Photo Credit: Dreamentia
Ngozi Bolin has created a skin and haircare product line free of alkali and sulfate ingredients to give women the chance to feel beautiful without harming their natural glow.
Growing up in a war-torn Nigeria, Bolin encountered many beauty product lines that had ingredients that would lighten skin and permanently straighten hair. Her grandmother would pass down natural beauty tips and, as a kid, Bolin started experimenting with hand pressed oils and clays. She has been mixing her own beauty products ever since.
“I always made my own creams just because I was afraid of what is in a lot of products,” said Bolin. “During the war, you didn’t have things to clean your teeth and my grandmother suggested that I use charcoal. Knowing that there are natural ways to get the results changed everything.”
Bolin started creating her own creams and oils for herself, but never thought that it would turn into a business. She instead took up a career in law working as a lawyer in Nigeria, New York and Los Angeles. Law was a passion for Bolin for much of her life, but it was weighing on her and more and more women were loving her products.
“I will go to court when a friend or a family member needs it, but Shinkafa is my passion now,” said Bolin. “When I take an ingredient and I’m trying to match it with another one I can be up all night, I’m not tired. I chop off my own hair to see how it’s working. I love every part of it.”
Bolin’s products started spreading just by word of mouth. Women would ask her what she uses and after letting them sample it, they would want more. All of her products were being cooked in her kitchen and put in the freezer or refrigerator, but in 2007, Bolin met with a chemist to see what she would have to do to make her products in bulk. After seven long years and using money that was saved through practicing law, Bolin was able to put her first batch on the market.
“It took up time to really get it right because all of these things are cooking. We argued about ingredients because I’d tell them, ‘Look, I don’t want chemicals. Don’t take me the alkali route,'” said Bolin.
In 2014, Nogzi was positioned to launch the all-natural beauty product line, Shinkafa. The line consists of blemish cream, a face protector mousse for makeup and even a hair relaxer that doesn’t permanently straighten hair. It also includes conditioners, oils and more products that are completely sulfate and alkali free. Bolin’s goal is to provide something that creates beautiful hair and skin with nutrients instead of harsh and harmful chemicals.
“It was important for me to go with a name that represents where I’m from and is also in line with my vision,” said Bolin. “Shinkafa means rice, which is in a lot of our food, and my products are food for the hair and body.”
For more information about Bolin and Shinkafa, visit www.shinkafa.com.
