Saltar al contenido principal

The Best Wellness Products from AAPI-Founded Brands

·
Escrito por Roma Hora
·
Escrito por Roma Hora

Every May, AAPI Heritage Month offers a moment to recognize the contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across culture, science, and business. In wellness, that contribution is significant and growing. The brands in this guide are founded by AAPI entrepreneurs who have built products rooted in cultural knowledge, rigorous craft, and a clear point of view.

This is not a list of brands that happen to be AAPI-founded. It is a list of brands that are genuinely excellent, and that also happen to be AAPI-founded. We carry each of them at Nanaka because they meet our standard for quality, transparency, and intention.

How We Curate

Every brand at Nanaka is evaluated on ingredient integrity, sourcing transparency, founder credibility, and product performance. The brands below were selected because they lead their respective categories, not because of their founders' backgrounds. Heritage is context, not a substitute for quality.

Fine Fragrance: TANAÏS

TANAÏS is an indie fragrance house founded by Tanwi Nandini Islam, a Bangladeshi American author and perfumer based in Brooklyn. The line draws on South Asian heritage, queer identity, and literary sensibility to produce extrait de parfum and perfume oils that are genuinely unlike anything in mainstream fragrance.

What to try:

TANAÏS fragrances are extrait concentration, meaning they are among the most potent and long-lasting formats available.

Ritual Incense: Looshi

Looshi is a wellness incense brand built around a single premise: fragrance can be intentional. Each scent in the collection is designed around a specific emotional state, from focus and creativity to calm and grounding. The sticks are hand-rolled by women artisans using a charcoal-free paste for a clean, low-smoke burn of approximately 45 minutes per stick.

What to try:

For more on the brand, see our full feature: Meet Looshi: The Artisan Incense Brand Redefining Home Ritual.

Home Ritual Objects: CEDAR AND MYRRH

CEDAR AND MYRRH is a female-founded AAPI brand specializing in incense, aromatherapy, and ritual objects. The catalog is one of the most comprehensive in its category, covering everything from hand-rolled Peruvian incense sticks and Japanese incense sets to brass holders, ceramic bowls, crystals, and palo santo.

What to try:

CEDAR AND MYRRH is the deepest catalog in the AAPI Founders collection, with over 100 products spanning every corner of the home ritual category.

Sleep and Meditation Candles: Caftari

Caftari makes meditation candles and sleep wellness blends with a focus on intentional rest. The brand's approach is grounded in the idea that scent is one of the most direct pathways to a shifted mental state, and the formulations reflect that seriousness.

What to try:

  • Nidra: designed specifically for restorative sleep, with a neuroscientist-verified formulation. The most functional candle in the collection.
  • Scent of Nirvana: the brand's signature meditation candle, built for focus and stillness.
  • Caftari Signature Gift Set: the best introduction to the full range.

EMF Protection: SafeSleeve

SafeSleeve makes science-backed EMF-blocking cases for phones, laptops, and tablets. Founded by an Asian American entrepreneur, the brand has built a reputation for products that are independently tested and FCC-compliant. In a category with a lot of noise, SafeSleeve is one of the few brands with verifiable shielding data.

What to try:

SafeSleeve is the most technically differentiated brand in this collection and a natural fit for anyone already thinking about sleep hygiene, blue light, or digital wellness.

Clean Skincare: M.S Skincare

M.S Skincare is a female-founded AAPI skincare brand formulating with Ayurvedic ingredients. The line is clean, botanically driven, and built around ingredients with deep roots in South Asian wellness traditions.

What to try:

  • SOFIA: the brand's hero product and a strong starting point.
  • AMLA OIL: amla (Indian gooseberry) is one of the most antioxidant-rich botanicals in Ayurvedic practice. A well-executed single-ingredient oil at an accessible price.
  • SILK: a lightweight finishing product that works across skin types.

Skin Hydration: hey dewy

hey dewy makes one product: a wireless facial humidifier that has developed a genuine cult following. The device delivers a fine mist of water vapor directly to the face, supporting skin hydration without any product application. It is small, rechargeable, and designed for use at a desk, on a plane, or anywhere skin feels tight or dry.

What to try:

Shop the Full Collection

Every brand above is available in one place. Browse the full AAPI Founders collection at Nanaka.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does AAPI mean?
AAPI stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander. It is an umbrella term used in the United States to describe people with heritage from East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

When is AAPI Heritage Month?
AAPI Heritage Month is observed every May in the United States.

Are all of these brands AAPI-founded?
Yes. Every brand in this guide and in the Nanaka AAPI Founders collection is founded by an AAPI entrepreneur.

Where can I shop all AAPI-founded brands at Nanaka?
Visit the AAPI Founders collection for the full catalog.