Before coming to live in UK, Rosie lived in her home country of Tanzania. Having worked in her cousin’s salon since the age of fifteen, she identified there was a need for hair removals products for women. She started making skin products at home, from the natural ingredients readily available, such as fresh fruit, vegetable and yoghurt. She adapted the centuries-old method of sugar waxing for the current beauty market.
In 1987, she moved to the UK, 8-months pregnant and with a six year old in-tow. With a completely new culture to adapt to, and the need to make money, she started up a mobile therapy business. Having looked at hair removal products available in UK, she realised that no one was producing or even using sugar waxing. So again, she started to manufacture the product herself, having invested in a small manufacturing unit to undertake production.
Sugar waxing offers a wide range of benefit over the typical hair removal products that proliferate in UK supermarkets. It is much less painful to use, is environmentally friendly and 100% vegan, and her products are not tested on animals. The waxing strips can be rewashed and her packaging can be recycled too.
With these eco-credentials, it is no wonder that the Body Shop was interested in the product. Rosie has a philosophy of ‘Don’t give up until you get a definite no’, so she persisted in sending samples to the Body Shop, and asking to speak to them. That persistence paid off, and she eventually got in front of Anita Roddick herself, which was the start of a 17-years partnership of supply to all their stores. Encouraged by their R&D expert Dr Barbara Brockway, Rosie went on to gain a qualification in sugar chemistry at Leatherhead College, and was able to refine her product further to ensure its stability in the different geographical markets that the Body Shop operated out of. So she went from manufacturing products in her kitchen to a supplier to a Multi-National company.
Unfortunately the relationship with the Body Shop ended when L’Oreal took them over. Her current products include, Aqua Natural for the professional/salon market, and Sugar Stripease for the consumer, which she sells on various online beauty platforms and on Amazon. She is now pursuing supply partnerships with other beauty product stockists, such as Boots and SuperDrug.