Roots in Care

If you know me by now, you know that I’m of Ghanaian descent. And I don’t just mean by heritage — I mean raised truly Ghanaian. Learning Twi, growing up with traditional values, and surrounded by cultural care rituals.

Even though I grew up in the Netherlands, at home I was raised with nkuto (pure shea butter) and cocoa butter. My grandmother, mother and aunts mixed everything together: oils, herbs and butters. Often with a special mixer that was always ready for use.

And that scent of shea… you recognize it instantly. Strong, but deeply familiar. For me, that scent is home. Combine it with the firm massaging that was part of the ritual, and you understand why I still smile whenever I think about it.

The power of traditional extracts

Our (grand)parents didn’t have shelves full of products. They used what nature provided — and they had done so for generations. In Ghana, shea butter (nkuto), African black soap (alata samina), baobab oil and cocoa butter were everyday essentials. Not luxuries, but necessities.

Shea nourished and protected the skin.
Black soap cleansed gently yet effectively.
Baobab calmed and restored.
Cocoa butter kept the skin soft and hydrated.

In some regions, clay was used for masks and cleansing, and in coastal areas coconut and palm kernel oil were important staples. Everything was pure, local and effective — and this knowledge was shared orally, from mother to daughter, from aunt to niece. ✨

That’s what makes these extracts timeless. They proved their strength generations ago, and that’s why they’re still so valuable today — even now that our skin lives in a different environment.

What makes melanin truly unique

Melanin rich skin was shaped under the tropical sun. Melanocytes produce more pigment — a powerful form of protection, but also a vulnerability. Because at every cut, blemish or irritation, that same melanin can overproduce, resulting in dark spots.

That’s why our skin needs softness and balance.
And that is exactly what traditional extracts always offered — natural protection, nourishment and calm. 🌿

The transition to a different climate

Our traditional extracts were perfectly suited to skin living near the equator: intense sun, warmth and humidity. In those conditions, the skin needed protection from dryness, recovery after sun exposure, and help retaining moisture. Natural butters, oils and clays did exactly that. They were pure, simple and effective.

But when our living environment changed — colder climates, dry indoor heating, low humidity — our skin’s needs changed too.

What worked in the tropics wasn’t enough in Europe.
And that’s where a gap formed:

Western countries developed their own skincare knowledge and products — tailored to lighter skin types and their climate.
Our skin, with its own needs and sensitivities, simply didn’t fit into that framework.

How dominant skincare knowledge was created

When skin analysis and product development were formalized, it mostly happened in Western countries. Lighter skin types were used as the baseline — simply because they were the local majority and because knowledge from other regions wasn’t included.

So an incomplete system was built:
products and treatments designed for lighter skin, not always suitable for melanin rich skin.

That foundation still shapes many textbooks, studies and product lines today.

The role of the beauty standard

This limited understanding translated into the beauty industry. Foundations came almost exclusively in light shades. Treatments were designed for Fitzpatrick types 1–3. For melanin rich skin, there was simply no appropriate offering.

Add to that the dominant beauty standard: in magazines, campaigns and ads, one image of beauty was consistently highlighted — lighter skin, Eurocentric features. The “default” image simply wasn’t made for everyone.

At the same time, many of us leaned on ancestral knowledge. Remedies that worked beautifully in tropical climates, but didn’t always perform the same way in a cold, dry region like Europe.

You still see this today: petroleum jelly (vaseline) is a staple in many households, precisely because it gives that protective layer we often miss in this climate. It works almost like a modern echo of what natural butters did near the equator — protecting the skin from dryness and barrier loss.

And this is where the gap formed:
Between products not made for us…
and traditions created for a different climate.

The impact on our skin

Because skincare knowledge and products weren’t designed with melanin rich skin in mind, we saw the impact directly in the mirror.

Cleansers that stripped the skin.
Creams that caused irritation.
Treatments that triggered even more pigmentation.

Not because professionals meant harm, but because the foundational knowledge was incomplete.

Melanin rich skin is especially sensitive:
A small irritation can become hyperpigmentation.
A barrier-disrupting product can take weeks to recover from.
And that leads to frustration — you follow the mainstream advice, but your skin doesn’t respond… or gets worse.

This created a feeling of being forced to choose between two extremes:
either go back to traditional remedies,
or experiment with products not made for your skin.

Back to knowledge, forward to visibility

This is exactly why my role as educator, founder and formulator feels so important.
I want to bridge that gap — between tradition and science, between invisibility and visibility.

Not by romanticizing the past, but by translating the wisdom of our roots into formulations that work for today’s environment. What worked near the equator can be reimagined for modern skin needs.

With this Melanin Moments series, I want to show that melanin rich skin is not “difficult” or “different” — it simply requires the right expertise and context. And that starts with awareness.

Next week

Next week, we’ll look at the education system:
Why are students still learning so little about melanin rich skin?
And what does that mean for the future of our industry?

Keep learning, keep glowing — until the next Melanin Moment! 💛
With love,
Angela