Guest Poster ~ Tonie Silver "does" Powder Puff 2U

Interview

by guest poster Tonie Silver

We're here with Barbara & Ade of the UK's Powder Puff 2 U ~

TS: Hi Guys, and welcome to OTA

PP2U: Hi everyone. Nice to be on OTA.

TS: Tell readers a bit about yourselves. Let's talk about your education~ are you self-taught or formally trained?

PP2U: We have both had formal educations; Ade games programming, and I (Barbara) estate management at university. Ade does all PP2U's designs and does a good job.
Ade: I had never designed for a skincare product before, so that's self-taught.
Barbara: I started selling pure Ghanian shea butter, then went on a soap making course. Soap making, to me, is like cooking. I'm ot afraid to experiment with new ingredients. It's a lot of fun. Everything else has come to me as an idea which I have tried out. That's a blessing.

TS: I'm smitten with your powdered cleanser masks~ tell us about your inspiration for them and how you come up with your formulas.

PP2U: Ade is the inspiration behind the powdered cleansers. I needed to create something for him without preservatives, something simple and quick to use. It's just like most of our products. They are quick and easy to use with no preservatives because they are in powder form.

Each culture has its own beauty regime that works for them, and with our African heritage, where the use of clays, herbs, pods (eg cocoa pods) are commonly used in skin and haircare, it makes it easy to go back to our roots to draw out what's there. The older generation have lots of ideas. My grandmother, I'm told, used to make soap with rose water. I do that too and it's lovely!

TS: Are you able to source ingredients locally in Old Blighty, or do you have to come Across The Pond?

PP2U: Our ingredients are from all over the world. Butters from Ghana, herbs and powders from India, and other ingredients sourced locally. We just love America. There are oils upon oils 'Across The Pond'. Barbara just drools over the sites that have the oils. And, yes, some of our ingredients are shipped in, and that's fantastic.


TS: Favorite product?

PP2U: Our favorite product . . . hmmmm. Barbara is very impatient when she creates a product. She can't wait to try it, so for her it's always the next one. She makes it, she tries it there and then, with the exception of the soap, she has to wait weeks for it to cure first, that's hard for her to do. My favorite is the dry face washes Barbara makes for me. And the hair creams. Colivico is a big favourite. It works well for my hair as it's short. Barbara also likes the lotions. At the moment, it's the hibiscus lotion that didn't quite go according to plan.

TS: What new and exciting products can we expect from PP2U?

PP2U: Just like her cooking, she'll mix up anything, so . . . look out for combinations.

TS: Thanks guys~ you're great~ keep up the great work!

Look for the upcoming product review on Le Parfumeur Rebelle, and visit PP2U's Etsy site @: Powderpuff2u.etsy.com. Their UK site is in the works as we go to press.