This post has been created in collaboration with The Body Shop
Many of you would know The Body Shop’s ‘Shea Nourishing Body Butter’. It was a staple beauty product of most young women growing up in the 90’s and 00’s. It was definitely one of my ‘must have’ products as it had many benefits. It was affordable, nourishing and also smelled amazing. Three things that still stand true today.
However something I was not aware of back then, and have been so pleased to learn recently, is that this cult status beauty product is made with a very special ingredient that is empowering women and changing their lives for the better. Shea Butter ofcourse!
A few weeks ago I was extremely lucky to attend an event at The Body Shop, to celebrate 25 years of Shea Butter and women empowerment!
The Body Shop have sustainably sourced their Community Trade shea butter from the Tungteiya Women’s Association in northern Ghana since 1994.
When you break this down, it is a huge feat! It equates to 640 women from 11 villages handcrafting 390 tons of shea butter every year using an 18-stage process that has been passed from mother to daughter for generations.
As well as paying a fair price for the product itself, The Body Shop chooses to pay a premium to help empower these women and help them achieve an independent income, increased confidence and respect. This premium also helps fund community projects that impact the lives of 49,000 people across 11 villages every year. Including the building of schools, and enabling access to safe water and health centres for the communities.
In celebration of this iconic 25 year partnership The Body Shop have launched four new products into their Shea range, including a host of hair care products, and their ‘100% Natural Shea Butter’.
I was particularly impressed by The ‘100% Natural Shea Butter’ as it is incredibly versatile. Having a high fat content and super rich texture it can easily be used on its own to hydrate your skin. But it is also the perfect product to mix with everyday ingredients for seriously luxe and natural beauty products that can help nourish and protect your skin, hair and lips. I had a ball mixing up a lip scrub and hair mask at the event which I’ve been using non-stop. (You can try some of their other recipes here too).
The bottom line is that this incredible ingredient is not only going to do wonders for your beauty regime, but it is also going to do wonders for hard working women and their communities.
To learn more about the benefits of shea butter and The Body Shop’s community Trade partnership head to thebodyshop.com
X Luciana
Hey Lovely,
It was a fantastic event! I didn’t get a chance to meet you, but I was also there.
Shea Butter is such a multi-tasker I’ve been using it all over my body.
Best,
Natalia k