Akoma Natural Skincare

Akoma’s Day out of the Office: Visiting St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Derby
The sun shone last Friday afternoon (10/06/2011) on us all, as we went along to St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Derby. Akoma went to St Joseph’s School and participated in their annual summer fair. It was a lovely day as the children put on their displays of gymnastics and the school choir provided some lovely music and song to our ears. We also enjoyed the tasteful food cooked on the BBQ and watched the children materialise with faces painted as lions and showing off their fake tattoos.

Akoma displayed their Certified Fairtrade and Organic Raw Shea Butter and African Black Soap from Ghana. It was lovely to learn that the children knew about Fairtrade and the significance of the mark. We shared with the children and their parents the story about the Akoma Cooperative Multipurpose Society and the journey of Akoma’s Raw Shea Butter and Ghanaian Black Soap.

They were intrigued how the lovely creamy Shea Butter derived from the Shea Nut. They were equally interested on how the money from our Fairtrade products was used to pay for the women of the Akoma Cooperative and their families, medical insurance. In addition, we explained and showed them how the Fairtrade premium provided cloth to make the children’s school uniform.

We had fun, allowing the children to touch, feel, smell and try the Shea Butter and Black Soap. In addition, having the photographs depicting the story of shea butter from the Akoma Cooperative, having the shea nuts and products to try, made the experience of learning fun for all. Yes, it was a great day out of the office, must have a few more of these.

Best wishes,
Joanne

After reading about this all-round semi-soft light yellow oil, it sounds like the perfect beauty product. As I read more about this oil, the more I am starting to like it. Babassu tends to be harvested in Brazil and comes from the Babassu palm tree. The oil is cold pressed, and is extracted from the seeds of the fruit.

Babassu Oil has been compared to Coconut Oil. I love coconut oil and use this myself in cooking and as a hair product for moisturising my scalp and hair. Traditionally Babassu Oil was used in cooking, but now it is found to have more uses. It has many qualities besides just being a wonderful moisturising oil. It can be used for ailments such as eczema, dry and itchy skin and also being beneficial for the scalp. I have not yet tried this for my own eczema, as the Hemp Oil seems to be doing wonders for my skin and I am almost scarred to stray away from this at the moment as I want to experience the full benefits of Hemp.

However, the Babassu Oil is known to have five fatty acids and Vitamin E which we know is wonderful for healing the skin due to reducing inflammation and helps with the renewing of skin cells. Never mind the eczema, this sounds perfect for anti- ageing!

Not only is this oil great for dry skin but also for those who have oily skin. This is due to the oil not leaving a residue on the surface of the skin but tends to balance the skins natural oils and is absorbent. Sounds perfect!
I also found out that this oil tends to be good in soaps and shampoos. This is due to the cleansing properties and not stripping the natural oils from the skin or hair. I may have to try this on my own scalp and hair, to moisturise my naturally curly hair that tends to suffer from dryness.

So this little wonder sounds good enough to try on its own, in creams, soaps and shampoos. What more can I ask for?

Until next time,

Joanne