New Year, New You. We don’t know about you, but for us, nothing says ‘new me’ more than a healthy glow. That healthy glow can be obtained by raising your heartrate with exercise and by having well-moisturized skin. When it comes to healthy, glowing skin, our new obsession is proudly African beauty brand Shea Radiance.
Co-founded by Funlayo and Shola Alabi, Shea Radiance started in their kitchen, with pure shea butter being found to be an excellent healing remedy for their children’s dry, eczema-prone skin. Now, years later, Shea Radiance combines the tradition of pure shea butter with the science of skincare to provide customers with an effective natural formulation.
Shea butter has a rich (if you’ll pardon the pun) history in West Africa. Extracted from the nut of the African shea tree, shea butter has been produced by Africans to nourish skin and hair and heal skin ailments for centuries. Archaeological evidence found in the medieval village of Saouga in Burkina Faso shows that shea butter has been produced from at least the 14th century. In West Africa, shea butter is referred to as ‘Women’s Gold’, due to the fact that the nuts are largely picked and processed by women, who use the proceeds to support their families. In fact, reportedly, over 16 million African women make a living from shea picking and processing.
There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women – Kofi Annan
We are inspired by the brand ethos of Shea Radiance, which is to support the economic empowerment of women in the shea processing industry. The brand sources their shea butter directly from women-run cooperatives in West Africa, eliminating the middleman and “placing revenue in the hands of the women who have earned it.” In this way, they can also assure their customers that they know exactly where the shea butter in their products comes from, thereby producing the purest-grade and highest-quality product.
On that note, here are some of our favorite products from Shea Radiance.
For Skin
The OG shea skincare product. This smooth, unrefined, unscented, colorant-free and dye-free butter is perfect for very dry, sensitive, or eczema-prone skin, nourishing without causing further irritation. It can also be used on hair.
This cream, featuring a combination of nourishing shea butter and baobab oil (which has known moisturizing, anti-oxidizing, and anti-inflammatory properties), is a higher-end must-have for beauty mavens.
Not a shea product, this traditional black soap bar from Accra, Ghana is excellent for cleansing and purifying skin.
For Hair
This moisture-rich hair treatment, made from unrefined fair-trade shea butter and essential oils, is excellent for “thick, luscious, curly, and kinky hair.”
Combining the power of shea with an infusion of proteins, this mask is best if you have dry, brittle or damaged hair in need of a bit of extra help.
Have you tried a Shea Radiance product?
Images sourced from: https://shearadiance.com/
Words by Illona Meyer
Africa Global News Publication
