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At Pure Beginnings the ingredients in our products are the superheroes of our stories. One of these superheroes is Baobab – a super ingredient which features in many of our best-selling products like our baby bum cream and our baby wash and shampoo.

The baobab tree is an iconic symbol on the African landscape and its beauty and benefits are far-reaching. Apart from providing shelter to bushmen, the baobab is a source of nutrients and water to many humans and animals. One could say that the baobab creates its own kind of Ubuntu on the African plains. Animals like baboons and warthogs eat the seed pods, colonies of African honey bees nest in the upper reaches, weavers build their nests in the huge branches and barn owls, mottled spinetails and ground hornbills roost in the many hollows. The creased trunks and hollowed interiors also provide homes to countless reptiles, insects and bats.

This story by Margaret Roberts, one of South Africa’s most well know herbalists, best encapsulates the respect and value the baobab holds for the rural communities in Africa – “On a quiet still afternoon my daughter and I walked inland towards the edge of a forest. Some distance away stood a majestic baobab. A tiny, solitary figure emerged from the trees, bearing a large bundle of wood on her head. As she drew level, we saw a flutter of her hand and a little curtsy as she passed. We questioned our guide on what we had just witnessed. He smilingly said: “Of course, she greeted the great Baobab – it is her medicine and food tree!

A Powerhouse of Nutrition

African people have treasured the baobab tree and its fruit for thousands of years calling it “The Tree of Life”, and rightfully so.

Did you know that baobab fruit extract has as many antioxidants as goji berries, more calcium than milk, more iron than red meat, more potassium than a banana and more magnesium than spinach! It’s no wonder that it’s now recognised as a superfruit.

Applied topically to the skin baobab fruit extract is a potent anti-oxidant which helps the skin fight external aggressors and stay healthy. It is also exceptionally moisturising and soothing, which makes it perfect for babies as well as children and adults with sensitive skin. Baobab is also a prebiotic and serves as a food source for the beneficial bacteria that populate the skin and help maintain a healthy skin microbiome.

It is no surprise, then, that baobab is a key ingredient in our health-inducing and healing baby skincare products.

The baobab fruit extract used in Pure Beginnings products is sustainably sourced from rural communities through the fair trade organisation Phytotrade Africa.

 

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