next Chapter of Glow Butter by B.A.E.
Now Lopes is preparing to take the company beyond its local roots. Her plans include expanding Glow Butter by B.A.E.’s online customer base, developing additional formulations, continuing to explore distinctive botanical ingredients, pursuing retail and partnership opportunities, and introducing the brand to customers outside Eastern North Carolina. She also wants ingredient education to remain central as the company grows. Rather than simply telling customers that a product smells good or feels luxurious, Lopes wants Glow Butter by B.A.E. to become a brand associated with discovering ingredients they may not have encountered before.
And she plans to continue sharing the realities of entrepreneurship along the way, including the imperfect parts. “There will probably never be a completely perfect time to start,” Lopes said. “Sometimes you have to build while you’re tired. Build while you’re learning. Build while you’re raising your children. Build while you’re taking care of the people you love. Build while life is happening.” That philosophy may ultimately explain Glow Butter by B.A.E. better than any product description could. It wasn’t built after life settled down; It was built in the middle of it.
Learn more about the brand at its official website at GlowButterByBae.com
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About
Glow Butter by B.A.E. is a Black-owned handcrafted skincare and body-care company based in Jacksonville, North Carolina, founded by entrepreneur Tiara Lopes. Inspired by her search for ways to keep her son’s eczema-prone skin moisturized, the company creates handcrafted body butters, body oils, sugar scrubs, artisan soaps, and specialty body-care products. The brand explores distinctive African and globally sourced botanical ingredients, including African-origin kombo butter and India-native kokum butter, alongside familiar ingredients such as shea and mango butter. Operating under Black Ambition Enterprises, Glow Butter by B.A.E. is building a brand centered on intentional self-care, ingredient exploration, entrepreneurship, and family legacy.
For press inquiries, contact admin@blackambitionent.com