About SugarHill

SugarHill Soap and Candle Company is personal.

It started with a girl from Harlem who grew up knowing that where you came from could shape you—but it never had to limit you.

Harlem is in my blood. Harlem is who I am. Harlem is what made me.

I grew up in a Harlem where you could walk outside and feel like the whole world was happening right there on your block.

Italian ices from the corner store. Mr. Softee coming down the street. Double Dutch on the sidewalk. Stickball in the street. Skelsies on the pavement. Music coming through apartment windows, cars, radios, and boom boxes.

And then there was that sound.

Before we had all the words for it, before we called it hip-hop, we knew something different was coming through the radio. It wasn't R&B. It wasn't what we'd been hearing before. It was something new. Something raw. Something exciting. Something that made you stop and listen.

Then you heard Eric B. and Rakim. You heard Salt-N-Pepa. You heard Supernature. You heard White Lines. You heard the Beastie Boys. Doug E. Fresh. And suddenly that sound wasn't just coming through the radio anymore.

It was everywhere.

And the crazy part about growing up in Harlem was that you didn't have to feel far away from the people making it happen.

You could see the artists. You could hear the music coming from the streets. You could watch the culture develop around you.

Harlem wasn't watching the world happen. Harlem was helping make it happen.

And baby, Harlem knew how to look good doing it.

Some of the flyest, most stylish, most unapologetically fabulous people I've ever known were walking the streets of Harlem.

When you came outside, you were it.

You dressed to impress.

The sidewalk could be a runway. The neighborhood could be a fashion show. Harlem had its own style, its own attitude, its own language, its own rhythm. You didn't have to leave Harlem to see what was next.

Harlem was already setting the trends.

That spirit stayed with me.

Because growing up in Harlem taught me something that I've carried everywhere I've gone:

You don't have to choose one version of yourself.

You can be a little city and a little country. A little urban and a little rural. You can love sneakers and silk. You can love old-school hip-hop and country music. You can appreciate the finer things and still know how to have a good time outside.

You can ride horses, travel in an RV, go fishing, dream about keeping bees, and still get excited about beautiful things.

Because the world was never small to me.

Harlem was never small.

Harlem was a world all its own—a planet, a universe, Harlem World.

And as I've grown, traveled, changed, learned, and experienced more of life, I've simply added more chapters to that story. The places I've gone, the things I've seen, the music I've loved, the people I've met, the finer things I've discovered—they didn't replace Harlem.

They expanded me.

And somewhere along the way, all of those pieces came together in SugarHill.

The fragrances. The candles. The soaps. The colors. The nostalgia. The attitude. The little bit of luxury. The memories. The music. The feeling you get when something smells so good it takes you somewhere.

That's SugarHill.

It's a little bit of where I came from and a whole lot of where I've been.

It's old-school and new-school. Familiar and unexpected. Sweet and grown. A little city. A little country. A little fancy. A little funky.

But always, always SugarHill.

Because Harlem gave me my foundation.

And the rest of the world gave me more to bring home.

SugarHill, baby.