Leading a transformative wave in African beauty, visionary women like Valerie Obaze of R&R Skincare are building global brands rooted in heritage, quality, and sustainability.
The African beauty industry is undergoing a transformation led by women like Valerie Obaze, who are returning to their roots to build the future. Valerie Obaze is a trailblazer whose work with natural botanicals has positioned her as one of the most influential voices in Africa’s clean beauty movement. This new generation of beauty entrepreneurs are not just bottling oils, they are rewriting the story of African beauty with quality products and clean ingredients. Now, the global industry is paying attention.
For our Beauty issue, we spoke to some of these visionary women who understand the business of beauty and the reality that beauty itself is more than skin-deep. They aren’t just selling skincare, makeup or providing services, they are building brands that promote wellness, sustainability and authenticity.
As the founder of R&R Skincare, Valerie Obaze belongs to this generation of African entrepreneurs. Inspired by a desire to use only the safest, most nourishing ingredients on her newborn daughter’s skin, she launched the brand in 2010. What began as a personal mission has grown into a global brand.
What Valerie Obaze has created with R&R is more than just skincare. It’s a slow beauty experience rooted in cultural processes and modern science. It is a brand that refuses to cut corners or compromise on values. Whether it’s shea body oil or liquid black soap, each formula represents Africa’s raw potential and the women who extract it with care.
In our first interview, Valerie Obaze shares key lessons she’s learned from building a successful African skincare brand over the past 15 years. She speaks candidly about the trials of ethical sourcing, rebranding to drop the word “luxury” altogether. She also advocates for sustainability in African beauty to be more than a marketing term, being lived across every touchpoint.
In her story, we find the very essence of this beauty issue’s theme as we dive into how she’s rewriting the rules through products offered simply and beautifully, to the world.
Can you tell us the story behind the inception of R&R Skincare? What personal experiences or gaps in the market inspired you to create a botanical skincare brand rooted in African heritage?
I founded R&R in 2010 after moving to Lagos from London and having my first child. I wanted to use only 100% natural products on my daughter’s skin and was shocked to find nothing that fit my requirements when I scoured the shelves. All I found were imported products that were packed with synthetic ingredients. This led to me creating my own products, using raw ingredients such as shea which were indigenous to the country I was in. I’m a strong believer in creating value where you are. International brands have used African ingredients for decades, but no African-owned beauty brand created products by us, for everyone — until now. Africa has so much to offer and it’s a privilege to share that beauty with the rest of the world.
You have a background in Public Relations. Were there specific skills or insights as a media and communications professional that proved invaluable in your entrepreneurial journey of building and promoting the brand?
Absolutely! They still come in handy today. Although the marketing landscape has changed massively since 2010, having skills in marketing gave me a head start in business. Having worked with consumer brands in the beauty space during my 8 years in PR, I understood packaging and merchandising deeply. My past experiences working with start-ups and putting them at the forefront of the consumer’s conscience through the media provided a distinct advantage when it came to amplifying the voice of this baby brand that I was building.
Your brand got a name change- from R&R Luxury to R&R skincare What brought about this change, and how has this impacted the brand?
The name change was part of a larger rebrand. R&R Luxury was turning into a teenager and we felt that it needed a makeover; visually and in how it showed-up to the consumer. Initially I pushed back on the logo change but eventually came around. However, when it came to the business of dropping the word “luxury” I didn’t hesitate. I understood that having the word “luxury” in our name alienated a lot of our potential customers. They would assume that the pricing was high-end and would not even attempt to go any further. On the contrary, our brand has always been about affordable luxury focusing on a local supply chain and the quality of our ingredients, offering natural skincare solutions for every pocket.
Launching a brand isn’t all smooth-sailing. What were some of the initial challenges you faced when launching the brand, and how did you overcome them?
Launching is tough, but sustaining a brand for over a decade is a constant stream of challenges. Success lies in tackling issues head-on with swift, uncompromising action. From building an organic audience, obtaining certification, finding quality local packaging manufacturers, to gaps in supply chain, it is endless. But the key to overcoming this is to take each day one step at a time. That’s how we’ve arrived here nearly 15 years later and hopefully with many more years ahead of us!
Can you recall a defining moment that affirmed you were on the right path?
There have been several defining moments. The earliest was when we started and gave out free samples to friends and family. They all came back. And many are still customers to this day and have evolved with the brand over this last decade and a half. That validation was priceless.
R&R Skincare emphasises sustainability and ethical sourcing. How do you ensure that these values are upheld throughout the business supply chain?
One of our biggest issues was gaps in supply. We could neither predict nor fix when they occurred and we would face extended periods with critical products unavailable to customers, entirely reliant on our supplier’s output.
We now proudly own our entire supply chain through a fully equipped processing centre in rural northern Ghana. Women in the local communities directly work with us to produce our raw materials ensuring transparency and quality along the entire process. This process has given us a more holistic approach to how we perform as a sustainable business. It also gives the women direct access to me when tin case of grievances or requests.
The beauty industry is ever-evolving. How has the R&R brand adapted to changes in the industry, especially with the growing demand for clean and natural products?
Change and trends are shifting constantly. While we are keeping abreast of happenings in the industry, R&R is a brand that has been around for a while and will be around for even longer. We are not trend-led, we focus on quality and highly effective natural products that have stood the test of time. Despite our rebrand, our DNA and our products remain the same.
R&R products are known for their simplicity and effectiveness. In product formulation, what is your philosophy and how do you balance tradition with innovation?
Our philosophy is sharing Africa’s sacred beauty rituals with the rest of the world. We do so by honouring the purity and gravity of our local botanicals and giving them the glory they deserve. We don’t mix a ton of ingredients together. Each one is given time to shine and show the world what it’s made of. Although these ingredients have been around way longer than we have, we modernise them by giving them a sleek but practical makeover, making them more appealing to a wider subset of consumers.
What strategies have you found effective in building trust with your audience, particularly when it comes to educating them about the authenticity of your products?
Social media is key. If you hear about our brand for the first time, just a quick look at our Instagram will show you our daily activity, our enduring presence, and the positive experiences shared in our reviews, confirming our trustworthiness. We tell a unique story as a female-owned African beauty brand by proudly owning our entire supply chain from source to shelf. This level of control is rare and allows us to ensure true authenticity from start to finish. Our customers trust R&R Skincare because they hear our story, see over a decade of proven results, and recognize that top beauty industry names use and love our products.
Beyond skincare, R&R Skincare has a strong social impact component. Tell us about the initiatives you’ve undertaken to empower women and communities involved in your business and the industry at large?
Through our NGO, WSDP, we work directly with women in rural northern Ghana, empowering them to build sustainable livelihoods. With our support, these women have formed cooperatives and established their own businesses, giving them greater independence and economic stability.
At our processing centre, we pre-finance the shea nuts and the women have free access to machinery and tools to transform the shea nuts they collect into high-quality raw shea butter. We purchase shea butter from them at above-market rates, ensuring fair compensation for their hard work. We also provide year-round employment opportunities, even beyond shea season.
The women are trained in producing additional natural ingredients such as baobab oil, lemongrass essential oil, and black soap—allowing them to continue earning a sustainable income throughout the year.
How do you define success, in terms of business growth and personally?
It’s difficult to define success because the goal posts constantly shift. Success today might be launching in the US market, but once you’ve done that, your goals change and become bigger. But overall, success to me would be making R&R Skincare a household name globally. For my personal life, true success looks like when the business is more self-sufficient and allows me more freedom to do the things I love outside of work, such as spending quality time with my family.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for R&R Skincare in the next five to ten years?
The big picture is to have R&R available on every content. The route to getting there is just taking one step at a time and breaking our goals down piece-by-piece.
How do you see the role of African beauty brands on the global stage, and as a brand owner, what steps do you believe are necessary to elevate their presence?
We are still novel on the global stage and lots of work needs to be done to elevate our presence. On the brand side, we need to ensure that we meet all legal requirements and have the capacity to fulfill large orders. For retailers’ and consumers’ end, they simply need to give us a chance to share the goodness of our craft.
What innovations or conversations do you believe the African beauty industry needs to be leading in the next 5–10 years?
We should continue to take control of our narrative and prove that good and effective products can come from Africa. In terms of innovation, we must strive to automate as many of our processes as possible. We need to keep up with the demand that I believe is coming our way.
As a mother and entrepreneur, how do you balance personal and professional responsibilities?
I just do my best. My family will always be my primary focus, but I have systems in place at home and at work to ensure that things run as efficiently as possible in my absence. I stay fully present whether I’m spending time with my kids or focused on work.
What lessons have you learned that would be valuable to other women pursuing similar paths?
They should believe in their ability to achieve anything they set their minds to. Always lead with integrity and think about gaining the satisfaction of their end customer in all that they do. I would also tell them to expect constant challenges, whether big or small, know that they will come. But if you face them head on, you will overcome.
Get to know Valerie Obaze
Favorite R&R skincare product you can’t live without?
That’s tough. I have 3 that nothing in this world can substitute. Our Shea Oil, Liquid Black Soap and Baobab Repair Oil for my face, my skin loves it!!
A beauty ritual you practice daily?
At night after cleansing I use my gua-sha and Baobab Repair Oil to decompress and for lymphatic drainage.
An African ingredient you believe is underappreciated in global skincare?
I believe baobab is quite an underrated ingredient when it comes to skincare. While widely known as a superfood, baobab is also a powerhouse for skin. It’s rich in vitamins and omega fatty acids that keep skin hydrated, nourished, and youthful.
A woman in the beauty industry who inspires you?
Monique Rodriguez who founded Mielle Beauty.
Advice for aspiring beauty entrepreneurs who aim to create brands that are both profitable and purpose-driven?
If you can, do it, but be clear on your why and lead with purpose. When you have these two drivers constantly in the back of your mind, you can make anything a reality.
