Namib inspires range of beauty products
Desert Secrets, a proudly Namibian range of body-care products, resonates with the soul, spirit and heart of the country. Natural ingredients are sourced from as far afield as the Kaokoland and the Kalahari.
Desert Secrets taps into the treasure house of the Namibian plant world, the aromatic scents and deep enriching oils known to rejuvenate skin since time immemorial.
Sophia Snyman grew up on a farm at Aus, bordering the Namib Desert, and always had a natural affinity for scents, especially after a rain shower when her nose would lead her to specific plants. This evolved into her distilling the natural flora around her that caught her attention and tantalised her senses.
Over the years she attended various training courses, researched essential oils and experimented. Her world changed in 2013 when she entered an Indigenous Natural Products Innovation competition set up by the Natural Resources Institute and funded by the Millennium Challenge Account.
Participants were required to produce body-care products using Namib myrrh – Commiphora wildii. As one of the two finalists in the competition, she received additional training as part of the prize, allowing her to refine her formulations.
The finalists launched their products at the Namibian Tourism Expo in Windhoek just two months later. In a short space of time, Sophia’s hobby was fast becoming a small business.
By the end of the year she had left her job at one of Namibia’s top banks and was pursuing her passion. She began manufacturing her products in her kitchen and then her garage, eventually opening a small production facility in central Windhoek in 2014.
For Sophia, it is important to support local enterprise and to use natural products for an authentic quality skin care product. The Desert Secrets range uses marula and Kalahari melon seed oils, with mopane and Namib myrrh, and more recently Ximenia oil. The ingredients are sourced locally from plants grown sustainably and wild-harvested. Desert Secrets advocates the rights of people in rural communities, supporting co-operatives and local processing facilities.
The result is a superlative range of rich, nourishing and naturally scented products that are infused with Namibian soul. Knowledge and ingredients have been honed to create products to soothe, nourish and pamper dry skin. From handmade soap and solid hand cream to rejuvenating body lotion and replenishing body cream, Desert Secrets lets you in on some of Namibia’s secrets, so that you can love your body the Namibian way.
STAFF REPORTER
Desert Secrets taps into the treasure house of the Namibian plant world, the aromatic scents and deep enriching oils known to rejuvenate skin since time immemorial.
Sophia Snyman grew up on a farm at Aus, bordering the Namib Desert, and always had a natural affinity for scents, especially after a rain shower when her nose would lead her to specific plants. This evolved into her distilling the natural flora around her that caught her attention and tantalised her senses.
Over the years she attended various training courses, researched essential oils and experimented. Her world changed in 2013 when she entered an Indigenous Natural Products Innovation competition set up by the Natural Resources Institute and funded by the Millennium Challenge Account.
Participants were required to produce body-care products using Namib myrrh – Commiphora wildii. As one of the two finalists in the competition, she received additional training as part of the prize, allowing her to refine her formulations.
The finalists launched their products at the Namibian Tourism Expo in Windhoek just two months later. In a short space of time, Sophia’s hobby was fast becoming a small business.
By the end of the year she had left her job at one of Namibia’s top banks and was pursuing her passion. She began manufacturing her products in her kitchen and then her garage, eventually opening a small production facility in central Windhoek in 2014.
For Sophia, it is important to support local enterprise and to use natural products for an authentic quality skin care product. The Desert Secrets range uses marula and Kalahari melon seed oils, with mopane and Namib myrrh, and more recently Ximenia oil. The ingredients are sourced locally from plants grown sustainably and wild-harvested. Desert Secrets advocates the rights of people in rural communities, supporting co-operatives and local processing facilities.
The result is a superlative range of rich, nourishing and naturally scented products that are infused with Namibian soul. Knowledge and ingredients have been honed to create products to soothe, nourish and pamper dry skin. From handmade soap and solid hand cream to rejuvenating body lotion and replenishing body cream, Desert Secrets lets you in on some of Namibia’s secrets, so that you can love your body the Namibian way.
STAFF REPORTER
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