Overview:
-Detroit-based skin care brands reflect shift to natural cosmetics.
-Scott Boateng founded PREVA Body after a trip to his ancestral homeland of Ghana.
-“I saw my brothers and sisters and how beautiful their skin was,” he says.
During undergrad, Marissa Robinson had a bad eczema flare-up. It was the first time it had happened that badly since she was a child. She coated her skin with Eucerin and Vaseline every night, but soon, the Eucerin stopped working. The doctors told her she needed steroid cream. Then the steroid creams weren’t working anymore. Doctors then recommended prescription pills, and when the pills stopped working, they said she required injections.
“I thought, ‘when does it stop?’” Robinson said.
Robinson switched her skincare, soap, deodorant, and detergent to natural alternatives in 2018. Since her outbreak, she has experimented with making her own products. The 28-year-old from Troy made her current moisturizer with shea butter, vegetable glycerin, rosemary oil, ylang ylang oil, and tea tree oil. She also uses products from Michigan-based brand Valganics.
‘The skin is the largest organ’
For Black women, using chemical-laden products can have enormous consequences. A 2020 Detroit-based study confirmed that Black women have higher exposure rates to phthalates than other ethnic groups, most often from nail polish, makeup, lotions, and creams.
Black women are also disproportionately affected by conditions that have been potentially linked to phthalate exposure, such as diabetes, breast cancer, endometriosis, and fibroids. Phthalates have also been linked to decreased sperm quality.
Robinson is not alone. Consumers have become mindful of what they put on their bodies. A Nielsen study showed that roughly 40% of consumers seek beauty and personal care products that use natural ingredients. It also showed an increase in interest in products that are paraben-, sulfate-, and phthalate-free.
“The skin is the largest organ, and people think self-care is having an hour-long skincare routine, but do you know what you’re putting on your skin? Are you giving it time to breathe and be natural? It’s deeper than just aesthetic,” Robinson said.
Ten years ago, Selena Parker’s daughter Najah suffered from severe asthma attacks and eczema breakouts. Parker, 40, said she noticed the use of products from Bath & Body Works and other commercial products worsened her daughter’s eczema, so she tried shea butter she bought at the African World Festival at Hart Plaza.
The shea butter was seemingly the only thing that didn’t cause her daughter to have flare-ups, so when she ran out, she decided to make her own.
This is how Parker and her husband launched Socialite Body Essentials, a natural body care brand that the couple makes in their home in Westland.
Socialite Body Essentials carries a range of products, including deodorant, body butter, herbal teas, hair care, and soap. The main ingredients are shea butter and coconut oil; essential oils; and phthalate- and paraben-free fragrances create the scents.
Parker’s daughter, who is 21, has consistently used the body butter since she was 12.
“It got rid of all of her dark spots and bumps she used to have. After doing some research, we realized the breakouts were coming from one, her diet, and then two, the phthalates and the parabens that were in the fragrances,” she said.
“I was working a nine-to-five at the time so I would take samples to work, and a lot of people were saying, ‘My daughter is having problems with her skin too, can I try some?’ So we created our line after a lot of trial and error.”
Selena Parker with Socialite Body Essentials products. Courtesy photo.
Ghana trip inspires Detroit-based skin care line
Over the last six years, 46-year-old Nydia Z-Torres has also entirely switched to natural products, including hemp and cotton clothing. After watching both parents die of cancer and then being diagnosed with Graves’ disease, she said she was determined to take better care of her body, including her skin.
“We just have to remember there was a way that we functioned without all of these products,” she said. “Our forefathers and foremothers did this without toothpaste and deodorants with 16 ingredients, and they were fine.”
For body lotion, she uses oils like jojoba, avocado, and hemp with lavender or patchouli oil to add a natural fragrance.
“I make my own topicals using oils that are not petrochemical-derived. The products are part of it, but it’s about addressing your entire lifestyle. It’s also about taking the plastic off my body and putting natural fibers on my skin,” she said. “My parents, between them, had six or seven bouts of cancer, and I am trying to do everything in my power to not have that.”
For Scott Boateng, 34, who owns Detroit-based brand PREVA Body, the turn to natural skin care was part of his journey to self-love. Following a bout of depression, Boateng said he embarked on a trip to his ancestral homeland of Ghana in 2020 to reconnect with his family. That trip inspired him to create his body care line. Previously, PREVA was a hair extension company.
“I saw my brothers and sisters and how beautiful their skin was,” he said.
“You go over there and you see, they’re just using shea butter. They’re using natural stuff. That’s all you need. They don’t have all these fancy creams, and their skin looks way better than ours.”
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Like the Parkers, Boateng started PREVA Body with a shea-based body butter, and he later expanded to include castile bar soaps and body wash, beard oils, and a kid-friendly line. Besides shea butter, he also uses castor oil and plant-based fragrances.
“I try to stick to ingredients that, if they were consumed via mouth, you wouldn’t die. I didn’t want to put anything in our products that you shouldn’t be eating or that’s not plant-based,” he said. “When you know how these products can be made naturally without all the extra stuff, you wonder why the additives are there in the first place.”
For people who may be overwhelmed trying to make the switch, Robinson said it takes time. Instead of throwing out everything and starting over all at once, she suggests starting by replacing one product and reading the ingredients closely when you go to buy something new.
Parker, Boateng, Robinson, and Z-Torres all see using natural products as a spiritual commitment to honoring the body as a temple.
“I want my community to be as healthy as possible,” Boateng said. “You can research how things like essential oils can raise your vibration. The physical is connected to the spiritual.”