Carishea Shea Scot Double Whipped Body Balm

Semple & Semple are a chain of pharmacies which are based in Scotland - they also have an online store - see here. They recently tweeted #bbloggers asking for people to review Carishea Double Whipped Body Balm* (100ml - £7).

Carishea was founded by Trev & Denice Gregory and is part of Trade Right International (TRI), a social business which works with recovering drug & alcohol addicts in Scotland and shea nut pickers in Ghana.  Profits are returned to Ghana to help with aid and development.  You can read more about TRI here.

Women in Ghana harvest and collect the shea fruits.  The fruit is peeled, boiled and dried within 72 hours and the kernals are then ground, roasted, milled and mixed to a paste which is then boiled to extract the shea butter.  The shea butter is then shipped to Scotland and the workers transform the butter into beauty products - bar soaps, body balm and hand and body washes.  These are then sold and the profits returned to Ghana.

Ethically produced and fairly traded the balm is simply packaged in plastic pots. The body balm is gorgeous! I was sent Shea Scot - a "glocal" body balm made with 80% shea butter, lavender essential oil and local Scottish honey.  The balm is double whipped making it light and fluffy.  No water is used in production so the balm is really rich.  I've been warming it in my palms so it melts to a rich oil before before applying to my body.  I've been using it just before bed and have found that the calming lavender scent with soothing honey is a real pampering treat.

Other scents in the range include:

Shea Joy - Geranium, Lemongrass & Patchouli
Shea Life - Lemon Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus &  Rosemary
Shea Spice - Ylang Ylang & Cinnamon
Simply Shea

You can buy Carishea products here.  

Follow on Twitter @Carishea  @sempleandsemple

*complimentary product - sent for review