Dee Rose puts plenty of herself into her handmade, organic, vegan treatments for skin and hair. Her formulas are the fruit of long and sometimes painful personal experience, and the love of two mothers for their families.

There’s a good reason everyone from babies to older adults can use Dee’s products: her son was her initial inspiration. ‘He had the worst eczema. I tried everything. The GP gave me cortisone, everything they can prescribe for eczema. Nothing worked. He was my first son, and he was in a state. I was desperate!’

But help was closer to hand than Dee realised. Her Mum used to make regular trips to her birthplace in Ivory Coast and would always bring back shea butter for her family. When Dee lost hope of a medical solution to her son’s condition, she simply went back to what she’d always known.

However, pure shea butter proved to be too oily. So, Dee added coconut oil, experimenting with different ratios until she found a precise formula that moisturised her son’s skin without unpleasant side effects. His eczema was cured, and Dee had her first skincare formula! To this day her whipped body butter, made from pure shea butter, coconut oil and vitamin E, remains her favourite creation.

Dee’s boy is 11 now, and eczema-free. But his condition wasn’t the only one his Mum has tackled. Dee herself suffered from post-partum hair loss after the birth of each of her four children. Again, she threw herself into research, discovering oils and herbs that would not only promote regrowth, but keep strengthen and thicken her hair. After much trial and error, she again found the perfect blend, and a second Dee Rose recipe was born!

Dee studied French and Spanish at university, hoping to be a translator for the UN. It was her husband, Victor, who persuaded her instead to translate six years of research and development into a business. Dee launched her body butter and hair oil in 2018; two years later, she set out her stall at Greenwich Market.

Getting into the Market was always ‘top of the list’ of Dee’s business priorities. As a South Londoner, Greenwich had always been on her radar. She quickly developed loyal customers who proved essential to growing her product range. Always happy to discuss her creations, Dee took requests for new products such as lip balms, soaps, face creams and more. Nothing gives her greater pleasure than hearing glowing reports from returning customers whose psoriasis, eczema and other conditions have responded positively to her formulas.

The range of products now on display at Dee’s artfully arranged stall is impressive. Whipped body butters scented with lemongrass, peppermint and cherry blossom; soaps made with turmeric, hibiscus and activated charcoal; and whipped hair butter made from organic shea butter and pure oils. Everything is sustainable, vegan, organic, and ethically sourced. Dee has direct relationships with small producers in Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Ghana, cutting out middlemen to ensure the farmers who produce her shea- and cocoa-butters get full value for their work.

Everything Dee sells is handmade in her Waterloo studio, with help from her son and husband. Her son helps with labelling and her husband with online orders. Currently shipping to a few countries outside the UK, she sees the business going global within five years. Let’s hope that these cherished products, born in south London of a mother’s love and popularised at Greenwich Market, reach the wider world!