Mango Mania with Ann Malina Bath & Body Care

I fell in love with local products. I mean it feels absolutely fabulous to be supporting local businesses that make great products and have great service too! Today's feature is handmade soaps and hair butter from the lovely and talented Ann Malina. It's not her real name but a pen name incorporating part of the real thing. 

Her handmade soaps are made with love. Carefully packaged and even notes made on the bags in case they weren't quite ready (cured) to be used. She wrote the date on my Mango Mania soap sample. 

Wonderland- Shown wet with some lather

Soap review:

• Scents- Wonderland with Lavender blossom base complimented by Euphoria. Avocado Riche with Love Spell fragrance. Mango Aloe Swirl with jasmine and winter lotus.
• Ingredients- Wonderland: Tumeric, activated charcoal and lavender. Avocado Riche: avocado oil, activated charcoal, mango butter, cocoa butter. Mango Aloe Swirl: Mango butter, aloe vera. 
• Lathers well with water. 
• They are a bit softer than regular soaps, so that when you get to about halfway into the bar it tends to want to break apart. The Avocado Riche bar seems to break apart at the layers. What I did to resolve this is simply fold the soap on itself to reshape it into a smaller but thicker bar. Try to keep these soaps out of water (allow to drip dry) after use. 
• Color explosion on each one so would make great gifts.
• Cost: Varies with weights. Average 35 to 50 $TT per bar. 

Hair Butter Review:

• Smells great; mild scent. 
• Use a little to moisturize your entire head of hair! Work your way from the hair ends and don't put too much at your roots or it will appear too greasy. With this product you need to experiment with the amount needed for the coverage you desire. So start with a little and then add. Overall though I can seek even the small jar lasting quite a long time. 
• The texture of the product is like hard butter. I had to dig into it with a spatula to get the product out but it softens up in your warm hands quite easily. The product doesn't soften up in the heat! Great for Caribbean weather.
• Make hair moisturized with a mild shine. I tend to prefer adding a little more product every day to refresh the hair. 
• Can be used as a body butter. Put a little of the product in the palms of your hand and rub them together to warm it up. This makes it easier to apply to the skin. Use little amounts at a time. Too much would be too heavy and then sticky on the skin. 
• Packaging was simple in a hard plastic container with lid but there were no labels to indicate the product name and ingredients. 
• Cost: Two sizes for 80 and 150$TT per jar.

Daily Hair Lotion Review:

• Cost: Two sizes for 50 and 100$TT per bottle.
• Product texture is smooth but thick. Sometimes it refused to come out of the bottle unless you use a little force. 
• Great mild scent which reminds me of the scent of the Avocado Riche soap. Contains lavender essential oil. 
• Just like the hair butter, try using a little at a time until you get a feel for the product to know how much to use but a little goes a long way to moisturizing an entire head of hair. 
• Ingredients to soften and moisturize include coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, shea and mango butter etc. 

While customer service is sorely lacking in a lot of local businesses, this is not the case with Ann Malina. She was fairly prompt in responding to my request to purchase her products via her Facebook page. She will private message you pictures and pricing with information on the product from ingredients to how to use directions. When your order is ready she will inform you and in my case I preferred delivery, which she did to my office for a small additional cost (about 25$TT). There are many other soap scents and types to try out in addition to other body and face care products. See Roanna's review of some of these here: 

To support this local entrepreneur, visit her Facebook page. 

Dell'amore e Della Bellezza
XoXo

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