The Birth Of Yomoï
It all began many moons ago. In 2002 to be precise, when I first moved to the United Kingdom in the middle of winter. I arrived with the naivety of a young 17-year-old teenager whose priorities definitely did not include taking care of her skin. School and travelling were more important back then.
Having moved from my native country in Africa (Cameroon) I had no clue which moisturizer I should buy for my skin in my new home. I went with what my peers used at the time: a non-descriptive cream moisturiser that could be bought over the counter of drugstores.
This cream was for the lack of better words not working for my skin. It left me achy and dry. I was always self-conscious of how dry and dull my skin looked and sometimes it even felt brittle which was not comfortable at all. After trying so many different over-the-counter moisturizers and not getting the results I expected I then started doing some research and decided to add glycerin to help lock the moisture back into my skin. That obviously worked only on the surface but I was still not getting the moisture to penetrate my skin as it should.
When many years later I was finally able to afford the premium brands, I was shocked by the lack of options for people with dark skin like mine. I then decided to look into making my own cream at home using natural and organic ingredients just like my grandmother used to do back in the days.
I was lucky enough to have someone in the family with connection in Ghana to supply me with raw organic unrefined shea butter. I then started making the creams in my tiny kitchen – at that time my husband and I lived on a narrow boat so one can imagine the ingenuity it took to make the creams in a galley kitchen. But we made it work.
Today we aim to cater to the women and men like me who are struggling to find products that genuinely work for their skin. Products that were designed with them in mind first – not second as an afterthought. Products that give that luxury feeling without breaking the bank. We do not compromise on Ingredients, we rely on what mother nature gives us freely and prefer traditional methods of processing these ingredients to keep their integrity and properties and at the same time help in protecting our environment.
It makes me very proud that I can put my experience and the knowledge I’ve gathered through the years into a product line that really makes a difference.
Yours truly,
Seraphine.
