CINNABAR GREEN

A patch of medicinal magic in Laikipia, Cinnabar Green is a natural cosmetics company. Originally only growing essential oils for export, the Cinnabar Green team couldn’t help but notice the need for locally produced, environmentally responsible body products. Their core value is be responsible to our planet and kind to its people and animals. 

Herbs and Spice and All Things Nice 

Their remedial range of medicinal herbs used to produce their essential oils are grown organically, handpicked and then steam-distilled to create the natural ingredients which bring multiple therapeutic benefits to our products. Can you just imagine the sight and scent of the gorgeously colored and fragranced oversized herb garden that produces these natural ingredients?! What their own farm cannot support climatically, Cinnabar Green source locally from small-scale growers, these include Avocado, baobab, Macadamia, Jojoba and Hibiscus. This approach to out-sourcing these natural ingredients combines their aim to use the best naturally active ingredients available but not forgetting the need for practicality and simplicity. 

Sourcing Ingredients  

When I looked at the assortment of ingredients and their sourcing story, I was blown away by the range and consciousness of where these special plants came from. Just to pick a few to give you an idea: 

Their Shea Butter is sourced from a Women’s Group in an impoverished part of northern Uganda where the sustainable and profitable use of the seeds protects those trees in an area desperate for wood as an instant source of income.

Their Jojoba oil (Simmondsia chinensis) from Wildlife Works in Tsavo, a wonderful organisation dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and promoting biodiversity through their work with local communities. 

Produced in Uganda by small-scale farmers, Hibiscus seed oil is rich in linoleic and oleic fatty acids and is bursting with vitamin E; a fat-soluble anti-oxidant. This means that using products containing this ingredient helps alleviate dry skin and discolouration.

Community 

Cinnabar Green is located in a semi-arid area on the lower north western slopes of Mt. Kenya. Being a part of the community here, the Cinnabar Green team are not ignorant to the poverty, climatic issues and lack of tree cover that are evident in the area. Understanding that they cannot work miracles, however Cinnabar Green try to increase employment levels in the community and set an example of how to preserve and restore the environment. A few projects that they run to support this ideology are: 

Malek Girls Secondary School – is the only girls boarding school in the area where John (the founder) commits huge amounts of energy to his role as chairman. With a strong belief that education is the foundation of improved living standards as well as a responsible attitude to the environment.

Eco Brick Project – Cinnabar Green has helped to fund the purchase of a compressed earth/cement brick making machine for a local women’s group. These bricks offer a sustainable and economic alternative to timber as a building material.