Akoma Skincare is a new discovery for The GIN Lady: Not just the brand, but the knowledge that raw, rather than refined shea nut butter is the true revolutionary component that will genuinely moisturise and restore your skin's health, from dry skin to serious dermatitis issues. We also didn't fully appreciate the reasons why Fairtrade shea butter is so important. If there's one ingredient we'd love you to swap for a Fairtrade one, it's Shea Butter. Read Akoma's story and you'll never look back...

Shea butter is known as 'woman's gold' in West Africa for its unique and highly effective ability to heal. It is well known to restore a number of skin health complaints - think blemishes, sore itches, eczema, psoriasis, lichen sclerosis and other forms of dermatitis. To cure skin conditions, what you'll need is the raw stuff. Refining shea butter, among other things, extracts the phospholipids, the very element you need to gain the full moisturising benefits of shea. So why invest in the refined version - which most beauty products contain - without the key moisturising ingredients? It would be nuts to buy the refined version, right?!

Akoma Skincare specialise in the raw version. But this is only the start of its special story. Akoma is the UK's first importer of certified Fairtrade raw organic shea butter from Ghana.

Angus Klufio from Akoma shared with The GIN Lady "Until the Fairtrade beauty category was launched and Akoma got its FLO Fairtrade registration, our Shea Butter was fairly traded. There are a lot of Co-operatives in Ghana but there's a problem with the middle men." Angus continued "The middle men buy very cheaply to export abroad and charge a premium. These benefits are not passed onto the women. Certain buyers promise the Co-operative women incentives, but they don't deliver."

Organic Shea Nuts that have been roasted and waiting to be milled.Angus at Akoma Skincare wants to turn the whole industry around in Ghana. "As well as wanting Fair Trade, we also looked at organic certification and invested accordingly. We are setting an example others can follow." To meet these ends, Akoma have been awarded Soil Association Organic Certification and have built a purpose built facility for these women. They first acquired land and built a centre for the Akoma Cooperative Multipurpose Society. Now they no longer work in huts and under bad conditions which Angus and his team witnessed when they first arrived in Ghana.

Nuts are kneaded by the women working in the Co-operativeWomen are typically exploited to meet the Beauty Industry's needs. The added value from beauty products made with Shea Butter is in its processing, but many of the beauty giants take the raw material - the shea nut - and process it back in Europe. This means the local people do not receive the appropriate reward for their local raw materials. Angus adds "But things are starting to change now by people like ourselves. Firstly, we supply the raw version. While the refined version is more stable, it also strips the best properties out, like its vitamin A and C etc. But more importantly, the women in the Co-operative manufacture the product that Akoma sells to our customers."

The Women's Co-operative melt it down and lightly whip it so the shea butter is easier to apply. Akoma also sell raw blocks as some people prefer to do it themselves and add essential oils for instance. Angus told us "We sell quite a lot of pillow packs [the raw blocks] or they can buy the shea butter already whipped. You don't need a lot so it lasts a long while. If you apply it twice a day, from head to toe, a 500ml size jar will last a month."

The Co-operative Women add water to separate the fat. Processing the nuts in Ghana keeps the value locally.In a nutshell, Akoma Skincare's shea butter products are not just amazing for your skin's health: Organic certification restores West Africa's ecosystem health; Its Fairtrade mark ensures the future of the Akoma Cooperative Multipurpose Society; This in turn empowers women and keeps them safe from exploitation. The myriad of benefits to the Co-operative includes the ability to school their children, reduces poverty and protects farmers. When you also consider the real benefits to your skin, this surely must be one of the most beautiful stories we've heard.

The range of finished products by Akoma keep women in good fair employment in Ghana

View Akoma's Fairtrade and Organic Shea Butter products online to make a difference!

Whether you're about to hit the London Fashion Week circuit, or you're buried deep in everyday chores, our beauty can take a beating if you are burning the candle at both ends. We've put together a Beauty Survival Kit of natural beauty items to restore your looks quicker than you can say Organic Beauty Rocks!

COCONUT WATER

Not what you were expecting for a beauty fix? Feeling dehydrated can rob us of our looks rapidly as skin is the first organ to feel the effects of dehydration. First your skin will feel dry - not surprisingly. Left unchecked and it will affect your skin's ability to restore itself. Neglected completely and you may develop deeper wrinkles. When you consider all the other health effects, it's just not worth it. If you're a fun party animal and drink the wrong sort of fluids, then this can exacerbate dehydration big time. This is a beautiful solution - drinking 100% pure coconut water is a fabulous dehydration cure. This isotonic drink is jam-packed full of the right stuff - vitamins and minerals, in particular Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, Manganese, Vitamin C, B6 and amino acids. Coco water is so good it can even be used for emergency plasma transfusions! Replenish your fluids, get glowing skin and never feel hungover again! Buy Vita Coco Pure Water now! Another great way of keeping your face hydrated and your spirits high is to spritz on some Pukka Rose Water - This is The GIN Lady's favourite pick me up!

LIP CONDITIONER

The GIN Lady is bowled over by the effects Herbfarmacy's Beauty Balm and is one of the balms around. Yet it's our lips that can often get overlooked. Look no further than Herbfarmacy's organic lip conditioner which will get you puckering up for a kiss in a very short time. Containing its signature Marshmallow herb and infused with Vanilla oil - yummy - your lips will love this conditioning treatment as much as your face will love their Beauty Balm!

UNDER EYE CONCEALER

If you're looking for a quick fix, then you may be in search of a magic wand. And we don't recommend the best selling version (you know which brand we mean!) because it features the chemical bomb we try to avoid at all costs.

Jane Iredale has managed to successfully offer a much cleaner version - Active Light - to illuminate the under eye area and conceal the dark eye bags so many of get inflicted with when we've neglected our slow beauty regime - sleep, water and much needed time out. So how does Jane Iredale achieve this? Its revolutionary formula uses mineral particules to manipulate how light is reflected and by doing this it masks your dark under eyes. Every green, independent & natural party girl should have this in their handbags! Buy now from Content Beauty.

DEEP HAIR REPAIR

Nothing is more uplifting that a healthy head of hair. But if your locks are lack lustre then it can have a hard knock on your looks, however good your skin is. We recommend Live Native's little pot of wonder that will restore your hair's shine overnight. Deeply penetrating, this raw blended pot of coconut oil will be absorbed by your hair's shaft to replenish your hair's natural protein levels. While you can use a tiny amount to give your hair an extra bit of shine each day, this hand made organic remedy does its best job if you massage in and leave overnight before rinsing it out in the morning. Buy now from Live Native.

EXFOLIATING CLEANSER

What we really need to do is take a small amount of our time every day for a tiny bit of TLC to maintain our looks. The GIN Lady has been trialing organic skin care brand Eminence and is quietly confident with its results. The first thing that hits you is the absolutely delicious smell of the blueberries. These clever little berries are rich in anti-oxidants and tannins while its soy content heals and soothes your skin back to a healthy looking glow. Unlike normal exfoliators, it doesn't have the grit, its texture is smoothe and washes away the old skin to renew your face's looks. While we think the packaging is a little dull, your face certainly won't be after your own trial. Buy now from The Skinsmith.

We hope you enjoy our natural cures, quick beauty fixes and routine maintenance measures to restore and sustain your natural beauty.

Perform the loving ritual of spritzing a natural perfume that smells divine, rather than dousing yourself in a synthetic maze of chemicals that will upset you more than you realise (aka hormone disruptors). While many organic natural perfumes don't cut the mustard, our three seductive beauties work a treat and are definitely worth a trial.

INTELLIGENT NUTRIENTS - MAKE LOVE

While many experts quite rightly rave about Intelligent Nutrients' Innercalm blend of tranquil essentials - think sweet orange, grapefruit and mandarin, we adore the wafting passionate aroma of vanilla, so we were instantly drawn to Intelligent Nutrients' certified organic seductive blend, 'Make Love'. Designed with sensuality and intimacy in mind, your partner will want to get up close and personal with the sensuous sweet fragrant blend of rich vanilla, nutmeg and clove, with a hint of organic blackberry.

Multifunctional, we can use Make Love to not only smell passionate and exciting, we can also use to make our hair shine, and refresh and deodorize our bodies, even aid jet lag if you really have to fly.

And don't you just love Intelligent Nutrients for sponsoring Livia Firth's blog on Vogue.com? The Green Carpet Challenge takes the true delights of sustainable fashion to the affluent mainstream. As readers of Vogue too, eco fashion has been a bit amiss in the glossy bible so Livia's blog is a genuine triumph. We're liking this sea change, as much as we're liking Intelligent Nutrient's natural perfumes - natural nutrients in their most intelligent form. Our advice? Stay clear of synthetics and let nature seduce you.

Visit Intelligent Nutrients.

FLORASCENT - THE VERT

Similar in strength to a traditional eau de toilette, Florascent Aqua Aromantica draw on the traditional expertise of the 17th century parfumeurs, yet refrain completely from the use of phthalates and is 100% natural.

We looked to Lula Braithwaite, the founder of one of our favourite organic apothecary's, Love Lula, to find out which is her no. 1 perfume. Lula told The GIN Lady "My favourite natural perfume range is florascent – I love the delicate floral scents in The Vert scent. It’s lovely and light with Chinese green tea and Indian jasmine and makes me think of summer... which seems to be too far away at the mo!" 

With Lula's expert based recommendation, The GIN Lady feels this may well be worth adding to your perfume collection and transport you into the summer!

Visit the Florascent Perfume Range.

JO WOOD ORGANICS - USIKU

The GIN Lady has been totally in love with Usiku from Jo Wood Organics range for quite some time now and is bound to be a life long affair.

Usiku is a heady spicy blend featuring the "top notes of rosemary and pineneedle with a spicy hit of cardamom and hot ginger. A complex heart of coriander, clove and clary sage give way to the aromatic woody aromas of Moroccan cedarwood, patchouli and vetiver."

Spritzing this perfume blend will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling and we bet you'll fall for Usiku as much as we have.

Buy now from Jo Wood Organics.