Soaps from Italblends, Jamaica
Courtesy ItalBlends/Susan Lee Queew

In some ways the people of the Caribbean have always been green. Among the Amerindians, an oft-used cure-all comprised herbs, stones, and different types of snakes mixed in an alcohol-based liquid. Later, East Indian immigrants brought with them Hindu herbal treatments, such as the use of turmeric, or hardi, to cure headaches. Then there are the local “bush” concoctions of our childhood: vervaine tea for a “cooling”, chadon beni (bandaniya) root for fevers, coughs and colds.

Now we’ve turned to Mother Nature to help us create a wide range of toiletries and cosmetics, including body soaps, lotions and body butters; shampoos, conditioners, hair moisturisers and other hair-maintenance products; massage oils and facial cleansers.


Words like “natural”, “herbal”, “organic” and “green” are now familiar to everyone. But they don’t all mean the same thing. The term “organic” has a legal meaning, and is given to crops and animals obtained from farms that follow strict standards, including crop rotation and the intensely restricted use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides.

But while these standards are enforced in North America and Europe, there aren’t similar guidelines for producers in the Caribbean to follow, or anyone to test the products and grant such certification. Furthermore, Caribbean toiletry-makers import many of their raw materials, and cannot guarantee that these have been grown and reared under organic conditions.

For these reasons, many Caribbean cosmetic-makers are reluctant to call their products organic. Instead, some prefer to call their handiwork “natural”, or use the label “herbal”, which describes goods that contain only plant products.

Some producers, such as Trinidad and Tobago’s Cheryl Bowles, favour local ingredients which are usually available without much hassle. The sorrel, coconut water, bois bandé and shea butter used in her Cher Mère products are all sourced locally. Similarly, Michelle Yap of Jamaica’s ItalBlends obtains the goat’s milk she uses in her soaps from local producers whenever possible. The bias towards local ingredients is part of what Bowles calls “culture cosmetics”, the spirit of which is captured in product names including Trinidadian expressions such as Bazodee Body Lotion, Doux Doux Body Butter and Hott Foot Pedi Scrub. A similar sentiment is shared by Italblends, whose product lines use well-known Jamaican sayings such as “Lively Up Yourself” and “Pure Niceness”.

It’s possible for producers to grow some of their own ingredients. At the Soap Kitchen’s base in Tacarigua, Trinidad, a variety of herbs and fruit are grown on the spacious grounds. Leigh Mohammed cultivates lemon grass, rosemary, thyme and other herbs. She also has mango trees, whose fruit she uses. When mangoes are in season, she dries them and stores the dried fruit for use whenever she needs it.

Caribbean natural-cosmetic makers

Dominica: Natural Botanicals, Portsmouth

Barbados: Cher Mère Day Spas: Christ Church, Spice Town

Jamaica: Italblends, Irish Town, Jamaica, www.italblend. . .

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