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