[unpaid/sample] Koba! Where have you been all my life? It turns out that founder, Therese M'Boungoubaya, not only has a pharmacist father and a mother who home-blended skin care over the kitchen table, but she's also got experience working with Clarins and L'Oreal. That's a root and branch immersion into the world of beauty so it's no surprise that Therese founded her own beauty brand. There are a lot of ex-beauty corporation brand founders - Sue Nabi, Sarah Creal to name a couple - because it's the best learning ground of all to understand all facets of running a beauty brand. Anyway, Therese has Congolese heritage and KOBA means turtle.
The key ingredient for all the products, from Safou Sorbet Face Balm to Touch Me Hand Cream, is Safou, otherwise known as the African Pear. It's a unique vegetable oil - nothing quite like it - and when I Google for other brands using Safou, there aren't any readily available. So, Therese is onto something special with a fleshy and buttery fruit rich in minerals, vitamins and oils. If you wanted to eat it, Safou is indicated in being high in healthy polyunsaturated fats that don't build up in the body.
It transpires that Safou is an ideal ingredient for skin care - I love the Milk It Body Lotion that takes a little bit of working in but once you've done it, your skin is transformed to the most wonderful softness and it keeps on moisturising long after it has been applied. It's my No. 1 pick from KOBA against some strong competition.
The Safu Sorbet Face Cleansing Balm is as soft and efficient as any premium and known brand. It took away the make up and grime of the day with absolute ease. It has a kind of clean and green fragrance and there's a shot of salicylic acid which will help with a mild exfoliation as you cleanse.
I find it hard to get excited about hand cream but Touch Me Hand Cream is just delicious - it's rich but light and like the body lotion, feels as though it keeps on moisturising throughout the day. In all cases, Safou oil is the top ingredient and in fact, the products I've tried are ingredient light, only using what needs to be there for maximum efficiency. As you might expect, the focus is on ethically cultivated and responsibly harvested ingredients. Pricing is just short of top end - the Body Lotion is £31.50 HERE (on offer instead of £45) which feels like a very fair price for something you need so little of to get a great deal of hydration. A thorough recommend.
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