Yadain

THIS LOCATION IS CLOSED. just wasted my lunch break to walk to the 12^th & chestnut location, it’s closed. sad face.

Love it needed to find great natural skin products for my pregnant skin ! Sooo great and affordable I’m so in love with this place it’s a gold mine!

As far as I know this place is closed… what a shame that is. There was a sign that said the building was up for sale by the owner.

First off I have to say I absolutely LOVE your store and products. I have bragged to family and friends about how wonderful Yadain is. Yesterday though there was a situation at your store that made me quite uncomfortable. I brought a friend of mine in to look at your products, I had bought the African Black Soap shampoo for him and he had absolutely loved it and wanted to see what other products you may have. My friend is a manager at a well-​known fine-​dining seafood restaurant so he tends to be a stickler for customer service. While looking at the products we found ourselves overhearing what should have been a private argument between the store employee and his significant other (?) over the computer or phone but was being broadcast through speaker throughout the store.
Your store is usually serene and quiet and always has a great ambiance. Being party to this conversation was quite uncomfortable so we quickly departed the store. I am mentioning this incident for one reason and one reason only…
I REALLY want you guys to succeed. Not only because I believe in your products but because you are a black-​owned business as well. That being said, there should be a level of professionalism and code of conduct in the way in which you operate your store. What could have been a nice sale for the store was quickly lost due to your customers feeling uncomfortable. Does that mean I’LL stop shopping there? No. But who knows how many other potential new customers you may turn off with that lack of professionalism? Just something to think about.

So I may have to re– rate this once I try my AMAZINGLY SMOOTH WONDERFUL SMELLING shea butter… but I doubt it — I’m pretty sure it will be perfect and 5 stars is exactly what it deserves.
What I know right at this moment is that I had the most wonderful experience in this store. Looking for shea butter? This is absolutely the right place, in addition to the whipped varieties they have scented shea and the raw unadulterated stuff as well. The employees were so very kind and extremely helpful — I came away a very happy customer. ALSO the soaps looked fantastic. To do list = must learn to be a decisive person so I can actually decide which soap to get from this place.

This place was amazing! It smelled delectable, very orderly and neat, and the staff person I met was insightful, patient, and trustworthy! I must recommend the whipped pomegran shea butter! It smells heavenly and feels celestial! I’m definitely a fan of Yadain!
Setback was parking; chestnut can be horrendously busy! Definitely walk or take public trans…

You know what I like? I like when strangers stop and ask, «OOoh who smells so good?» and that fresh-​smeller is me.
I’ll just put that right on the table. I like being known for smelling good. It’s beats gettin referred to as, «Ol’ Stinkpot over there.» That’s one thing. I’ve recommended Yadain to so many people.
Yadain’s all natural handmade soaps smell delicious. I’ve sniffed them all like a some kinda weirdo human who should’ve been born a bloodhound… who’s on the trail for soap that smells like apricot and figs or vanilla butter cream icing, and that sort of thing. Rich shea-​buttery stuff.
Most of all, however, I am a fan of Yadain’s quality perfume oils. Qualitaaay. My favorite is their Nag Champa oil. It’s wonderful. If you get the huge 8 oz bottle for somewheres in the $ 18 price range, that bottle will last you forever. I mean a very long time. And in that long time the aromas hold up like a champ. Champ. See cause like Nag CHAMPa. Heh?
Yadain’s Nag Champa oil smells like the best ever incense with notes of warm spiciness a touch o’ lavendary clean. A little goes a long way for sure and then all over town people are tryin to live on your neck.
i’ll keep on comin back. Smell ya later, Yadain.

Since they gentrified 13^th street oh, so long ago and got rid of The Perfume Factory, I have floundered in my search for consisently good quality body oils, lotions and scents. The Yadain on Greene St over in Germantown was good, but crowded and a pain in the neck for me to get over to. Imagine my delight last week when I finally noticed that there was a Yadain storefront at 12^th and Chestnut!
The oils and lotions are of supremely high quality, the scent lasts all day, even through heavy sweating (in fact, it can intensify, so be sparing. Don’ turn the bottle upside down on your wrist or finger. Shake it, open it, put your wrist on the top of the bottleneck edge, then rub both wrists together and then rub them on your throat. seriously, all that with only that one little dab from the top of the bottle edge, I swear). Their incense is slow-​burning and pretty darn inexpensive. Their soaps and bath products look luxurious but are a little pricey for me. Shea Butter galore, in every form and level of purity imaginable.
The store is clean, open, well-​lit and subtly scented– when i was there, they weren’t burning any of their incense in the store, which i thought was awesome because the combined smells of all the great, high-​quality, often hand-​crafted stuff they offer was enticing enough. When I arrived, the woman at the counter was waiting on a lady who seemed to «only want high-​quality shea butter,» but not actually know what it was. The employee (who actually turned out to be the manager, Ashaki) was unbelievably patient with her, and i actually learned some things from her impromptu lesson, as well. It took a while to get that lady out of there, but after seeking this oasis for so long I was going nowhere without my booty.
Patience sometimes pays off. When it was finally my turn, Ashaki profusely, though needlessly, apologized for the wait and refused to let me pay for my purchase. It was a small one, but that was pretty excellent!
Needless to say, I’ll be back every few months to restock on my stuff. I am absolutely thrilled with my discovery of their center city location :)

This place is amazing!
I have no complaints about this place. The woman behind the counter Ashaki was very welcoming and helpful. She answered all of my questions and found the suitable products for what I was asking about.
I recently purchased their Sahara Banana body scrub and polish, Oatmeal facial bar, and a lemongrass soap bar. If I told you I didn’t like and of these 3 items I would be lieing. Not only to you but myself as well.
The banana body scrub which I used today has made my skin feel so nice and refreshed. Not only does it exfoliate your skin, and make you feel wonderful, it also has a moisturizing agent; maybe from the raw apricot oil.
The Oatmeal facial bar was also a worthy purchase, my face has never felt better. I have yet to try the lemongrass soap bar, but I will fill you in on that once tried, the smell alone was enough to make my boyfriend say that he was going to be using it.
Beautiful store
Friendly staff
Affordable and amazing products
Great location

WARNING: Exclamation overload soon approaching
Beautiful store! Yumalicious smelling products! Crazy affordable prices!
I was doing some last minute holiday shopping last week when I walked past the store and a gentlemen suggested that I go inside because I «wouldn’t regret it». Boy he wasn’t lying! As soon as I walked in I was smacked by some of the loveliest smells outside of the morning after curry shrimp night at my house. But it wasn’t that overwhelming perfumey scent you get at Bath & Body Works or Lush — it was just… awesome.
So I grabbed a basket and browsed around the store grabbing bars of soap, some nag champa, two bottles of shampoo and a container of the only moisturizer that I use — pure shea butter. The damage? Twenty-​three freakin’ dollars! A load that would have cost me around $ 40 anywhere else cost me $ 23!!!
I’m so upset that I live in Chicago and only visit Philly every few months, but as soon as I get back, it’s off to Yadain I go!

I saw this new beauty product place on Chestnut street with balloons in the door and someone standing outside trying to get people to come in. I decided to check it out because I’ve used Nubian Heritage products but wanted to find a cheaper alternative. Plus I liked the idea of supporting a local business. Inside is raw shea butter and all sorts of bar soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. One thing I noticed right away was that they did not have any samples. After reading the ingredients I decided on a bottle of shea butter shampoo, lotion, and black soap body wash. When I went to pay for my items I tried to pay with AmEx but they said they didn’t take it (no problem not the first time that happened). I then asked about the return policy. The lady said that is the funny thing about this place, there are no returns and no exchanges. I said well what if I don’t like them? She said no problem and handed me a card with her name on it and wrote that I can return up to 20 days and to come to her if I wanted to do that. I liked the body wash but the shampoo was so runny and did not lather up. The lotion was so thick and dry that I could not squeeze it out of the bottle, I had to unscrew the cap and squeeze it out of the top. Applying the lotion took twice as long because it was so thick and unspreadable, like cold butter. Needless to say I took the shampoo and lotion back (14 days later). I asked for the girl by name and they looked at me funny, and then asked why. I showed them the card and the guy behind the desk went in the back and then another guy came out and asked me why I was asking for this girl that worked there, if I knew her? I showed him the card and said that I did not like these two items and wanted to return them. He asked me where I got the card and who wrote that (it was his store’s business card) and said that they do not refund their products and she was not a manager so she had no authorization to give me a refund. He pointed to a phone number and said I could call that number and submit a complaint if I wanted but he couldn’t give me my money back. An argument ensued until it became clear that they did not believe in anything like customer satisfaction and that the girl that wrote what she wrote on the card would not be allowed to come out of the back and talk to me. I left confirming that I would not be shopping in the store anymore and that I would be submitting a complaint. Had they offered to give me an exchange perhaps I would be back but they way that they treated me with suspicion and contempt for daring to return a product that I was dissatisfied with was totally incomprehensible.

So, I’m white. But I’m NOT afraid of the thickest, most hardcore shea butter for my skin. In fact, I have often lamented the absence of affordable shea in its purest form, and have known that in order to get my hands on some, I needed to travel to more ethnic areas of the city. NO LONGER. Yadain has a couple of other locations throughout Philadelphia, but this store on Chestnut is a GODSEND. The display is impressive and beautiful — mountainous piles of beautifully handcrafted soaps (3 for $ 5, one for $ 2) and amidst these piles are mounds of pure shea butter. Yes, raw, natural, golden piles of moisture. Unbelievable. They also carry incense at the lowest prices I have found, the containers of shea butter are $ 3 — THREE DOLLARS. I kept calling the shopkeeper over to verify. My excitement, I’m sure, was embarrassing, but I was all about shame in the face of low prices. (Essentially I just pretended I was doing a commercial. It makes things more entertaining.)
Oils, hair butters, even scented shea for those who loathe the smell of the raw stuff. One star was held back — because: I could not detect much of a difference in scent of soap varieties. Though beautiful, the shea therein overwhelmed the attept of any fragrance infusion. No matter. It’s soap. It’s good for my skin. My winter will be spent in skin-​so-​softness, and my friends will benefit as well from this find. You know, girls love soap. Don’t ask me why, they just do. I’m a girl, I know.