Buy Bahamian Bey!
Hi my name is Zina and I'm a certified shopaholic. Some people's vice is drinking, some love smoking, some love eating but I love shopping. Not only do I love shopping but I'm a huge impulse buyer. When I was living in the great state of New Jersey where there's no sales tax on clothes or shoes, impulse shopping was a super easy thing to do especially considering a mall was 10 minutes away from my house and 2 minutes away from my school. But now even though there's no malls, I still find a way to act on my vice. And that way is buying Bahamian.
I've been a huge supporter of the buy Bahamian campaign. I'm not the type to buy everything away, never have been. (I mean I still make sizeable semi annual sale orders every June and December but those are essential). Nevertheless a new thing to fill my shopping void is buying from little boutiques - be it Instagram ones or brick and mortar and I'm going to talk about a few of my faves and recent purchases. Buying Bahamian isn't just a hashtag, it should be a way of life.
Firstly is Biggity. I got introduced to Biggity by a video produced by BTC for small business month. Everyone that knows me knows how much I love candles (I ordered over 10 in this June's semi annual sale haul) so my interest was immediately sparked. The first time I stopped by the Bay Street boutique I thought it was one of the cutest stores I've ever been in. Once I saw the "thank you for buying Bahamian bey" stamp on the bottom of the receipt I was completely enamored.
At the time I was rushing to go somewhere so I got a quick snack but vowed to return. Recently another blogger (pinksands242) posted their pepper sauce and I was reminded to check the store out. I got 2 candles, the mangra and the guava duff as well as a muddo pepper sauce. While I haven't had a chance to burn the candles yet, they smell delicious and the packaging is super cute. Each candle has a little crocus sack bag and crocus sack detailing. I brought one of the candles to work and can't wait for a chance to light it.
They're also a bistro and I definitely have plans to return to try out some of the food. I subscribed to their email list and get the menu every week and they support local farms as well.
One of my next faves is Pursenal Paradiyse. If you're not following the page on Instagram, I humbly believe you're doing Instagram wrong. Even if you never plan on making a purchase the purses and the posts are just so damn cute. I won't talk about how long i stalked the page before I was able to buy my first one. Just know that I now have two and can definitely see my collection growing. I'm not even a huge purse person, especially clutches. I'd rather give my belongings to other people to put in their purses or pockets. But when it comes to Pursenal Paradiyse I just knew I had to have one. And just like at Biggity, even the bags you get your items in are customized. And I am a sucker for detailing like that.
My final buy Bahamian bey feature is Island_District_ on Instagram. (Although shout out to the Bahari shirt in the picture too). When I saw almost everyone wearing these hats at Carifta Swimming, I just knew I needed one. First of all, they spelled 'bey' the right way, secondly it had a flag on the back and thirdly they just looked cool. And to be honest it looked even cooler that literally almost everyone out there had one. I am not ashamed to admit that I asked the children where the hat was from. I am also not ashamed to admit that they were sold out and I went on a waitlist for the hat because I really wanted a white one. The hats come in white, black and navy and I'm about to be wearing mine all summer. I might even be getting another one.
What are some of your favorite Bahamian brands to shop with? Let me know so I can continue to give in to my shopping bug and support Bahamians no matter how big or little their hustle is. And if you don't have a favorite Bahamian brand, what are you waiting for? Go out and buy Bahamian bey!
