Twenty20 Skincare - Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday - Twenty20 Skincare

Happy Saturday Islanders!

I love how we have created a new proper noun out of our amazing community.  Welcome back to another episode of Small Business Saturday.  This week we would like to introduce you to Elena, from Twenty20 Skincare in Ottawa, Ontario. 

Before the pandemic I worked as a admin assistant at an intellectual law firm in Ottawa and was in the habit of wearing a full face of makeup.  I love what a good mascara can do to my eyes!  However, much like most of you we started working from home and the want to put on a full face of makeup soon vanished.  My goal then became to find products that would look great and nourish my skin at the same time.  Enter, Twenty20 Skincare!  I have been an long time user of shea butter and I feel silly for saying this but often just bought bulk on amazon before I met Elena.  I was so happy when I found Elena, and my first contact was through a giveaway which I was so pleased to have won!  Elena awarded us with a beautiful shea butter product that I used daily and have been in love with ever since.  I think my favorite is the lavender scent!  So amazing!

I hope you all fall in love with Elena and her absolutely amazing products! 

XO

Rylan 

website - www.twenty20skincare.com

Instagram - @twenty20skincare

1) Tell us a little bit about your small business?

Twenty20 Skincare is an all-natural Shea Butter skincare business passing on my Ghanaian heritage through our product offering.  All our products are handmade with fair-trade Shea Butter from Ghana including body butters, body scrubs, lip balms and soaps. Currently, there are 2 other people on my team and a community of friends and family who help support the vision. We are devoted to creating Shea Butter products with simple and clear ingredients that are safe for our health, community and the earth.

2) What is your favourite thing about your small business?

The flexibility! Not solely in my work schedule, but in being able to create and make use of all the ideas I have in my business. I love that growing the business relies on my creativity. I also like that trial and error, mistakes and failure is something that I embrace as part of the business journey. Not every day is a win but it is always pushing me closer to my goals. My second favourite thing is the diversity in people I’ve been able to meet since starting. There are so many connections I’ve made and amazing people I’ve been introduced to simply because of Twenty20 Skincare.

3) What is your small business’s origin story? 

Part of my story and our journey is that I struggled with eczema and had really dry skin for a lot of my life. I was prescribed topical creams and tried various lotions to help with the breakouts, but nothing worked. After spending years trying to find a product that would work on my dry and eczema prone skin, I visited my grandmother’s home town in Ghana. It was there that she introduced me to Shea Butter and how my family has been using it for years for their skin, hair and so many other things. As a result, when I returned back home to Canada, I started making my own shea butter products in my kitchen, in 2013. I started using those products for myself and eventually, shared them with some friends, some family, and now I have a company where I sell a whole line of products made with fair-trade Shea Butter.

4) What are your best selling products?

Our Eucalyptus Mint Shea Body Butter is definitely number one! It’s a nostalgic spa-like scent and we are always restocking it.

5) Why should people focus on buying small and local if possible?

I have always loved shopping from local businesses because I think its great to see people from your neighbourhood with growing businesses. I think they also present a uniqueness with their products and services that make the purchases special. If for no other reason, you’re directly supporting a person, a family or a community when you buy small and local.