How a Whole Foods visit led to a business by a Miami entrepreneur

Located in Miami‘s historic Overtown, Ebene Naturals is a Miami-based company creating high-quality, plant-based products for the hair, skin and body.

“Ebene has several meanings. To simplify it, it means ‘ebony,’ which is the French version of ebony, but in the Ewe language it means from Mother Earth,” said Ebene Naturals founder Fayola Nicaisse.

And Mother Earth is at the heart of every product.

“All the products are made using natural ingredients,” Nicaisse said.

Haitian-American entrepreneur Fayola Nicaisse launched Ebene in 1999. At the time, she was working as a model in Dallas, creating her own products to care for her hair and skin. Everything changed after one afternoon shopping at Whole Foods.

“I went into the store and told the buyer, ‘You don’t have any products for Black hair.’ He said, ‘Yes, we do,’ and walked me over to products for people who color their hair black. I laughed and said, ‘No, I mean hair like this,’ ” said Nicaisse.

After meeting with management, Nicaisse began selling her products at Whole Foods, becoming the first ethnic hair-care brand on its shelves. From there, the brand took off, with features in The Dallas Morning News and international recognition.

“In Haiti, which is where I’m from, they heard about the products, Aujourd’hui called and they did an interview. Then Essence called about our soaps and scrubs,” said Nicaisse.

Today, Ebene’s handcrafted soaps are customer favorites.

“The base is olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil and, in some of them, also shea butter. Then we add the different spices and herbs depending on the different types of soaps,” said Nicaisse.

Client Vivian Haydar is a skin-cancer survivor and has been shopping at Ebene Naturals for more than a year.

“I’m very careful about what I put on my body and my face. I come in here and I want to buy the whole store,” Haydar said.

For Nicaisse, inclusivity has always been the mission.

“We all have curly hair in every race, every ethnicity. I wanted people to understand this was for textured and curly hair,” said Nicaisse.

More than two decades later, she remains a pioneer in plant-based beauty long before it became a trend.

Nicaisse said she has exciting plans, including opening a first-of-its-kind natural-hair salon in South Florida designed specifically for people with curly and textured hair, using only plant-based products.

This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami.

This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 3:25 PM.