Baobab is Africa's superfood, like kale in the U.S. and acai berry in Brazil. It is considered essential for its health benefits.
Baobab is called the “Tree of Life” for its ability to provide nutrition, water, medicinal powers, and shelter to the locals. So powerful it can live over 2000 years. Baobab can grow to a circumference of over 150 feet (that’s 60 people that can huddle inside!).
The mighty tree’s fruits are nothing to sneeze at either. The oil and protein from the fruit are so majestic, we made it the focus of our new beauty collection, the Baobab & Shea Collection. A staple for any hair care routine, cruelty-free.
First, let’s start with the amazing benefits you get from the dynamic duo, baobab, and shea.
Why Baobab & Shea Need to Get on Your Skin and All Over Your Hair
Baobab has proteins and amino acids that protect, repair, and strengthen hair and skin. Baobab has lots of antioxidants that protect skin and hair from damage caused by free radicals. This helps prevent signs of aging like dry skin, wrinkles, and loss of elasticity. (It’s no wonder local women who slather on baobab look absolutely amazing despite spending so much time outdoors.)
Baobab features Vitamins A and B to firm and hydrate skin. Omega fatty acids in this product help keep skin healthy by protecting and retaining moisture. It also contains vital minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Shea butter is amazing, too (another natural resource used by African women for their radiant skin). Shea butter bursts with Vitamins A and E, which support cell renewal and contain antioxidant properties. Fatty acids nourish skin and have a reputation for soothing stressed skin.
Shea butter is said to have antibacterial and antifungal properties because of cinnamic acid, making it similar to antifungal body wash. In an oil form, shea oil restores luster and smoothness to dry, damaged, color-treated, heat-styled and all hair types.
Here’s how we use baobab and shea in our new products to create beautiful skin and hair:
We know your hair and the skin on your body are often the roughest and toughest parts, so we launched the Baobab & Shea Collection with care products like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and moisturizer.
For your body:
- Baobab seed extract’s amino acids nourish, defend, and restore skin health. It helps to improve the skin’s barrier function, locking in moisture, while antioxidants defend from free radical damage.
- Emollient shea butter has been added to nourish, condition and soften skin.
- The body wash uses gentle, sulfate-free cleansing agents to leave skin feeling clean, soft and revitalized.
- With its fast-absorbing formula, the moisturizer replenishes lost moisture in dry, stressed skin, while comforting botanicals provide soothing relief.
For your hair:
- The creamy hair wash and conditioner are enriched with plant proteins and oils to help reverse the signs of environmentally-damaged, color-treated, heat-styled or aging hair while protecting against future damage. Our unique protein-rich baobab extract contains 13 amino acids, including the 6 amino acids that are typically destroyed by UV and chemical damage. Using hair products like shea butter shampoo helps replenish these amino acids and helps repair damage, for stronger, healthier-looking, softer, smoother and more manageable hair growth.
- Shea butter for hair, the formulations enriched with Shea and Baobab Oils, are excellent sources of fatty acids and antioxidants. It helps moisturize strands, protect from drying conditions, and promote shine (amazing for dry hair!)
Baobab and Shea Are the Beauty Gifts That Keep on Giving
Baobab and shea have even more in common. Both of these trees are sustainably harvested in Africa (they don’t require irrigation nor fertilization) and offer employment opportunities for local women.
For example, in South Africa—where we get our baobab—the fruit completely dries on the tree and falls off, where local women collect them. The pulp is used as food (rich in Vitamin C) and the seeds are cold-pressed to produce oil. The unique proteins used in our products are extracted from the pressed seeds.
In alignment with our goals to empower women to economic opportunity, we specifically chose socially conscious baobab and shea suppliers who work directly with local women without the use of middlemen.
Sadly, the survival of baobab populations is being threatened in the long-term by environmental degradation and climate change. We are supporting the non-profit Baobab project, to ensure the trees continue to thrive for centuries to come. Through their annual tree-planting program in South Africa, local women become guardians of seedlings and care for them for three years until the trees are strong enough to survive on their own.
This program helps protect baobab trees and gives extra money to local women when it's not harvest season. Truly incredible.
