Valerie Obaze launched R&R Skincare in 2010 after becoming a mother for the first time. Wanting to find only the best natural products for her baby, she experimented with making products using locally sourced botanical ingredients. “When I discovered that shea butter could be fractionated into an oil, my life changed,” she says. Since then, her skincare brand has won multiple awards and been featured by the likes of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Forbes.
R&R Skincare’s products are all 100% natural and produced in Ghana. Championing African ingredients and production is at the core of Valerie’s business, as is simplicity. Unlike many skincare moguls, she doesn’t promote the concept of the 10-step beauty routine: “There is beauty in simplicity, and we have proven this.”
How have you seen the African beauty industry grow?
At the time I started the brand, I had recently moved to Nigeria. There were no brands available locally selling shea butter-based products that were nicely formulated and packaged. There was a gap in the market for a homegrown brand offering products made with indigenous ingredients. Fast forward 15 years, and now there are so many amazing African beauty brands, which makes me genuinely happy! If it weren’t for more brands coming up, there wouldn’t be such a thing as ‘A Beauty’ or any ‘Best African Brand’ categories in beauty awards. Growing the category will give us strength in numbers and help to validate our industry. Now you have awards shows locally and internationally that are recognising what we are building on the continent.
What makes your extraction process sustainable?
Our entire raw material production process has been integrated for zero waste. The waste from the shea butter production and the essential oil distillery is mixed with other organic matter to produce organic compost on site. Shea butter production is an eight-step process that begins with harvesting shea fruits and extracting the nuts, which are then crushed, roasted, and ground into a rich paste. This paste is kneaded, boiled, and purified to produce the final, nutrient-rich shea butter that we all know and love.
What eco-friendly options do you offer?
In 2020, when the brand turned 10, we committed to entering our sustainable era and introduced new eco-friendly packaging options. The range includes paper packaging to replace plastics for some products, and also refill options to cut down on single-use plastic. All of our packaging is completely recyclable. We also introduced larger sizes of our refill pouches to reduce waste in line with our sustainability policy. Our new Shea Body Oil and Liquid Black Soap refills are 500ml, allowing our customers to refill their empty R&R bottles twice. The Baobab Repair Oil Refill Pouches are 250ml, meaning that the 50ml bottle can be refilled a total of five times!
What inspired your rebrand?
The brand was turning into a teenager (R&R will be 15 this October), and so there was a need to evolve. Just as my first daughter, who inspired me to create this brand, is now a fully-fledged teen and our customers, many of whom started using our products in 2010, have grown up and matured, the brand needed to follow suit. I wanted R&R to have a ‘glow up’ and a new lease on life to keep our customers excited.
What is R&R Skincare offering that is not already on the market?
At R&R, we own and control our entire supply chain from the tree to the shelf, and that allows us to really focus on the quality of our ingredients, formulations and final product. We have not reinvented the wheel, but what we do is take these amazing ingredients and make them into easy-to-use everyday products for the modern person. No time to heat up rock-solid shea butter in the morning before work? We offer a completely liquid alternative: Shea Body Oil. Want to use traditional African black soap as a cleanser but don’t like bar soaps or the scent? We offer a liquid version scented with all-natural lemongrass essential oil grown on our own farm.
Most of our product formulations are modern versions of ancient African skincare secrets that have been used by our ancestors for centuries as the key to ageless skin. Take our hero ingredient, Shea Butter. It has been used traditionally for its healing properties, but we refine it into lightweight oils and velvety whipped butters that feel indulgent rather than heavy. We also add natural essential oils to our formulations for scent purposes to elevate the everyday skincare routine with an element of aromatherapy.
How do you ensure the women who produce your shea butter are treated fairly?
I think the key is to speak directly with these women to understand their challenges, rather than making assumptions. While there are often structures in place to support them, there’s still work to be done in ensuring fair wages and access to resources to help them carry out their work efficiently.
At R&R’s social arm, Women of the Savannah Development Project (WSDP), we engage with the women in our supply chain to find out exactly what they need to feel empowered, whether it’s health and safety or literacy training, semi-automated machinery, or any other support. Real change happens when solutions are shaped by the voices of the women themselves.
How is R&R Skincare committed to improving the livelihoods of those involved in the brand’s supply chain?
Through our NGO, WSDP, we work directly with women in rural northern Ghana, empowering them to build sustainable livelihoods. With our support, these women have formed cooperatives and established their own businesses, giving them greater independence and economic stability.
At our processing centre, we pre-finance the shea nuts. They have free access to machinery and tools to transform the shea nuts they collect into high-quality raw shea butter. We then purchase the shea butter from them at above-market rates, ensuring they are fairly compensated for their hard work. Beyond shea season, we are committed to providing year-round employment opportunities, so we have trained the women in producing additional natural ingredients such as baobab oil, lemongrass essential oil, and black soap, allowing them to continue earning a sustainable income throughout the year.
What is the most sustainable fashion item in your wardrobe?
This is a luxury item, but as a pre-wedding gift, my fiancée bought me my first Chanel bag, which was a classic flap bag. It is now being sold for three times the price he purchased it for. While I have no plans to sell it, I still adore the bag, and lately my teenage daughters have started borrowing it for special occasions! That’s sustainability: quality over trends.
What are your top tips for naturally nourishing your skin?
- Keep it simple. I do this by using time-tested, natural ingredients like shea butter, which has been used by our ancestors for centuries.
- Hydrate. Drink plenty of water to keep your skin glowing from the inside out.
- Nourish your body. I’ve introduced several supplements to my routine recently as part of my wellness journey, supported by a balanced diet.
- Cleanse and lock in moisture. Use a gentle cleanser that doesn’t strip your skin (like R&R Skincare’s Black Soap) and follow up with a natural oil like baobab oil (after or in place of your moisturiser) to lock in hydration.
- Protect your skin. SPF is a non-negotiable for me!
