Every year to mark International Women's Day, L'Occitane launches an exclusive solidarity product to support women in developing countries. This year, International Women's Day falls on March 8th. This year, L'Occitane has chosen to focus on women in Burkina Faso, a relationship which has been developing for the last 30 years. Fast forward to today and a partnership which started with just 12 local women has now developed into an enterprise of over 17,000 women which is truly astonishing, and it is those women produce the Shea Butter, an ingredient which features in so many of L'Occitane's award winning collections and an ingredient that my skin absolutely loves.
L'Occitane has its own global programme Women for Burkina which has three main objectives: to assist in literacy, to provide access to micro-loans and to promote entrepreneurial actions. Only ONE our of five women in Burkino Faso today knows how to read and write. Since 2010, 900 women have gained access to literacy programmes sponsored by the L'Occitane Foundation and more than 6,000 women have gained access to the micro-loans. These micro-loans help women to develop an activity that generates money for their households.
How can you help? As I mentioned, each year, L'Occitane launches an exclusive solidarity product to support women in developing countries and this year it is the Ultra-soft Balm, 100%* of the profits will go to fund these special projects. This Shea Butter Balm is a rose scented multi-purpose moisturiser and it can be used on your lips, your body especially cuticles, elbows and knees and it can also be used on your hair. It smells just absolutely divine and comes presented inside this beautifully decorated motif tin which is said to have been designed symbolise the wax-print fabrics worn by Burkinabe women and is a symbol of festivity and tradition which is deep-rooted in African Cultural Heritage.
The tin is a perfect size for chucking in your handbag and it costs just £4 right here. I am sure that on Women's Day there will be snippets of information about famous women who have all done their bit, but what I love about this project, is the idea of being able to champion women who have quite possibly changed more lives than we will ever appreciate by working hard to do so.
Will you be buying a tin?