Mommy Greenest Approved: Fair Trade Alaffia Africa’s Secret

I’ve been a huge Alaffia fan for years, ever since I discovered their Everyday Shea Moisturizing Shampoo made with certified fair trade shea butter. After using it for a few months, even my hairdresser commented on how much thicker my hair felt and looked. Since I have hated my fine, limp hair since I could pick up a curling iron—and watch as the curls fell out after 15 minutes—this was enough to sell me on the shampoo for life.

I am also a total vanilla junkie—check out my DIY perfume experience as evidence—and became totally hooked on Alaffia’s super light yet totally moisturizing fair trade Everyday Shea Moisturizing Body Lotion after smelling the warm vanilla scent in the Whole Foods Whole Body aisle. At $14 for a gigantic bottle of one—or $23.50 for both—Everyday Shea is not only a great line of products, it’s a great deal.

And recently, I discovered Alaffia Africa’s Secret Unscented Multipurpose Skin Cream, the amazing fair trade moisturizing and skin repairing cream that started it all—and is now my new miracle night cream. Want to try? I’ve got 12 jars to give away, plus 25% off!

But before we get to the giveaway, take a minute to watch this video profile—produced by Whole Foods Dark Rye online magazine—of this fair trade brand and its founders.

Alaffia Africa’s Secret Unscented Multipurpose Skin Cream is a fair trade miracle. Get my exclusive 25% off discount, and enter to win some free! Amazing, right? Alaffia founders Rose and Olowo-n’djo Tchala are not just about making great, affordable, fair trade products—although they pretty much dominate in that capacity. What they’re really interested in is creating products that can help people—from those who make them to those who use them.

The company empowers local women in Olowo-n’djo’s native region of Sokodé, Togo to create fair trade collectives and produce ingredients like shea butter, cultivating them in the traditional—and chemical free—methods that have been used for centuries. They fill a shipping container with these ingredients and put it on a boat to America. Once the container is received and emptied, Alaffia staffers fill it with donated bikes and ship it back to Togo, where the bikes are distributed to girls who use them to get to school and continue their education at schools that Alaffia supports. Bikes may sound like a small thing, but they can be truly life—and culture—changing.

And it all started with Alaffia Africa’s Secret Unscented Multipurpose Skin Cream, the moisturizing and skin repairing cream that is my newest favorite in my Alaffia personal care arsenal. Based on a cream made from specially blended shea butter and wild honey that indigenous people had been using for centuries to moisturize and heal the skin, the Alaffia master formulators—read: Rose—added more pure, raw and unfiltered bee products like royal jelly, propolis and pollen, high in amino acids and vitamins like A, D, E and B5, which heals the skin and reduces flakiness. There are just 10 ingredients in Alaffia Africa’s Secret Unscented Multipurpose Skin Cream and none of them are emulsifiers, preservatives or scents. And—I’m gushing, I know—a portion of sales from this product go to supported the Xerxes Society, which is dedicated to bee conservation.

This is good stuff that does good, too. I’ve been using Alaffia Africa’s Secret Unscented Multipurpose Skin Cream at night, and have noticed that my skin feels plumper and looks less blotchy and—dare I say—younger, perhaps… Want to try? Now through May 16^th, use “ILOVEAFRICASSECRET” at checkout for a full 25% off. And enter to win one of 12 free jars here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post was sponsored by Alaffia and meets the standards I’ve established to endorse a brand as “Mommy Greenest Approved.” Click here for more about Editorial Standards.