Thursday, June 8, 2017

Winter essential: Wild harvested Baobab oil

There is a beautiful African folklore story about how the Baobab tree came to be African and also known as ‘the upside-down tree’.


According to the story told by indigenous people, God planted Baobab in the wetlands and the tree complained it was too moist. God then planted Baobab high up in the mountains in the snow and again he complained it was too cold. Then God decided to plant Baobab in the deserts of Africa but again the tree complained that the conditions were too harsh and the sun too hot. God then plucked the tree out of the soil and threw it across Africa to grow upside down as it still does today.

Wrong way up or right way down we really don’t mind. What we do care about is that the super fruit of this tree holds the secret to nourishing your skin during the cold, harsh winter months.


Baobab oil has naturally-occurring omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids which improves the elasticity while restoring damaged skin. It’s rich in vitamins A, D, E and F and combats early signs of aging. It absorbs easily and does not clog up pores and leaves the skin smooth and touchable. It is particularly good for dry, damaged skin and can be beneficial for eczema and psoriasis with relief from minor burns.



Try our Baobab and Rooibos Body Butter from the Biologie range or for baby the very popular Monkey Breadfruit Butter from our rainbaby range. 


Woman from the Venda area collects the fruit and sells them to us to use in our products that in turn creates work, life and hope for this community.

Have a look at our YouTube video narrated by our founder Bev Missing on her visit with Dr Sarah Venter and the majestic Baobab trees.

This month our African rain range with Baobab actives are on promotion. Due to the blue tones and nautical theme of the range it makes it the perfect gift for the man in your life and will be a thoughtful gift for a Father.

Shop online with us for your winter essentials here

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Wild harvesting waterlilies




The cape waterlily blooms at the height of summer, when it is jolly hot  and one does not mind getting 
wet wading out into the dams to pick the blooms. 

Rural waterways come to life with the elegant blue blooms which emit a sublime aquatic floral essence 
- only discernible before the heat of the day vapor rises it.

This highly elusive fragrance can only be captured through the ancient perfumery technique of 
enfleurage - a labour of love.


Fresh blooms need to be harvested daily ( yes every day ) ...and placed upside down into a fatty 
medium. This is then covered and sealed  to create a kind of a womb - like environment  in which 
all the perfume vapors are captured and trapped in the fat. 

Animal fat was used in ancient French perfumery ... but I prefer to use  vegetable butter

The blooms are then left for twenty four hours in the butter at room temperature , after which 
they are discarded and a fresh round of blooms placed into the same butter. 

Yes - that means going back into the dam and fetching more blooms - every day ! 


After roughly twenty repetitions of this process , the butter is then  sufficiently impregnated with 
floral essence to enable the blending of a perfume .

The butter is then washed in alcohol to transpose the floral essence into the solvent - from whence 
a perfume is born.



The laborious process of daily harvesting and infusing , seemed somehow symbolic of the pregnancy 
process -  a journey of time and energy to create and birth a fragrance








Winter essential: Wild harvested Baobab oil

There is a beautiful African folklore story about how the Baobab tree came to be African and also known as ‘the upside-down tree’. ...