Katja Wittneben could say that it was Namibian myrrh and the Opuwo Community Project that planted the seed for her natural body- care range, but the seed had already been planted years before.

An affinity to the natural world had inspired her to study botany. When Katja took part in the community project’s competition in 2013, submitting several products made with myrrh, it nourished the seed, well-established years earlier. And it began to flower.

She started to produce soaps, balms and body oils at home, delighted not to be using the store-bought products containing allergens, preservatives and sulphates. She even made a healing bum-balm for her newborn baby. These satisfied her desire to create something of value from nature, empower communities and conserve Mother Earth, philosophies which remain at the core of her Natura Africa natural cosmetic range today.

Coming from scientific backgrounds, Katja and her husband, Martin, had always been nature conservationists at heart. She says, “When you have kids you realise that you want to preserve Mother Earth even more.” Living in Namibia, they were fascinated with traditional plants, their age-old uses and wisdom, the African botanicals that have been known for centuries for their skincare benefits and medicinal properties.

They inspired Natura Africa’s products, which are kept pure and simple with essential oils, hydrosols and extracts. Katja’s ‘hero’ ingredients, as she calls them, are marula, manketti, baobab, Ximenia and Kalahari melon oil. Other African treasures like buchu oil, Cape snowbush essential oil, bulbinella extract and myrothamnus (resurrection bush) and kigelia powder enrich the products, offering additional benefits.

All the ‘hero’ oils are ethically-sourced and harvested wild and sustainably. Women in the rural areas collect the nuts and seeds, and sell them to companies which cold-press the oil. This income enables them to pay for school fees, food and household essentials in communities which exist by subsistence farming.

Katja and Martin explain: “We believe that by sourcing ingredients from community projects, we can give back to our communities and preserve our natural resources.”

It is also a small group of women who hand-blend and produce the high-quality products in small batches in the Natura shop in the Brauhaus Arcade in Swakopmund. Customers are greeted with the enticing scent of whatever is currently being made.

Katja follows the Ubuntu philosophy, which centres around the idea of interconnectivity and mutual support within a community. She explains: “I like the idea that all of us are connected and that we are responsible for our choices within a community. On a consumer level it shows as the difference we can make by buying ethical products.”

Free of sulphates, mineral oil, palm oil and parabens, bottled in glass and using minimal packaging (made in Africa), the Natura range gives a big tick next to ‘Caring for the planet’. Among the products are facial and body oils, African clay facial masks and cold-pressed soaps. And Katja continues to offer her popular baby-bum balm, perfected by years of motherhood.

After ten years of producing the natural body-care range, Katja is still amazed by the natural world’s gifts and how plants, especially Namibia’s desert-adapted plants, produce the incredibly rich and nourishing beauty oils and extracts.

The ethos of living consciously and making a difference in people’s lives while adding value sends out a ripple effect of positivity to Mother Earth and beyond. TN