The Rose Behind Rose & Co. – Rwanda’s Newest Organic Natural Hair and Skin Care Line
Entrepreneurs are the brilliant and gusty people who have the grit and know-how to turn problems into solutions. When I met Rose in late 2014, we had a brief conversation about how we could not find any shea butter in Rwanda, and our afros were not happy. Several months later, Rose announced that she was launching her organic hair and skin care line Rose & Co. Naturals. I wanted to get more insight into how she went about doing this. So here are eight questions with Rose:
Tell us who you are
My name is Roseline Twagimariya and I’m a project manager working in Kigali. I had the brilliant idea to have this hair and skin line that’s made of all organic, natural materials.
What’s your connection to Rwanda?
I was born here; I left when I was six years old. I still have a lot of family here, but I grew up in the States and when I had the opportunity to come and work here, I jumped on it because I wanted to get to know my country, and what it means to be Rwandan, and also just what life here is like, cuz I’ve laways wondered about it. So I came back because I wanted to get that experience.
Why a hair line?
Frustration! I came here with braids and when I got here I took them out, went to get a conditioner and shampoo – you know like normal. And I almost spent $40 [US] dollars. And I thought that was the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life, besides packing up and leaving the States. And I couldn’t believe how so many people deal with that. They pay that much, or they’re buying products that are not very good for your hair like the low quality products imported from somewhere else, that are still very expensive. I did my research and I found out that it’s pretty easy to do it yourself. It does require time and knowledge. But once you have it down, you don’t have to worry about using things that are bad for you.
Some women in the US go natural and feel like, “Oh, we’re connecting to our African roots!”. They have this idea that everyone in Africa is walking around with an Afro. Did you already know that was a myth, or where you surprised when you came here and found that the Afro is not really embraced in Rwanda?
It’s weird, because I know a lot of people have Afros, but it’s out of necessity. Like girls in school have to wear their hair short. Also you have people who don’t have the budget to be able to go into a shop all the time, so they keep their hair natural. But I was actually surprised not that there isn’t a lot of natural hair, but the attitude towards it. I would think that in Rwanda it would be more open. Like, “Of course I wanna wear my hair natural.”. Or, “Of course I wanna wear dreads.” But I’ve had people just give me a weird eye [and say,]
“But your hair doesn’t look combed.”
“Why don’t you just perm it?”
“Why are you doing this? What are you trying to prove?”
I was surprised at how unwelcoming people can be of natural hair here. Or they just don’t know anything about it. Or the ones that do have natural hair don’t know what to do with it. So it’s very interesting, the lack of knowledge about natural hair, in a country where so many people are natural.
I think that’s a colonial influence. There may have been years and years of being told that your hair as it is not ok. It sucks how you have also the corporate world that reinforces it. So even if someone wants to be natural, they can’t do it because they get the stares, and the looks, and it’s uncomfortable. I think it has to be colonial. What else could it be? But [it’s also influenced by] the States, and the movement to do whatever people do in the US and other countries. But in the States, there’s also a move to go natural, so I think that’s gonna trickle down to Rwanda. But it comes from years and years and years of being told that, or just knowing that, your hair in it’s natural state is not ok. You always perm it, you always braid it, you always flat iron, you always do these things to it. I think even if no one ever tells you it’s not ok, you always just grow up thinking it’s not ok. It’s this unspoken thing. I feel like when I became natural it kind of liberated me a little more. And finally I liked who I was in the mirror, knowing that it was all me and it wasn’t this extra stuff. And it’s funny how self-esteem goes with being natural. And most of the women I talk to say this. It’s like this increased self-esteem, just knowing that what you have is ok, and being proud of what you have on your head is a huge thing. I wish it for more women.
What would you say to women who worry about how having natural hair will affect their employment opportunities?
In a perfect world, what you can do, your job, your skills, they should speak for themselves, not your hair. Even if you feel like you’re getting pressure from HR. Put your foot down and say, “You hired me because I can do this not because of what I look like.” Fight back. The more and more people fight back. The less we’ll have to deal with that.
Tell me about Rose & Co.
I don’t know where it’s headed, but I’m very excited about what it could be. We’re based in Rwanda at the moment, but we also want to be able to ship internationally. The goal is to also make a lot of the ingredients that we have to import, here; create jobs; and teach people how to make these products themselves. Also teaching, and doing workshops, and talking to different women about natural products and benefits, and just how to take better care of yourself, both inside and out. Right now the sky is the limit.
What challenges have you faced so far?
Ingredients. Even though we’re in Africa, I can’t get shea butter in Rwanda. I have to order from the US which they get from Ghana. It would be great to meet someone in Ghana who I can get this from directly. I make the coconut oil from scratch, but coconuts do not grow in Rwanda. I’ve been getting coconuts from Kenya, but I’d like to find a more local source. I want to find local farmers so it can be income for them. People outside Rwanda have asked for the products but how do I get it to them? Can we find a more affordable way to get things in and out of Rwanda? It’s very expensive to ship things outside of this country so I want to get to a point where I’m not limited to a geographic location.
In the future Rose & Co. would make all of these base ingredients for other manufacturers and companies in Africa. I’m sure they are also facing the same challenges to get these ingredients from other places. Avocadoes grow everywhere in Rwanda, so that could be income for people to sell me their avocadoes, or they could make the oil for me. It’s all about development. It’s not just one person winning. It’s something the whole country could benefit from. And that’s really what I see Rose & Co. becoming: jobs for people, but also to give people more affordable natural products. I hope that Rose & Co. is for everyone in Rwanda, and not just a certain set who can afford it.
How would you capture the essence of what Rose & Co. is supposed to be or represent?
Back to the Basics. This is where we started as human beings. Whenever we got sick, we got outside and got plants. It was very natural. There was nothing that was made in a lab. So I feel like Rose & Co. is taking it back to the basics, where it started. If you wouldn’t put it inside your body, don’t put it on your body.
Hello, I’m starting my own hair care comapany here in Ghana although we have the main ingredients like sheabutter, coconut oil, palm kernel,soy oil and cocoa I cant get the rest i need and its becoming challenging!
Great job done here, Rose!
As a Rwandese, I’m glad to see someone’s bringing the Natural movement to Rwanda. Kinda absurd that this back-to-the-roots-journey had to come from the US back to Africa when Ethiopia where they still keep up traditional hair care – successfully, just watch pics of Habesha hair – is so close.
Does she have a YouTube channel with beauty tutorials? If not she should consider it. Rwandan women would welcome it a lot 🙂
I love stories like this. It’s always great to see people going after their dreams. It’s so interesting that she lives in Rwanda yet has to source Shea Butter via the US.