“This is the beauty era! and young women like myself are always looking for ways to invest in their appearance… I have been on the hunt for a locally made product to incorporate into my beauty regime.” Kimberley Forbes, pharmacist

And just like that! Ital Rejuve, an eyebrow and lash booster made entirely from castor beans commonly known as oil nut, is now available. It is an all-natural raw, unfiltered and untainted product. “Ital Rejuve,” shared Forbes, “was actually driven by my personal experience… between losing my own lashes due to fusion and strip lashes, over-tweezing or waxing my eyebrows and then my skincare journey that has been up and down due to constant make-up and just a poor skin routine in general. The aim was to create a natural product that can maintain healthy, glowing skin, help to restore hair loss and also retain hair volume and length. Personally, when you love the way you look it develops a confidence that is unmatched.”

It’s fair to say that Jamaican black castor oil has been part of Forbes’ collective unconcious for decades. “It’s a part of the Jamaican culture known for maintaining healthy hair. However, after doing more research, I realised there is so much more to this oil. The rich properties of our black castor oil possessed everything I was looking for and more. In addition to enhancing the health of hair follicles, it is non-comedogenic (non-pore-clogging), a natural anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agent. Jamaican black castor oil is also rich in vitamin E and fatty acids, making it an effective replenishment for skin and hair,” said Forbes.

Ital Rejuve is made from the highest quality oil nut (castor beans) combined with a process that has been refined through generations. Premium parched, hand-pressed castor beans, made in small batches, demonstrate time invested to ensure a quality crafted product.

Style Observer (SO): How has your training as a pharmacist helped in the formulation of this product?

Kimberley Forbes (KF): From a health-care perspective I deal with a lot of patients with alopecia, whether due to the side effects of medications or years of pulling at the hairline. I have always recommended Jamaican black castor oil.

The formulation created in Ital Rejuve provides a rich and consistent texture. The process used is intended to retain the beneficial properties of the oil, so that the full efficacy can be obtained. Being a pharmacist strongly influenced why I opted to do hand-pressed oil as opposed to cold-pressed. Even though cold-pressed is a much easier process I find that a lot of the oil properties are wasted with the technique. Sterilisation and distillation techniques were also employed to maintain the quality of our black castor oil.

SO: Tell us about the name and sumptuous packaging.

KF: We wanted something to reflect natural, organic, authentic but also have a Jamaican flare, hence the ‘ital’. The latter part of the name ‘rejuve’ plays on the word rejuvenate and speaks to overall enhancing, restoration and simply improving one’s natural features, whether it be lashes, hair or skin.

For the packaging, I thought about myself as the consumer: What would I want to see? What would intrigue me to learn about this product?

So with that in mind we decided that vibrant, sophisticated and of course something eye-catching were going to be integral in the packaging concept. From the logo to the labels I designed and selectively imported the packaging, so that we could accurately represent what I envisioned for the brand.

SO: What has been the feedback thus far?

KF: The feedback has been truly amazing, nothing short of a blessing and the product is speaking for itself. Especially our eyelash and eyebrow oil that has been well received. Seems like a lot of people have been waiting for a product like this, so I’m glad we could supply the demand.

SO: What do you want consumers to know about this product?

KF: Untainted, authentic and natural should come to mind when you see or think of Ital Rejuve. We want consumers to feel secure in the technique employed to produce our product and to know that they are receiving quality. We have studied and researched this plant and we want people to be confident in the results that they will obtain once used consistently.

SO: Where is Ital Rejuve available?

KF: Currently, our products are available in-store at Fontana Waterloo as well as Fontana Barbican, and also available through our IG page @ italrejuve