Adonmu (Our Beauty)

It's already the last month of the Year! Many thanks to you all for being with us through out this year and the years before, here's to even more greatness in the next years to come! Remember our post on Shea Butter ? We are ending the year with a little more about the wonderful karite-tree product - Shea Nut Oil. Shea Oil is an oil derived from Shea Butter - basically a fractionated version of Shea Butter, like a distilled version of shea butter. The butter is simply heated and the oil, which melts at a lower temperature is extracted, leaving behind the waxy butter. Shea Oil is much lighter than Shea Butter, containing less stearic acid. It contains the same properties as the butter but it remains liquid at room temperature and is much lighter in consistency. It has a much deeper skin-penetration quality than Shea Butter and doesn't have the strong smokey smell that Shea is known for. Find Shea Nut Oil in our moisturizing hand lotion, conveniently packaged so you ...

The Pumpkin is a fruit from the squash family. It grows on the ground behind large leaves, and contain plenty seeds surrounded by soft pulp that is housed by the fleshy pumpkin fruit. The name evolved from the Greek word "pepon" which means "Large melon", basically used to describe something that is round and large. The French adopted the name, calling it "pompon", then the British called it "pompon", before it was finally named "pumpkin" by Americans. The fruit is used to prepare various dishes from soups to snacks, while the leaves are used to prepare soups or served as a garnish. The fruit is said to contain minerals that help regulate blood pressure, as well as potassium and magnesium. Pumpkin Seed Oil The seeds within the pumpkin gourd is processed and oil pressed from it, this oil has an intense nutty taste, and varies from light to dark green in color - when you have just a little of it in a container, to dark red...

The Cocoa Tree is a small evergreen tree that is native to the tropical regions of Mexico. It grows only along the Equator in Africa, Asia and America. On the trucks of the tree and on its older branches grow small flowers; white flowers are female, while the pink flowers are male, these flowers get pollinated by small flies and some develop into fruits. Cocoa Plant - Source: amazon.in The Cocoa plant produces its fruit as oval pods that turn either yellow or orange when ripe, it takes about 6 months for the pods to ripen. Inside the pods are about 20 to 60 seeds that are covered in pulp, the seeds are often called Coco Bean. It is from the seeds that Cocoa Butter and Chocolate are produced. Cocoa Pod - Source: huffiest.com Cocoa Butter is an edible fat from the cocoa bean, it is a pale-yellow fat that melts upon contact with the skin, and has a pleasant aroma - like chocolate :) To produce Cocoa Butter, the Cocoa Beans are removed from the pod and allowed to fe...

The Shea tree is native to Africa, growing in 21 African countries. It is a wild tree that grows naturally in the dry Savannah regions of the continent. The sweet buttery flesh of the small green fruits is eaten, leaving the large hard nut. The nut holds a kernel inside which is needed to produce Shea Butter. Shea Butter Production The nuts from the shea tree are gathered and shelled to remove the kernels. The kernels are cleaned and dried under the sun, then roasted and grounded to form a paste. The shea paste is mixed with water and the mixture is beaten to start the separation process. Heat is then added to this mixture to completely separate the butter from the water and paste, this butter is scooped out and heated a second time to remove any extra moisture or dirt and then packaged for use or sale. Shea Butter is called "Man-Kadai" (Hausa), "Ori" (Yoruba) and "Okuma" (Igbo) in Nigeria. It is a fat derived from a nut which hardly has an al...

The Baobab tree, native to Africa is called the "Upside-Down Tree" because the branches of the tree look like roots. The fruits of this tree grow as pods hanging like lanterns on the tree. Baobab also grows in Australia and the Middle East. To survive harsh weather conditions and drought, up to 120,000 liters of water is stored in the trunk! Animals can be found chewing on the barks to get some hydration against the heat. The leaves are dried and grounded into powder, used to prepare soup - "miyan kuka". This soup is usually combined with "tuwo" (mashed meal made with a given grain) - to prepare a very rich and tasty meal. The Baobab trees live for thousands of years and grow into ginormous plants of almost 100 feet tall and 36 feet thick. The largest Baobab tree could be the Glencoe Baobab on a farm in the Limpopo province of South Africa, while the Panke Baobab in Zimbabwe lived to about 2,450 years before it died in 2011 (it got the record of b...

Natural Soap-making is an art, but it is also a science. You combine oils from nature (plants or/and animals) and combine it with an alkaline to make soap. An exact amount of alkaline is needed to change oil into soap, and there are other ingredients you may want to add to your soap, which also need to be measured. In this post, we show you a simplified way to understand the math needed for successful soap making (which you could also apply to other formulations like lotion making etc). Measurements Every ingredient used to make soap MUST be measured, this helps you achieve a specific result, and also helps you get a consistent batch every time you produce a product, so if you want to re-do a particular soap you love, you know exactly how to make it again. Soap making is so precise that a small change (either too much or too little) of an ingredient can lead to a soap fail. Also, you are sure that you are using the right amount of an ingredient that is safe for use in skincare ...

The  word "Moringa" was borrowed from an Asian language (Tamil); "Murungai" which means "Twisted Pod". In Hausa it is called "Zogale". The moringa plant is a fast-growing, drought resistant tree that grows daily on semiarid, tropical and subtropical regions (Africa, India, Central and South America, as well as South-East Asia). It is a sun and heat loving tree that grows fragrant flowers with five petals, and seeds in long pods (also called drumsticks). Every part of the moringa tree is useful: the leaves, fruits, seeds and bark, giving it the name "Tree of Life". The leaves are the most nutritious part of the tree, containing vitamin B, C, A and K, as well as beta-carotene, manganese and protein. The leaves and seeds are used to prepare various meals and herbal remedies around the world, they are believed to have antibacterial, antivirals, antimicrobial, antidepressant and anti-inflammatory properties. Moringa seeds are also used...

This is a blood disorder where there is an abnormality inside the red blood cells of the patient, making the cell become rigid and deformed - looking like a sickle, these cells are not able to carry enough oxygen to the body, and they die early, causing a shortage in red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are flexible, with a shape like a doughnut, and are able to pass through the veins and arteries of a person. However, the shape and rigid form of the sickled-shaped blood cells of a patient causes blockages and preventing free blood flow. Who Does Sickle Cell Affect? Sickle cell anemia is inherited from parents who carry the abnormal genes, the patient gets one of these genes from his/her father and one from his/her mother. If only one parent carries this abnormal gene, then there is a chance that the child will also become a carrier. To know if a person has sickle cell, or is a carrier, a blood test is usually carried out. 80% of sickle cell cases occur in Africa, a repor...

Boswellia Tree - Source google images Frankincense, also known as “al-Liban” in Arabic, and  “Olibanum” in Hebrew, comes from an aromatic resin from the Boswellia tree in Somalia. The tree also grows in southern parts of Saudi Arabia and in India. Frankincense has been traded on the Arabian Peninsula for over 6000 years. This resin got its name from the Old-French word “franc encens” which means “noble/pure incense”. Processing The Boswellia tree begins to produce resin from around  8 - 10 years of age. To get the resin, the bark of the tree is slashed, letting the resin run. When it dries it hardens, the dried sap is referred to as “tears”, the resin is then collected and formed into lumps. Tears of the Boswellia Tree - Source google images Different types of resin are gotten from different species of the Boswellia tree, with quality based on the colour, purity, aroma, age and shape of the resin. The Silver and Hojari types are generally considered to be of th...

Looks like a tiger, tastes like a nut, but is in fact a tuber - Tiger-nut - aka "aya" in Hausa, "aki awusa" in Igbo, "ofio" in Yoruba. Tiger-nut is grown in Africa, Southern Europe, the Middle Esat and the Indian sub-continent. Its a wild grass with edible tubers, which grows in sandy, moist soil - just like rice paddies or peanut farms. Tiger-nut is planted between April and May, growing through July-August, then harvested between November and December. After harvesting, the tubers are washed to remove sand and small stones, then dried in the sun, turning them daily, for three months. When dry, they shrink and become wrinkled. Uses Tiger-nuts have a sweet nutty taste, they can be eaten raw. The dried tubers can be munched as is, or soaked in water overnight (or for a few days; changing the water daily), to rehydrate them back to a plump, crunchy snack. They can also be slightly roasted and coated with sugar or honey as a dessert. "Kunun...

Tell us about yourself  My Name is Ojoma Ahmed, from Kogi state, a mum of 2 kids. Until recently, I have been just an IT professional (Business Intelligence) and then started an NGO about a year ago, and from that sprung a business idea. Tell us about your business, how did you start?  It’s interesting how life throws you lemons and you then make lemonades. My partner suffered a heart attack and I spent 3 months going in and out of hospital caring for him. Then I had an epiphany - a sudden realization that I needed to do something with my mundane 9-5 job and give back by developing my community.  I had a building project going on at the time, it was meant to house some family members, but I decided to use it as a training hub to offer free training to girls and young woman, then I started a community project to mechanize palm oil processing in my village, to support the women. Then it turned to a business Idea, I remembered my grand mum raised he...

Autism is a condition where a person is unable to communicate and interact with others. The person also shows some unusual behaviors that include repeating certain actions, such as shaking or nodding the head, rocking self, pacing or spinning around. Autism affects different people in different ways, it affects every race and every social class. There are over 100,000 reported cases, yearly, in Nigeria. Children with Autism find it difficult to understand what others think or feel, they find it difficult to express themselves with words or gestures. If the child is very sensitive, he/she may get troubled, or even pained, by sound, touch, smell or sights that others see as normal. Boys are 4 times more likely to be autistic than girls. Symptoms of autism usually begin to show around the first 3 years of a child's life. Even though a person with autism may find it difficult to communicate, he/she may excel in other areas like art, music, math or memorizing facts. Cause Th...

From the fruit of the Coconut Palm Tree, we press the pale-yellow oil known as Coconut Oil. The coconut got its name from Portugese and Spanish sailors who saw its resemblance to a face and called it "coco" which means head or skull. This was because of the three marking on the shell which resembled a human face. The coconut palm grows in tropical shorelines and thrives on sandy soil, abundant sunlight and regular rainfall. The fruit is fibrous with a hard shell on the inside, housing water called "coconut juice". The coconut is a nutritious source of meat, juice, milk and oil, that has nourished people all over the world for centuries. Coconut oil is pressed from fleshy white "meat" of mature coconuts. Process of Extraction 1000 coconuts weigh about 1440kg, and give about 170kg of coconut meat. This amount produces about 70 liters of coconut oil. There are basically two methods for pressing coconut oil from the fruit; the wet method and ...