Product Review: Tamu Organics "Beauty with Responsibility"

Akwaba!

Our products have been reviewed (positively I should add) by a London blogger over at Love, Life & Locks.

Another glowing report, looks like we're picking up momentum here - go Tamu!

Little pots of luxury.

That's how I'd describe the range of 'decadent' whipped body butters Tamu has to offer. I like to support local businesses and Female entrepreneurs and this company ticks all the right boxes for me.

Founded on principles of social responsibility, fair trade and ethical investment; Tamu not only walks the walk but talks the talk: all the products are handmade and the ingredients are sourced from Tamu Founder, Afriyie's village in Goaso, Ghana.

These women personify what Tamu is about: economic empowerment for the historically underdeveloped, giving them a fair chance at an equal footing on the financial ladder.

The product range is based around shea butter and black soap (more on the latter later); the process of growing, harvesting and 'processing' the shea butter is a personal and labour intensive one - this is reflected in the high quality of the products. Furthermore (and much to my delight), they contain no petrochemicals (no mineral oil, petrolatum, paraffin etc.), artificial fragrances or parabens; and the soaps contains no SLS.

So what's in the body butters? Only the finest organic ingredients, mostly Ghanaian Shea butter and fragrant essential oils. Hmmmmm....

"Rich, thick and whipped" that's how they're described on the website, and yet, less is more with these butters as a little bit goes a long way; the butter is so light and fluffy and it literally melts into your skin. How sumptuous is that?

Clients can choose from five luxurious creations:

• Lavendar & Ylang Ylang
• Lemongrass & Ginger
• Cocoa Vanilla (which smells like chocolate!)
• Coconut & Lime and
• Almond Brule (which will delight any marzipan lover).

You can also opt for the straight up 'simple' (if you can call anything in this range 'simple') - unrefined shea butter. My favourites are the Cocoa Vanilla and Almond Brule (which my daughter loves and therefore stole from me!)

Everything comes beautifully packaged and you can understand why the savvy Beauty Spas have begun clamouring for stock!

Not into whipped body butter? You can still pamper yourself with the luxurious Moroccan Rose Silk cream - which is absolutely divine. (Sorry, to gush - but it really is, unless of course you don't like roses!)

The Moroccan Roseline sits at the top of the Tamu product range and includes a Luxury Silk Body Bar, Sensual Body Oil and Himalayan Bath Salts which I tried out with HRH one evening and 'relaxing' just doesn't do justice as a description of the experience - trust me on that one! It was as if all the stress and strain of the day vapourised into the steamy rose scented air around us. Sleep was inevitable and oh so sweeeeeeeeeet! (Especially after a day of sliding around in the snow and running around behind the kids!)

I must also mention the handmade soaps. Yes, this phenomenal woman makes these herself. How'd ya like 'dem apples? Not counting the Moroccan Rose bar I've already mentioned, you have three choices:

• Shea Butter and Rooibos Tea which is great for dry and/or sensitive skins and contains healthy lashings of virgin olive and coconut oils as well as the ever faithful shea butter.
• African Black Soap (with Frankincense & Shea Butter) and
• African Black Soap (with Tea Tree and Honey) which is superb for oily, blemished or acne prone skins.

I love the way, Afriyie (aka Lady Tamu) has taken time out to provide suggestions on which products will be suitable for what skin types and each product page is chocked full of information on the ingredients and how to get the best out of the products. Just lovely! (I'm going to shut up now before you think I'm a sales rep or something lol).

So, if you're looking for something different this year (and still have some leftover copper from xmas just waiting for the January Sales) - you could do a lot worse than to invest in a few Tamu products. Pamper yourself and empower someone at the same time - sounds like a win-win to me :) (Shipping is worldwide, yes that means Barbados too lol).

If you do try them or have already tried them - do post a comment and let me know your thoughts.

With Love from London,

xx