HAVING siblings can sometimes involve trying your best to assist them with their issues and discomforts. For 32-year-old chemical engineer Kemesha Vassell, she wanted to help her sister get some relief from eczema and it led her to create her own line of natural hair and body care products, primarily geared towards the treatment of the irritating skin condition. It has since blossomed into a thriving business — Nature’s Promise Limited.

“My sister has really bad eczema on her scalp so she has a lot of flaking, so I started to do some research to see what natural ingredients could help. I found that shea butter, coconut oil, and even our Jamaican black castor oil as well as other essential oils are good for eczema,” Vassell explained.

Thereafter, Vassell said she created a hair moisturiser using shea butter, coconut oil, and Jamaican black castor oil, along with lemongrass and other essential oils for her sister.

She noted that the product worked well and relieved the symptoms, and she subsequently introduced it to other friends and family members who had similar conditions, and it worked.

The Banana Ground, Manchester, native, noted that the different professional experiences that she garnered and her foundation in chemical engineering propelled her to start her business in 2017.

Having achieved some success from the initial product she made, the entrepreneur, who also works as a business analyst and formerly as a business process engineer at MC Systems, a leading technology company and member of the Jamaica National Group, decided to add another eczema product to her catalogue. She realised that people also needed relief for skin breakouts and so she decided to do a body butter.

“I was trying to use the same base ingredients, such as the shea butter and coconut oil, but I didn’t factor in Jamaica’s climate. So while my research suggested that coconut oil at a certain [volume] would be good for a butter, in reality, they were references for a colder climate, so what I ended up with was an oil and I ran with it,” she explained.

She noted that she had to tweak it to have more coconut oil than shea butter, but to date, it is still her best product.

“It pretty much sells itself. It is a customer favourite and is available in multiple fragrances. I was hesitant when I decided to fully introduce the product, because it wasn’t what I had planned, but someone told me, ‘Nothing is wrong with it, leave it.’ That was the best advice, ever,” she stated.

With further research, she eventually made a body butter and a body lotion.

“The demand grew as I introduced more people to the product, so I registered the business as a corporation. Over the years we have expanded into a full haircare line, so we actually have a shampoo; deep conditioner; leave-in conditioner; the hair moisturiser, which originally started it; and a hair growth oil,” she disclosed.

Vassell, who has also practised as an environmental engineer, added that she also offers other products, such as face and body soaps, body scrubs, coffee scrubs, lip balms, and with demand, she now produces aftershave, shaving cream, beard oil, and beard wash.

Jocean Bawn, who has been a Nature’s Promise client for five years, says the body oil is a better alternative to lotion,and she and her son use it for both skin and hair.

“We both have eczema and it helps with dryness and absorbs into skin easily without feeling weighted down,” she said.

Nature’s Promise is currently a “one-man show”, but Vassell says she receives some assistance from her niece and sister to create and package the products. Her sister is also a director of the company.

She has been able to market and create awareness and sale of her products through social media, her website,
and expos.