Unveiling the Secrets of Raw African Skincare with Violet Amoabeng, Founder of Skin Gourmet
Written by: Precious Umeasalugo
@awothegreat
Skin deep, gut deep.
The Foundery: BIPOC Innovators Shaping our World
The world of beauty is brimming with cultural richness, with ancient wisdom from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean shaping everything from ingredients to rituals. Yet, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) founders often go unseen in the mainstream beauty industry. The Foundery changes that narrative.
Here, we celebrate the visionary entrepreneurs of color transforming beauty, wellness and lifestyle on a global scale. Discover their stories, groundbreaking brands, and the inspiration they bring to the industry. Get ready to be empowered, enlightened, and introduced to the future of beauty – one innovative founder at a time.
For Violet Amoabeng, skincare is not merely about having a multistep routine of products waiting for a turn on her face. Instead, the Skin Gourmet founder believes that skincare is much deeper than the topicals we find mainstream and is almost as deep as the food we eat.
Skin Gourmet, a beauty brand based in Accra, Ghana, runs on the philosophy that skincare is healthcare, and it reflects this philosophy through a genre of skincare you may not have heard of before now: raw, edible skincare. The all-natural brand creates skin-loving products from the wilds of Ghana, championing the saying "you are what you eat" through skincare. With ingredients like shea butter, palm kernel butter, and coconut oil, Skin Gourmet's prevailing doctrine is simple: raw, wild, and unprocessed skincare that is multifunctional enough for use on your skin and in your kitchen.
In 2023, the Ghana Beauty Awards awarded the brand Customer Service Brand of the Year, and in 2020, it won Best Innovative Response Strategy to COVID-19.
From Skin Gourmet's sustainability efforts to her journey as founder and managing director, Violet Amoabeng takes us into the communities and people she serves and teaches us a little about how you can make better choices for your skin and health.
From Ghana to the World: The Story of Skin Gourmet
I left Ghana when I was about 13 years old. After leaving, I didn't come back to Ghana until I was about 26. I travelled a bit during that time, staying in Uganda, Canada, the US, and Tunisia for a while. What really bothered me when I came back to Ghana was the income disparity. There is this massive gap between low-income, middle, and high-income individuals. I wanted to find a way to bridge that gap, but I didn't know how to do it.
The answer came when a friend introduced me to shea butter. I realised that I could use Ghana's natural resources to create a beauty brand with high-quality handcrafted products that would boost economic growth, create jobs, and be sustainable so we do not just take from the environment.
On the origins of raw, wild skincare
@skingourmetgh
At Skin Gourmet, we make raw, handmade skincare sourced from the wilds of Ghana. Our products are so pure that you can actually eat them. While I'd love to say making edible skincare was my idea, that is not the case. Instead, it comes from Ghanaian tradition and is based on the premise that whatever you put on your skin is absorbed into your body. If you can't eat it, why put it on your skin?
Also, if you look at the local communities that we work with and get our raw materials from, they eat their skincare, and they do this without introducing a lot of preservatives. It really goes back to the idea of preserving Ghanaian culture because, as Africans, we're so quick to pick up things from the West and forget what we have here. I'm not saying what the West has to offer is bad, not at all. But it is good to also merge ideologies, take what's good here and take what's good there, and come up with something that works and creates value for everyone.
Skin Gourmet's Hero Ingredients & the Power of Nature’s Bounty
It was really important for us to use ingredients that are tried and tested in Ghanaian culture. It's very tempting to use other fancy ingredients from Africa, but we focus mainly on maximising Ghana's natural resources. Even with the more popular ingredients like shea butter and coconut oil, we also delve into the less popular ones like palm kernel oil, groundnut oil, and vanilla.
When we first created our palm kernel butter, my aunties said, "Oh my God, I can't believe you guys are actually using palm kernel. We used it when we were younger for our feet and diaper rash". It's interesting because the market is now saturated with shea butter. Still, there are so many other ingredients, and it'd be great if we do not just focus on what's popular but take the risk of going for what's no longer popular and revitalising it through innovation and adding more value.
The benefits of Skin Gourmet's hero ingredients
Baobab oil is an occlusive oil that's great for moisturising both hair and skin.
Shea butter is also an occlusive emollient. Beneficial for skin barrier repair.
Coconut oil helps with wound healing, barrier repair, and hair care.
Palm kernel oil is excellent in skincare because of its skin-soothing and barrier-repairing properties.
Unveiling Violet's No-waste & "Raw" Skincare Routine
One thing that used to get under my skin is how people use different formulas. For example, you go to a shop to get skincare; one formula is your body cream, the next is your eye cream, and the next is body polish. But coconut oil is all those things in one.
For me, less is more. Let me buy one bottle and get the most out of the product before moving on to another. Sometimes, you find that you invest a lot into your skincare routine, but you can change. This month, you might be really into it, and the next, you might not. Now, you have so many products that could be a better use of money.
My routine is based on the fact that whatever I'm using, I can use it in different ways. For example, if I'm not using my facial scrub this month, I can use it on my body or feet for a pedicure. If it's coconut oil, I could use it on my hair this month, and next, I might move it to the kitchen and fry some eggs with it. I like products that are fluid, that fit my lifestyle wherever I am, and that do not create waste. That also bothers me about multi-step skincare solutions, as if you're not ready to use them now, you can't use them for anything else. So, I like skincare that solves multiple problems for me, and that's how skincare should fit into your lifestyle.
@skingourmetgh
On her favourite Skin Gourmet products
I love all my products, every single one. I don't use them all at the same time. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for scrubs, and other times, I'm not. But I like all of them because they are easy for everyone to use. There's something for everyone, and I love giving them to my family. I also love their shelf life, as they won't spoil even if I don't want to use them for six months.
Violet's tips for incorporating raw skincare into your routine
Accept what works for you
Go wild. The great thing about natural skincare products like ours is that your body can either like them or not. And it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you or the product: it's just how you're built. Some people find shea butter fantastic, while others like coconut oil more. So go wild and find what you like.
One product at a time
Also, do not introduce so many products at once. If you decide to try coconut oil, make it a coconut week. Buy one bottle of coconut oil for your hair, body, and face and stick to it. You can use it in a plethora of ways, such as cuticle oil, in your pedicure water, for your hair as a conditioner, and to supplement your current routine. Just enjoy and study your skin, hair and body and how it reacts with the product. From there, you can settle on what your skin loves and wants you to continue.
Nourish yourself first
You also need to remember that raw, natural skincare products are not fix-alls. Some people meet me and say, "I have really bad acne; what do I do?". The first question I ask is, "How much water do you drink?". If you're not drinking enough water, skincare will not solve anything. Make sure you're eating well and drinking enough water before you can fully judge a product.
In summary, use a full bottle or jar of product before moving on, and maximise its use to build a simple skincare routine. Don't let consumerism trick you; know yourself and your skin and create a routine unique to you.
Beyond the Jar: Sustainable Practices at Skin Gourmet
We hardly create waste. We maximise the product fully, and we're very focused on the packaging.
Breaking the glass packaging myth
At first, our products used to be packaged in glass, but there were misalignments. Glass is supposed to be eco-friendly, but in the long term, it's not. Once a person has about a hundred glass jars, they become waste as they may want to avoid keeping them in their houses anymore. We also realised that the weight of glass makes it harder to ship globally, from freight costs and weight for the consumer. So we had to switch to PET plastic, and we found that that's easier for the consumer and allows refills. If you bring your plastic containers back, you get discounts. You can also request refills to make the product cheaper for you.
@skingourmetgh
Ethical partnerships
Sustainability also involves how we deal with our partners and how we source. We ensure our partners are not using harmful chemicals, sourcing correctly, not using pesticides or child labour, and all those elements. Data on sustainability is a bit hard to track right now in Ghana, but it's something we're definitely looking at as we scale and become bigger.
Skin Gourmet's Impact on Empowering Women and Communities
We partner with Mukuru Clean Stoves, and they do amazing things by distributing clean cookstoves, gaining carbon credit to lower communities and mothers, and ensuring low emissions. So, we order these stoves and send them to the communities we source from and partner with so that, even beyond our business with them, we can find a way to edify their lives and environment while supporting organisations like Mukuru.
Violet's advice for choosing what beauty brands to support
You have to analyse your values. What do you value? Based on your values, you'll know what to choose. I'm not saying preservatives are bad, but you need to look at the brand you're buying from and ask yourself if that brand values the same things you value. And then you'll know which way to go.
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Lin, T. K., Zhong, L., & Santiago, J. L. (2017). Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils. International journal of molecular sciences, 19(1), 70. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19010070
Alsohaimi, A., & Fouda, A. M. (2019). Assessment of the Effect of Extract Formulation of Date Palm Kernel on Facial Skin Wrinkles: Biophysical Measurements and Digital Profilometry. Journal of cosmetic science, 70(6), 277–290.
