African Organics – Marula Shower Gel 210ml

Description

Marula Shower Gel.

Description:

This is a fresh, minty wash that’ll perk you up in the morning. We’ve used mild, natural foaming agents that will biodegrade rapidly and won’t strip your skin. We’ve also added Marula oil to help maintain skin lipids

Ingredients:

Aqua (Water), Decyl Glucoside, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract*, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Alcohol (Ethanol), Glycerin, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Xanthan Gum, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil, Citric Acid, Chlorophyllin (CI75810), Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil*, Sodium Phytate, Mentha Vidiris (Spearmint) Leaf Oil*, Tocopherol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Oil*, Limonene**, Linalool**, Geraniol**

*ingredient from organic farming
**component of natural essential oils

100% of the total ingredients are from natural origin
96% of vegetable ingredients are from Organic Farming
20% of the total ingredients are from Organic Farming

Our Story
Africa Organics is an Ecocert accredited, 100% Natural Hair and Body care range using Africa’s powerful natural and organic plant ingredients.

Choosing natural ingredients doesn’t mean having to accept ineffective products.

On the contrary, the African plant species we use have had to adapt to the harshest conditions on the planet by producing some of the most powerful protective actives known to man. You can now benefit from these ingredients in our range of body and hair care products:

Our ingredients are sustainably sourced from within sub-Saharan Africa, benefitting rural communities.
We are certified organic by Ecocert and classified as 100% natural origin.
We are endorsed by Beauty Without Cruelty and don’t test our products on animals. We don’t purchase raw materials from suppliers that use animal testing.
All of our products are rapidly biodegradable and by using them, you contribute to the health of our watercourses.
We don’t use any animal ingredients in our products and all our products are vegan-friendly; we are endorsed by the Vegan Society of South Africa.
The range is free of all harmful chemicals including parabens, petrochemicals, sulphated surfactants, silicones, animal products, ethoxylated or PEG ingredients, propylene glycol or any other ingredients red-flagged by Ecocert standards.

Ethics
CERTIFIED ORGANIC
When we were formulating Africa Organics, we used the Ecocert and COSMOS standards as a starting point and overlaid our own ethics. We looked into the skin sensitivity and biodegradability data, as well as the production processes for all the ingredients.
We are certified organic with Ecocert in France – so you know that the products support organic farming – but we have gone one step further and are certified as 100% natural origin as well.

AFRICA FRIENDLY
We stipulated that a minimum of 5% of our raw material cost would be spent on sourcing ingredients from sub-Saharan Africa so that we had real community benefit. We threw out anything that we felt was not applicable to sensitive skin.

CRUELTY FREE
We are accredited through Beauty Without Cruelty, an animal rights organisation with a primary objective to educate and inform the public about the exploitation, abuse and suffering of animals. We do not test our products on animals and will not source ingredients from suppliers who do. There are many alternatives to the use of animals in research. Our products are tested on human volunteers.

VEGAN
We are accredited by The Vegan Society. We don’t believe in using ANY animal products in our range … not even beeswax.

PLASTIC NEUTRAL
The packaging – we’ve subscribed to the Cradle to Cradle philosophy – so we view our product as a biological nutrient and the packaging as a technical nutrient. This means that we focus primarily on the recyclability of the packaging, bearing in mind its production processes. Our packaging is LDPE and the caps are PP – both are accepted by Ecocert.
We have partnered with the Two Oceans Aquarium. Africa Organics supplies the aquarium with our 100% natural, preservative free, biodegradable, certified organic products for the visitors and staff.
We’ve also partnered with Cleanhub to collect plastic waste in developing countries before it can reach the ocean. Millions of tons of plastic end up in our ocean every year with deeply damaging results to marine ecosystems. We calculate our plastic usage and ensure that an equivalent amount is collected and recycled. This also empowers local communities in developing countries to set up collection businesses.

CARBON NEUTRAL
Every year we fight to minimise our carbon emissions. We audit our energy consumption yearly to ensure that we are as efficient as we can be and that we continue to improve.
Nobody’s perfect though, so we purchase carbon credits to offset the company’s carbon emissions.

Ingredients

This range was launched to take the amazing plants of Africa to the rest of the world. When it comes to plants, South Africa is in the top three most biodiverse countries on our planet and these plants produce some of the most powerful ingredients known. We harvest the plants from the wild because they are more active that way – Africa doesn’t tame well. While the range was coming together, we realised that we would need to think very carefully about where the plants came from and how they were harvested. It turned out that harvesting a wild tree’s fruit could be a good thing for everyone – including the tree. The rural villagers could earn some much-needed income by harvesting and they would then attach value to the tree; so they would be less likely to use it for firewood or use the bark for weaving. The other thing we learnt is that there are a lot of these trees out there. Africa is big and there is a lot of open bushveld. At present, these species are being utilised at a tiny percentage of what would be sustainable.

The surfactants – we chose not to use sulphated surfactants even though they would have kept the price down. They are really bad for skin and we don’t see how switching from Sodium Lauryl Sulphate to Sodium Coco Sulphate makes much difference. We’ve used glucosides and amino acid-based surfactants that are far milder on skin and are rapidly biodegradable. Preservatives – we investigated loads of options that would keep us 100% natural, but beyond that, we strongly subscribe to the findings of the Human Microbiome Project. The microbes on our skin are very important for skin health, so let’s not disturb the natural balance. We opted for ethanol as a preservative – it’s volatile (so doesn’t stick around on the skin), it’s natural and it’s a perfect choice for sensitive skin. The perception in the past has been that ethanol is drying and strips the skin. This is true if it is at 50% in a toner, but doesn’t apply when it is used at relatively low concentrations, with oils included to offset any possible stripping effect.

Hair care actives – these were challenging. We were trying to match the instant feel of the silicones and quaterniums with purely natural ingredients, and the feedback from test groups wasn’t good. After six months we stopped and stepped back from the problem. What do people want? We figured they’d want healthy hair. The best way to deliver on that is not to focus on instant feel. Normal brands strip the hair and then replace the natural oils with synthetics. We worked with very mild foaming agents that don’t strip away as much and used plant oils to replace the natural oils on the hair. In short, we minimised the disturbance to the natural cycle. So, if you’re prepared to give the products a try for two weeks you should see great results; but don’t expect “thicker, fuller, smoother” hair instantly. Quick fixes can lead to bigger problems down the line, and we value our clients’ long-term health.

Emulsifiers – over the last ten years, we’ve honed our ability to generate stable, low pH emulsions that are rapidly biodegradable and 100% natural. Our body lotions and conditioners are stabilised at pH 5 (the natural pH of skin) and are great for keeping the microbes on your skin and scalp in balance.

Fragrance – we’ve used whole essential oils and kept the number of oils to a minimum so that the risk of allergic reactions is reduced. We used two or three oils per product. By using Africa Organics, you will experience the effectiveness of natural African ingredients without added preservatives, and the awareness that what helps you can also help heal Africa. All our products are rapidly biodegradable; by using them you will be contributing to the health of your watercourses. We are also endorsed by Beauty Without Cruelty and the Vegan Society. In the interests of healthier humans inhabiting a healthier Earth, we don’t use synthetic preservatives, synthetic fragrances or synthetic colourants in our products. We have also committed to excluding parabens, petrochemicals, sulphated surfactants, animal products, ethoxylated or PEG ingredients, propylene glycol or any other ingredients red-flagged by BDIH and Ecocert standards.

Disclaimer

The contents of the Knysna Health website shall not be regarded as medical advice, or a basis from which to make medical decisions. The use of information found on this site is completely your responsibility and at your own risk. Our recommendation is that if you have health concerns that you feel unsure about how to deal with, that you contact your trusted health professional for personalized advice.