Our Story
Fra Fra's Naturals was born from a need. My daughter was born with eczema. She would often scratch til she bled in some places. It broke my heart to see her suffer. My wife and I tried diet changes, Vaseline and medicated lotions. Anything to fix the problem. Nothing worked! And have you ever read the back of a tube of cortisone cream? No? let me enlighten you:
Disclaimer: Side effects may include -
- Blistering, burning, crusting, dryness, or flaking of the skin
- irritation
- itching, scaling, severe redness, soreness, or swelling of the skin
- redness and scaling around the mouth
- thinning of the skin with easy bruising, especially when used on the face or where the skin folds together (e.g. between the fingers)
- thinning, weakness, or wasting away of the skin
- Acne or pimples
- lightening of treated areas of dark skin
We just knew that there had to be something better so I started looking. One day I ran across raw unrefined Shea butter at a flea market. The salesman told me all about the health benefits and how it was excellent for skin conditions so I figured...why not give it a try? OH MY GOD it worked! It almost instantly gave my daughter relief from the itching and breakouts. Now would it work for my mother? My mother was in her mid-70's and her skin was becoming thinner and more sensitive. She had dry, cracked heels and yes, Shea butter did improve the texture of her feet. Next I found African Black Soap and our skin never felt or look better. We were in love!
There was one problem...it was thick and dense and hard to apply. After trial and error I discovered a way to triple whip the Shea butter to a light airy consistency without using heat thus maintaining its full health benefits. Soon my wife and I were educated on the use of essential oil for healthy skin and began getting request for Shea butter and African Black soap from friends and family. This is how Fra Fra's Naturals was born.
Fun fact: My first name is Frazier but as a child I had the nickname Fra Fra. When starting this company my wife and I researched the origins of Shea butter and African Black soap and found that there is a FraFra tribe in Northern Ghana where our suppliers are. It felt like fate was tapping us on the shoulder telling us we were on the right path and here we are.
The Frafra tribe is a subset of the Gurunsi people located in northern Ghana. They got their name “Frafra” from early Christian Missionaries, who when they first encountered Frafra farmers, were greeted with the common greeting to people working "Ya Fare fare?", which means "How is your suffering (work)?" The missionaries began referring to these Gurune people as Frafra, a derivation of the greeting, which eventually was adopted by the people themselves.
The Frafra people are one of the most well-educated people from the Northern and Upper Regions of Ghana. They are predominately farmers and artisans. The most recognized of the Frafra art forms are cast brass jewelry and beautifully decorated architecture.