As an expectant mum, Cynthia was looking forward to the birth of her first child and was so delighted when she realized she was having a girl. She had taken the local herbal teas and supplements that would ensure her baby would grow perfectly healthy and made sure she took very good care of herself too. Her joy knew no bounds as she had always wanted a girl as the first born who will help her raise her siblings and take good care of her in old age. She was also looking forward to dressing her mini self in pretty pink thrills and frills and make her look like all those ‘ajebutter’ children. That meant finding something that would make her daughter’s skin maintain its baby softness and was naturally safe and non toxic. Because as all mothers know, babies deserve nothing but the best.

While doing her baby shopping she was confronted with the harsh reality of the dangerous chemicals added in even baby skincare products. From parabens, to sulphates, formaldehydes, toluene and other toxic chemicals that could cause problems such as skin irritations, endocrine disruptions and cancers just to name a few. Imagine Cynthia’s horror!

Armed with her knowledge of local plants and herbs she decided to research on the best natural alternatives for her newborn. She talked with other mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, nurses and midwives and the thing that kept resonating in their stories was okuma - shea butter. So off she went to buy a big tub of okuma. After the long wait of finally having the perfect cream for her daughter she opened the tub and was about to use it on her baby when she said ‘wait… what in the world is that smell?’. It was the okuma! Goodness gracious! The smell was pungent.

At this point she couldn’t understand what the fuss about the shea butter was. Not only was the smell an issue, the texture was incredibly hard at first touch. At this point Cynthia began to doubt she had gotten the real deal. So off she went for further investigations.

Cynthia travelled to different parts of Nigeria and found that each zone had its own characteristic shea butter due to soil, seed quality and processing techniques. She found that there was little to nothing that could be done about soil and seed quality but processing technique could maybe just be the game changer, and that was where she decided to focus on. She found there were many traditional methods of extracting the shea butter by the women of the different localities but she was focused on the shea butter that was raw and unrefined without any added chemicals but maintained the highest levels of beneficial and moisturizing properties. She eventually settled with some women from a village deep in the south-western part of Nigeria with limited vehicular traffic. This way she was certain that there would be minimal pollution and adulteration to the shea butter as the villagers lived as close to nature as could be possibly found in the country. The villagers were a happy people and hardworking and promised her that she would get nothing but the best from them. True to their word, she found that the okuma from these people soothed her baby’s diaper rashes faster than anything she had ever used. It even cleared up the cradle cap her daughter had. While she was breastfeeding she applied some to her sore nipples and was instantly relieved. The stretch marks that had appeared during the months of her pregnancy giving her endless worries began to fade with constant use. She couldn’t believe that after all this time, she had found the solution to her and her baby’s skin needs.

Now that she had gotten the okuma she wanted – good moisturizing properties, high nourishing compounds, beautiful texture, zero chemical – she decided she would share her pot of gold with family and friends. As soon as she came back and shared her treasure with her family and friends they began asking for more. With her aromatherapy expertise, Cynthia then made batches of okuma with essential oils based on their unique properties to help with different skin ailments and to make the okuma smell beautiful but without reducing any of its original properties. The more her close friends used, the more they asked. Shea butter became the star of family discussions and the magic it had worked in everyone’s lives. And so, that was how shea butter became Okuma Organics.