Women’s History Month is often framed through the lens of political leaders, cultural icons and movements, and civil rights milestones. For many Black women, history also lives in quiet rituals and the unspoken knowledge that what grows from the Earth often knows our skin best.
As beauty trends cycle through serums, acids, and lab-engineered active ingredients, there’s been a renewed conversation across the diaspora about returning to ancestral ingredients and practices that sustained Black communities long before “clean beauty” became a marketing buzzword.
One founder who embodies that philosophy is Valerie Obaze of R&R Skincare, a brand built on African-sourced ingredients and ethical production practices rooted in Northern Ghana. R&R creates clean skincare products designed to promote overall well-being while highlighting the efficacy of traditional ingredients like shea butter, black soap, and baobab oil. The company oversees its production from tree to bottle and works directly with rural women through initiatives such as The Women of The Savannah Development Project, ensuring equitable compensation, community reinvestment, and sustainable sourcing.
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Recently, MadameNoire had the opportunity to chat with Obaze about what Black women often misunderstand about caring for melanin-rich skin, how to identify quality products in a crowded marketplace, and reconnecting with ancestral beauty traditions.
When asked about common misunderstandings Black women have about caring for their skin, Obaze pointed directly to the undervaluing of ancestral ingredients. “I don’t come from a space of aesthetics or dermatology. I come from a place of passion, business and belief in our ancestral ingredients and what our mothers and our mothers’ mothers and our generations have been using before I even came onto this earth,” she explained.
Growing up in an African household, Obaze says she witnessed firsthand how these ingredients supported skin health long before they became trendy in global beauty markets. “I’ve had the benefit of growing up in an African family and using all of these ingredients that we’ve been using for centuries and having them having a great effect on our skin,” she said.
One misconception she frequently encounters involves African black soap — a traditional cleanser that has gained popularity worldwide but is often misunderstood. “[The misconception is that] some of our ingredients are not good. I’ve seen things online talking about black soap… and people were talking about how it’s not great for Black skin or it’s drying,” she noted.
The issue, she explains, often comes down to product quality rather than the ingredient itself.
“Sometimes you can use a bad version of that product and then label the entire category problematic,” Obaze said.
This speaks to a broader pattern in beauty culture: traditional ingredients are dismissed as outdated until they’re rebranded, repackaged, and sold back to consumers at a premium. For Obaze, honoring heritage means recognizing that ingredients like shea butter and baobab oil are time-tested.
“These are ingredients that have been around for a long time and they will continue to be around. There are some things that are gonna last the test of time and are not trend led,” she said.
How To Tell If You’re Getting The Real Thing
As African-derived ingredients become more mainstream, many brands highlight them on packaging. However, the presence of an ingredient name doesn’t always mean it’s present in meaningful amounts. Obaze says the key is learning to read ingredient lists. “When you see ingredients on a bottle, they’re listed from the highest volume to the lowest volume,” she explained. That means the first ingredient listed makes up the largest portion of the product. “What you’re looking for is where that key ingredient that’s on the front… appears in that list,” she said.
She notes that some products marketed as shea-based may contain minimal amounts. “Brands… have been labeling products ‘shea butter’ for decades… and when you look on [the package], it’s actually water, glycerin, this, that and the other before you get to… shea butter,” she said.
While even small amounts of an ingredient can still be beneficial, consumers seeking authenticity should pay attention to formulation transparency. “If you want the true original unadulterated thing, you need to look at brands… which give it to you exactly as is,” she said, noting that some R&R formulations prioritize the key ingredient as the majority of the product.
For Black consumers especially, this knowledge can be empowering. Ingredient literacy shifts the power dynamic from marketing claims to informed decision-making.
It’s Never Too Late To Reset Your Skincare Routine
For many millennial and Gen-X Black women, skincare education often came late. Sunscreen myths, limited dermatological access, and generational habits meant routines were sometimes reactive rather than preventative. Obaze offers reassurance: skin renewal is constant.
“I think that it’s never too late to start again. Our skin regenerates itself every 30 days or so,” she said. That biological renewal cycle means change can begin almost immediately once healthier habits are introduced. “Within a month your skin cells are starting to renew,” she added.
Her advice centers on returning to fundamentals. “The fundamental basics are moisture and moisture retention,” she explained. This includes using products that both attract moisture and lock it in. “You have to ensure that you use products that… act as a humectant and then… a product to seal it in.”
For her own routine, oils play a sealing role. “I’ll use a couple of different serums depending on what state my skin is in, and then I’ll seal it with our Baobab Repair Oil on my face. My body, I just purely use the shea oil,” she shared.
Obaze also stresses that simplicity can be powerful. “Sometimes it’s best to strip back and go back to basics to see where your skin needs support… sometimes the basics and simplicity is where the beauty lies,” she said. Of course, she adds that persistent concerns should be addressed with a professional. “If you find that you have skin issues, you should definitely speak to a skincare professional… dermatologist preferably.”
Ethical Sourcing Matters For Your Skin — And Your Community
Beyond formulation, Obaze believes skincare can also be a vehicle for social impact.
R&R sources its shea and other ingredients directly from women in Northern Ghana, where the shea tree naturally grows. The company built its own processing center there to eliminate middlemen and ensure direct collaboration. “We wanted to ensure that we were working directly and not through any middle men. That way we could have direct impact,” she explained.
Rather than employing the women traditionally, R&R helps them operate as independent cooperatives. “These ladies do not work for us as employees. We set them up into small cooperatives where they are self-employed.” The company provides equipment, pre-finances raw materials, and buys their production at above-market rates.
“We give them our fully equipped processing center… we pre-finance the raw material… and then we buy directly from them at a higher cost than the market price,” she explained. According to Obaze, this has led to measurable improvements. “Sometimes we’ve spoken to the women and they say that it’s doubled their income.”
For consumers, this transparency creates a tangible link between daily routines and global community empowerment.
Reconnecting The Diaspora Through Beauty
Black History Month often centers on reclaiming narratives, restoring pride, and reconnecting to heritage. Obaze sees her work in skincare as part of that same continuum. “I think that it would be part of my life’s work to be able to bring people a little piece of home, wherever they are,” she shared. She believes African ingredients carry cultural meaning beyond their cosmetic benefits.
“We talk about sharing Africa’s beauty secrets with the rest of the world,” she said. That mission also challenges global misconceptions about the continent. “People generally have this perception of Africa to be the opposite of luxurious skincare products… where actually so much richness and so much beauty comes from our soil,” she explained.
For those who feel disconnected from ancestral traditions, skincare can become a quiet but meaningful bridge. “If our little ancestral wisdom… can get into the hands of somebody who’s been disconnected from their true ancestry, then my job is done,” Obaze said.
Honoring heritage doesn’t always require grand gestures. Sometimes, it looks like reconsidering what’s already in your bathroom cabinet and asking where those ingredients came from, who cultivated them, and how they’ve been used across generations. If Obaze’s perspective offers any reminder, it’s that history isn’t only preserved in museums or textbooks. It’s also held in rituals, routines, and the everyday ways we care for ourselves — including the ingredients our ancestors trusted long before we were born.
