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00:00If you are just tuning in, this is Shop Essence Live.
00:03I am your host, Stephanie Donovan,
00:05and I'm so excited about this next business.
00:08I got to review this product at Essence this past year,
00:11but now I get to talk to the founder.
00:13Everybody, say hello to Irene Biko.
00:18Biko, I said that right, right?
00:19You did say that right.
00:21Nice talking to you, Stephanie.
00:23First of all, I'm so excited to have that good, good shea
00:28on Shop Essence Live.
00:29I got to review that good, good shea on the Essence stage
00:34at Essence Festival, and there was a moment I was obsessed.
00:38Like, there was like some really, really beautiful
00:42like hand lotion that I was using,
00:44and I was like, I don't know if my hands
00:46have ever been this soft in life.
00:48Then I said, oh, you know,
00:50we have leftover product come to the stage.
00:52My mom was the first one to run to the stage.
00:54I was like, ma, hold this for me, hold this for me, please.
00:57Just this one product.
00:58And then later that day, she was like,
01:00thank you so much for giving me that lotion.
01:02It's the best I've ever had.
01:03So, and my mom, you know, it's your mom.
01:07I can't take it back.
01:08So now I have to experience it when I go to her house,
01:10but now you have even more products.
01:13So before we get into the products,
01:15Irene, you got to take us through how you came up
01:18with this incredible brand, that good, good shea.
01:21Tell us about it.
01:22So that good, good shea is everything shea butter.
01:25It honors my Guinean roots,
01:27and it's been used for centuries.
01:29This rich ingredient of shea butter
01:31is infused in so many products worldwide.
01:33I've used shea butter my entire life
01:36because I suffered from eczema,
01:38and dryness, flaking, itchiness, flare-ups.
01:43There was always a problem.
01:45So my mother, Antia, would always go back home to Ghana
01:48to choose shea butter for me to use.
01:51And it was very nourishing and healing
01:52and soothing on my skin.
01:55So yeah, we're all about delivering body care products
01:57using shea butter, premium products that moisturize,
02:01hydrate, and nourish your skin.
02:03One thing about shea butter, a couple of years ago,
02:07I had a hard time finding good shea butter,
02:09kind of like the shea butter I was used to.
02:11My mother got quite sick and she couldn't travel.
02:15She ended up passing away,
02:17and I wanted to do something to honor her
02:20and also bring the gift of shea butter
02:22to everyone around me.
02:24Used to using it in Ghana, but using it obviously here,
02:27and just infusing it into natural, clean skincare products
02:30that everyone can use and benefit from.
02:33Gosh, what a beautiful legacy.
02:34You're now leaving the world in honor of your mother.
02:39For sure, that is absolutely amazing.
02:41So if you can, what I have right here,
02:44and I just washed my hands.
02:46In my household, we're really, really big
02:48on body washes and soaps.
02:51You have here this refreshing citrus body wash.
02:56Can you tell us a little bit about this
02:58and what kind of sets it apart from what's on the market?
03:02So what's different about our body wash,
03:05infused with shea butter, but also very gentle, lightweight.
03:09It's a lightweight cleanser.
03:11You can feel moisturized and it soothes your skin,
03:14but because it's so light and gentle,
03:16it doesn't leave any kind of film.
03:18It's non-stripping.
03:19It's also pH balanced.
03:21So you get the nice glow.
03:23You can put it into your everyday shower routine
03:25because it's so light.
03:27The scent throw is a mixture of fruit extracts.
03:30So we have grapefruit.
03:31We also have cucumber and lemon,
03:34all really great antioxidants.
03:36So they're working really nicely
03:38and moisturizing your skin at the same time.
03:40The nice thing about our body wash,
03:43because it's so light and refreshing,
03:45you can use it in the shower, you can use it in the tub.
03:49You can also use it to wash your hands, like you mentioned.
03:51And it pairs really, really well
03:53with our exfoliating bath net sponge.
03:56This product is, this is gold in Ghana.
03:59Everyone has one.
04:01You can use it with your body wash, pair it together,
04:04give you a nice, gentle exfoliating cleanse.
04:08And the nice thing is that it lasts a long time.
04:10It's really long, so it can lather your entire back as well.
04:14Get the nice scrub action.
04:16And it just, it does everything you need
04:18for your everyday shower routine.
04:20I love it.
04:21And, you know, we have experience with,
04:24or people have experienced the back scrubbers,
04:26but they're so harsh.
04:28You know, sometimes it almost is like
04:30you're scrubbing your body with a Brillo pad
04:32and nobody wants to do that.
04:34But this is just like something so,
04:37first of all, it just feels super luxurious
04:39and I can completely tell this is something
04:42that would last a long time.
04:45It's beautiful too.
04:46It's like a little honeycomb kind of vibe.
04:48But I love that.
04:50It's beautiful.
04:51Like this right here, absolutely gorgeous.
04:53And then I want to go back to what you said,
04:56because it's such a great balance
04:59that you've been able to strike by saying,
05:01this is not something that's going to leave a film on you,
05:04but it's also not something that strips.
05:07So you're able to get right into the middle of,
05:10like just celebrating your skin kind of where it's at
05:13without in nurturing it,
05:15but you're not left with like some kind of,
05:17you know, artificial film on your body,
05:19which is really, really, you know,
05:21that is a victory that you have made.
05:25That's so cool.
05:26Yeah, it took us a long time to formulate,
05:28but we really knew that infusing products with shea butter
05:31was so beneficial.
05:32And then using those natural fruit extracts
05:35to give everybody the nice, you know,
05:38combination that would really work well for their skin.
05:41And because it's so gentle,
05:43you know, people that have sensitive skin
05:44or dry or distressed skin,
05:46it works really well for all ages, all genders.
05:49My two boys use it, one in high school,
05:51one in middle school.
05:53So it works really nicely for everyone.
05:56I love that.
05:57So you have more, right, at your website.
06:00What other products do you have available?
06:02And I love that you talk about eczema.
06:04My daughter also has eczema.
06:06So we're always looking for, you know, gentle things,
06:10but things that are effective on her.
06:13So I just love to hear about what else you have available
06:17at that Good Good Shea.
06:18So we sell raw shea butter,
06:20obviously in the pure and unrefined state,
06:23not bleached, not deodorized.
06:25That's really great.
06:26And we use that as the base of all of our products.
06:28We also have shea body butters.
06:30They're very rich and very nourishing.
06:32They're made with shea butter, coconut oil,
06:35jojoba oil, sweet almond oil,
06:37a mixture of essential oils, depending on the scent throw.
06:40And we also have unscented options,
06:42but we are well known for our lotions,
06:45our shea hand lotion,
06:47as well as our daily moisturizing lotion.
06:49Everyone loves it.
06:50We listened to our community.
06:52Everyone wanted, you know, the richness of the body butter,
06:56but something that was lightweight.
06:58So that's why we formulated the lotions.
07:00People think when you use a lotion that, you know,
07:02it can't be moisturizing.
07:03Well, they're wrong.
07:04It can be moisturizing.
07:06This is moisturizing and non-greasy.
07:09This is made with shea butter, avocado oil,
07:12aloe vera, as well as some vitamin E.
07:14So really, really nice moisturizing properties.
07:17But the nice thing is that it absorbs quickly,
07:19a little bit quicker than the body butter
07:20and the raw shea butter.
07:22And then it comes in the body size as well as the hand size.
07:25We also have our body wash, as we mentioned.
07:27We also have foaming sugar scrubs and shea oils.
07:31Shea oils are great for the hair and skin.
07:32I use it on my locks every single day.
07:36Just really nice nourishing oils.
07:39Gonna get into the scalp, maintain curls, minimize frizz,
07:42and also overall shine, sheen, and moisture.
07:45Oh, they've got us covered, y'all.
07:49And when I tell you that lotion, just one application,
07:54you're just like, I cannot live without this.
07:56Like, what was I doing before this?
07:59So thank you, thank you so much
08:00for all the hard work and intention you've put
08:02into developing this product line.
08:05I can't wait to go on a shopping spree on your website.
08:07Tabatha, bring up the website one more time.
08:09As we do that, this show is in partnership
08:12with the New Voices family.
08:13You're a member of the New Voices family.
08:15Can you talk a little bit about what it's been like
08:17being a part of that community?
08:19Well, being part of the community is truly like a family.
08:22Family's really big back home in Ghana,
08:26just in terms of the community that you have.
08:28And it kind of reminds me of that
08:29because there's such an embrace.
08:31There's such warm, caring people
08:35that really care about our business and us as founders.
08:38It's nice to be able to talk and listen
08:41and reflect on our businesses with other people
08:44that are experiencing some of the same things
08:46that we're experiencing.
08:47And also the coaching has been so beneficial.
08:51Everyone on the team, they just really are invested in you.
08:55They ask really good questions
08:57and making sure that you also put yourself first.
08:59The self-care aspect is so important in New Voices
09:02because they know for you to show up
09:03and be the very best that you can be,
09:05you have to be taking care of yourself.
09:07So, it really is a family.
09:09They're taking care of us
09:10and they're providing us amazing opportunities,
09:13whether it's here on Shop Essence Live or Essence Fest
09:16or just the mentorship and the coaching.
09:19So, so appreciative of them and so thankful of them.
09:21And I wouldn't be here without them.
09:25And yeah, the whole team, just wonderful and so great.
09:28And I encourage everyone, if you're a founder
09:31such as New Voices, just because of all the things
09:35that they can do for your business
09:36and also what they can do to you as a founder,
09:39just helping you with the resources and mentorship.
09:42I love that.
09:44So, just take the first step.
09:46If you're at home and you have a business
09:48and wanna take it to the next level,
09:50newvoicesfamily.com, go there.
09:53And there are step-by-step ways
09:55that you can join this incredible community.
09:57And I could be talking to you in a few months,
09:59you never know, it has happened.
10:02Irene, thank you so much for being on this show
10:05and sharing your incredible product line,
10:07that good, good shea.
10:08I'm telling you guys,
10:10if it's not a gift for somebody that you love,
10:13let it be a gift for yourself, okay?
10:14Because this, really, really great product.
10:18Irene, thank you so much for being on Shop Essence Live.
10:22Check out more Essence Approved products
10:25at essence.com slash shopping right now.
10:28We have a ton, a ton, a ton of things
10:31that are Essence Approved.
10:32If you're filling up your shopping list
10:34or watching this later and wanna know
10:36what to get your boo for Valentine's Day,
10:39we'll be here with new episodes every single week.
10:42I am your host, Stephanie Noni Donovan,
10:44and hope to see you next time.
10:46Later.