In 2012, after watching Good Hair, a film in which Chris Rock travelled the world in search of good hair extensions for his daughter, Bella Nakato was so inspired she started a venture that has come to be known as EnviriZaNacho (natural hair)- which celebrates natural African beauty by promoting non-toxic beauty practices and products.
Bella started her company by exploring beauty alternatives with her sisters, which quickly attracted entrepreneurs and led to the first ever natural hair event in Uganda in 2012. It is something they have made a norm, with various events held since in a bid to promote healthy natural beauty.
EnviriZaNacho’s ambition to get more women to embrace natural African beauty through the use of non-toxic healthy beauty products made in Africa, by Africans for Africans appears to have earned its stamp of endorsement from the region too, with the interest from neighbouring Kenya and Rwanda pushing Bella to set up shop in Ntinda, as a one-stop center for all healthy hair and skin products.
“We do not allow any local products unless we have thoroughly checked the toxicity of the products using our own chemists,” Bella says. “Our grandparents never treated their hair but they used available products like cow ghee as hair food, jojoba and papaya as conditioner, and palm leaves or banana peels as hair shampoo. You remember how those Afros looked fresh, soft and beautiful even in pictures, so we use the same products only that we add preservatives.”
There are more than 16 brands of health hair and skin products, from hair foods, conditioners, shampoos to skin oils and soaps that sell at EZN’s shop #3 at Kisakye Mall, but one thing you can expect to find is products with zero levels of toxicity- and produced by carefully selected Ugandan brands.