Nourishing the body for perfect hair and skin
Published:Friday | February 19, 2021 | 12:12 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Avocado pears are usually consumed for the many health benefits they offer the human body. Now, one entrepreneur is offering to take that a little further by using this tasty fruit to nourish from outside in, by incorporating it in a shampoo in the Perfect Hair and Skin line of products.
Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Hair and Skin Denese Hamilton said the company, which has been operating for seven years, is committed to using local, natural raw material to manufacture products which are very beneficial to the hair and skin.
Avocado shampoo, Jamaican black castor oil, coconut shea moisturiser, neem facial cleanser in various sizes are among the products on offer, all formulated to bring out their healing and nutritional values.
“Perfect Hair and Skin is a natural line of products. We specifically use Jamaican raw material as much as possible, and that is what our products are about, getting the raw material in its most natural form and preparing it to be beneficial to both hair and skin,” Hamilton told The Gleaner during a recent visit to her Stony Hill, St Andrew home and manufacturing plant.
All the main raw materials, including turmeric, aloe vera, castor (oil) nuts, rosemary, avocado and coconut, are sourced directly from local farmers or the markets. Supporting the Jamaican economy in this way, according to Hamilton, is part of her business plan. She prides herself on being able to keep her prices competitive.
“We keep our prices quite reasonable because most of our items are local. People often ask, ‘Your products are so good, why you price them like this (low)?’ But then, one has to be real, and we are also helping our consumers.”
The company was poised for expansion when COVID-19 struck, putting a damper on things. However, Hamilton is looking to roll with the punches. She has signed up with Caribshopper and Buy Local Jamaica, which will market her products in Jamaica, as well as to the rest of the Caribbean. That deal should begin to bear fruit in about two weeks’ time when shoppers can access these platforms to buy her products.
CUSTOMERS FEEDBACK
The company started out producing authentic Jamaican black castor oil and has been widening its range since, in response to the feedback from customers. However, some men who use the castor oil to treat their beards have been clamouring for another fragrance. So while she didn’t want to give away too much, the trained accountant had this message: “Relax, your beard oil is coming. Once the market is there, I am willing to go with the flow.”
From its base in rural St Andrew, Perfect Hair and Skin enjoys some advantages, such as an unending supply of firewood to boil the castor seeds, which is a long and tedious process.
“We have a big boiling area and we use wood fire because I am in the countryside, so I can always get raw material. I just have the guys go around and collect the wood for me and then I use my car and bring it here. When we are doing boiling, it’s a whole day, starting out like 4:30 a.m. and, of course, we prepare the beans and the whole roasting of it and use the strong muscles to grind it in the mortar, and then you make a huge fire and put on this big drum,” she said, reliving and clearly enjoying the memory.
Hamilton and her team had been actively promoting Perfect Hair and Skin products, with it long been available on the shelves of MegaMart and Fontana Pharmacies, among other high-end locations, when COVID-19 hit home; but she refused to be stopped.
“I am driven by a sense of determination that has brought us this far, and in another month we should be on Caribshopper and Buy Local. Then we definitely will be looking to employ more people and meet the demand for orders, and I will have persons I can pull on.”