About

us

Made in Africa with Love and Hope

For centuries, Africa has embraced natural skin care, enriching skin with deeply hydrating ingredients from plants overflowing with nourishment.
Now it’s time to share our African bounty with you.

Our products

Timeless formulas support timeless beauty. The ingredients in our products have been used in Africa for centuries to promote natural protection, nourishment, hydration and skin healing. With ancient knowledge, modern techniques, and ingredients from Africa’s rich and bountiful land, Sama Botanics has developed a range of deeply nourishing skin care products that leave your skin feeling like silk.

Our ingredients

We only use plant based, sustainable clean ingredients, cold pressed and single sourced resulting in premium quality products for ultra-hydrated, radiant skin. Our main ingredients either originate from and or are wildly grown on the continent and some of the supporting ingredients in our products come from various locations across the globe. All Sama Botanics products are free of parabens, sulfates and other harmful toxins and we formulate to be as synthetic free as possible.

sustainability

At Sama Botanics we are committed to creating a sustainable, socially and environmentally responsible range, with the highest quality ingredients. Our products are formulated and designed with the intention of caring for your skin, having a positive effect on African communities, and leaving a minimal environmental footprint. Our packaging is made of fully recycled and or recyclable material. Our precious oils are contained in amber glass which protects the contents from light exposure. Our black pipettes are temper proof for extra peace of mind.

A note from the founder

My name is Nafisa and I am the founder of SAMA Botanics. I launched SAMA (initially called Shea Botanics) on Instagram in March 2020 – right at the beginning of the pandemic. We quickly found a welcoming and encouraging online community so I decided to launch our products and trade, then in 2023 we had to stop for two main reasons:

1. Having learnt a lot in our 2.5 years online, I wanted to restructure and reorganise our business to better align ourselves with what you, our cherished customers and community want from us and

2. We need resources to achieve that and I do not have enough – I have funded my business completely on my own since we started. But because of my ability to bootstrap my business and with customer support, I am happy to say that we have resumed business and if I can get the right funding, we can expand our offering sooner and with an even better selection for you.

In the meantime – continue making your purchases directly on our website – we will also resume selling with our retail partners in due course. Please also continue to interact with us anywhere and everywhere you can to show your support – I truly appreciate it and it makes such a difference. Talk to us on our social pages and via email as well.

Made in Africa with Love and Hope
In a Beautiful Way

About the founder

My name is Nafisa and I was born in a township in the town of Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa during the apartheid era. In my late teens, I won a scholarship from the British Council to study science in the U.K.

Even though Mathematics was my first love, I instead went on to read Chemistry at Kings College because I could not resist the practical hands on nature of lab work and I found the experiments fun, it brought out the artist in me.

Years later, have stumbled upon an amazing natural product called shea butter and then using it over many years, I finaly decided to embark on my journey to bring shea butter and other African oils to more people around the globe. My scientific mind kicks in immediately when I start thinking up new product formulations and it helps me from research to formulation stages. And then, when presenting the final product to you, I like to express my creativity online. Throughout the whole process I give of myself and I hope you will feel that, MERAKI as the Greeks refer to it.

It’s been a beautiful journey till now and continues to be amazing. Read more about why I started my business in an unpublished interview I had with the team at The Folklore here.

Made in Africa with Love and Hope.
In a Beautiful Way.