We met with Bukky Ijeoma Ogunsanwo, the CEO of Mcherbal Nigeria, a gorgeous and innovative woman. She is quite calm and lovely but that’s not the only reason why we were captivated. One look at her African hair and we wanted to know why it had a particular shine, our eyes strayed down to her glowing skin and we knew it was a must for us to know why she was this beautiful and attractive.

So, we asked her and she asked us to sit and relax while she told us the story of Mcherbal Product Nigeria. We shall reveal that to you in a bit as it was quite inspiring and therefore it deserves to be read by all.

But before we do that, have you ever desired a flawless skin, long, soft, curly and shiny hair? If you have at one point or another in your life, then you must read on.

Now let’s tell you more about the brain behind these awesome products that can make your skin glow and give your hair a longer length and a healthy shine. Bukky Ijeoma Ogunsanwo was born in Kaduna State to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Ogunsanwo as the second child and only girl in a family of four. Her roots her unique as she is partly Yoruba and partly Igbo. Her father hails from Ogun State while her mother hails from Imo State. She is a graduate of Biochemistry and this perhaps accounts for her vast knowledge in roots and herbs.

Bukky’s inspiration started with the death of her father. Can you believe that? They usually say grief break us or drive us to greater heights. In her case, her grief drove her into achieving greatness in honour of her father. Before her father’s death, the doctor told her that the excessive painkillers used by her father damaged his organs.

Obviously, she was pained but that fuelled her determination to search for an alternative to medicine, a desire to help with a safer method of staying healthy which led to the birth of Mcherbal products in 2014. Her search was finally successful when she forged a partnership with Mcherbal Turkey for the production of pure undiluted herbal products. She packages these products in Nigeria and started selling same in 2015. Her catch for this Turkish company was her passion to explore a better method for people to stay healthy.

Although she had been in partnership with Mcherbal Turkey on international trade since 2010, thus it was only logical that she continued with them. Mcherbal Turkey fitted her purpose as it is under a bigger company called Tyrex, a company which is into international trade, facilitating sales between manufacturers and consumers.

Her herbal products consist of Essential oil, carrier oil, floral water, herbal extracts, herbs and spices, dried fruits, cosmetic, exfoliating and masking agents, natural supplements and salts, dried vegetable powders and they are all produced in Turkey. Can you beat that? It is huge. She told us it is quite qualitative as it is pure and undiluted. “Customers always come back to say they love the quality.” She said.

Mcherbal rosemary  floral water.

Mcherbal products are not just used for hair and skin but can also be used for total health and wellbeing. The herbs and roots are mainly dried and powdered and can be used for health purposes. Also there is the Mcherbal cosmetics and DIY creams for beauty, then there is the natural nutrition and dietary supplements.

She sends the specifications for each particular mix of her herbal products to Mcherbal Turkey for production, so each mix is unique on its own.

I guess you are wondering what all these products are used for? They all have their uses and while we would not guide you through all their uses, we would like you to know the secret products to a better hair and a brighter skin.

DIY Directly From The CEO

For Shiny Hair/Long Hair  

Use Black soap liquid conditioning shampoo

Ingredients for Black Soap Conditioning Shampoo

1. Black Soap
2. Water
3. Licorie root powder
4. Peppermint herb
5. Pumpkin seed oil
6. Shea butter oil
7. Extra virgin olive oil
8. Peppermint oil
9. Geranium oil
10. Peppermint essential oil
11. Honey or vegetable glycerin
12. Peppermint essential oil

How to make black soap liquid conditioning shampoo

1. Pour boiling water on the black soap to melt same
2. Pour boiling water on licorie root powder and peppermint herb and leave for 15minutes
3. Sieve it after 15 minutes and add the extracts from the licorie root powder and peppermint herb to the liquid black soap.
4. Add the following oils: pumpkin seed oil, shea butter oil(melt the shea butter to make the oil) extra virgin olive oil(original or preferably Mcherbal pure extra virgin oil) peppermint oil, geranium oil(about 20-25 drops or depending on the quantity of the shampoo you are making), peppermint essential oil
5. Then add honey or vegetable glycerin ( Use your discretion in the quantity to add)  She told us that with this mixture you don’t need a conditioner. The black soap conditioning shampoo is both a shampoo and a conditioner.
6. The mixture gives a black soap conditioning shampoo, wash your hair with it, for a shiny, moisturized and healthy hair.

Benefits of these ingredients

1. Peppermint oil makes hair grow and pampers scalp
2. Peppermint herb makes hair grow and can be used as an anti dandruff agent
3. Sweet Almond oil gives hair a healthy shine
4. Licorie root powder is a good hair treatment and it can also be used to treat cough
5. Geranium oil helps heals hair

For Hair Growth

Floral water is the best for hair growth she said, you can spray it on your hair as a moisturizer or spray it immediately after washing your hair. Hand dry hair with a towel to extract excessive water from hair then spray floral water.

She recommended two types of floral water, either use one or the other or use both.

1. Rosemary water
2. Singing nettle water

For smoother face and glowing skin

Here is a DIY cream directly from the CEO for you:

Mix bearberry extract powder and licorie powder with a little bit of rose water to make it soluble then add the following oils:

1. Rice bran oil
2. Sweet almond oil
3. Carrot seed
4. Tea tree essential oil
5. Vegetable glycerine
6. Rose oil

Shake the serum(mixture) and leave it for 5 days before use. But you must shake the serum every day of that 5 days to allow the ingredients mix properly.

Bukky can be contacted on 08023005655 for more details on her products and their uses.

Challenges

Like every other business Mcherbal is not without its challenges, but you know what they say: whatever does not kill you makes you strong. Her major challenge has been the fluctuating dollar rate. This affects the prices of her products she finds it very difficult to maintain a stable price as she has to adjust her prices to reflect the new rate of naira to dollar.

She has considered producing her products here in Nigeria to overcome that challenge but her major challenge in accomplishing that is electricity and non-availability of the necessary equipment needed for production.

Extraordinary

Bukky is a source of inspiration to other women out there who are entrepreneurs as she is not satisfied at just producing and selling Mcherbal products. She has decided to take it a step further by coining another brand Herbal clinic platform to be launched soon. We learnt it would be bigger than Mcherbal Products as it is about everything herbs in Nigeria.

There would be in-house consultants to consult with people on the uses and how herbal products can be used to achieve a desired result to wit great long hair, glowing skin and total wellness. There would also be a blog to enlighten everyone on herbs and an e-commerce site to sell every herbal product, this is not limited to Mcherbal products but includes every herbal product. I repeat every herbal product in Nigeria. So, if you deal in herbal products, her e-commerce site will be the place to be to enhance your online visibility.

Finally, Bukky’s vision for her Mcherbal brand is to provide safe and easy home-made remedies for staying healthy at the best quality and price. She also has a vision to expand her innovations through the exploitation of Nigerian raw materials that can be used for natural products for total wellness.

We love being around her as she radiates light with her sparkling smile and her radiant skin. Her hair is in its natural state and is every bit lovely as a well-groomed Afro hair.

We can’t exactly tell the time and day she began growing it in this manner. *wink* But she did whisper to us that her hair is about a year old.

Cheers!