Marula - The Leakey Collection

Rarely are successful beauty brands founded by humanitarians whose lives are dedicated to introducing sustainable, high-quality products, while creating lifelong entrepreneurial opportunities for rural Kenyans. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say never. Except in the case of our founder Katy Leakey. Katy is one of the pioneers behind Marula – The Leakey Collection, which is not only a force for good in East Africa, where Katy and her husband (and co-founder) Philip live, but an incredibly effective, sustainable and luxurious skincare product that women everywhere are discovering. Read more

There was a group of us out looking at an array of many different footprints early one Sunday morning. In the process we began fooling around throwing elephant dung at each other with the Dalmatians in tow. Stooping to collect another clump of elephant dung an unusual footprint was discovered. It turned out to be a hominid 3.5 million years old and upon further investigation it turned out to be two, one walking behind the other. Those of us there that morning still laugh at the memory and the excitement.- Philip Leakey,Co-founder of Marula-The Leakey Collection  Read more

The scientific contributions of Jane Goodall are undeniable. She spent 45 years studying the social and environmental interactions of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. Her work challenged the thinking of her time and greatly shaped future theories about species development. Beyond this, we have a great respect for her commitment to her passions, which is why she is a woman that inspires us.

Even before her first trip, Jane was passionate about Africa and animals. She first visited Africa in 1957, where she contacted naturalist Louis Leakey, father of The Leakey Collection Founder, Philip Leakey. She wanted to discuss animals with Louis, but he offered her a position as a secretary and she accepted. Louis Leakey believed studying wild chimpanzees could offer insight into animal behaviors. After some quiet planning he asked Jane to study primate behavior in London before returning to Tanzania to Gombre Stream Nation Park to study the apes. He suggested that the entire study might take ten years, - Jane thought at most three - and she agreed to take the position.  Read more

As we at Marula -The Leakey Collection reflect on thoughts of thanksgiving this week, you are at the top of the list. No one can express the gratitude better than the people whose lives are changed through your support. We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Marula -The Leakey Collection and have included a little shout out from Katy Leakey and our women in East Africa.

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Being resourceful is something Katy Leakey knows how to be. Living in East Africa, nothing goes to waste. "We are passionate about preserving the earth's precious resources and being good stewards of our planet. By recycling and applying sustainable practices in the creation of our products, we can help ensure that these resources will last well into the future." We we're inspired to think about how we could lower our own impact here at home. We came up with a few easy ways to reduce waste and think forward with an eco-conscious lifestyle.  Read more

By now you know we love to share information about the beauty and skin benefits of Marula with you, and trust us, we do, but there is something else Marula does, beyond the bottle that we think is just as beautiful. You know the old cliché, beauty is only skin deep? Well here at Marula, it’s beyond that. Your support of our products and our business help better the lives of women in East Africa. As a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation, the production of Marula Oil provides rural women an essential sustainable source of income with which they feed, clothe, and educate their families. Sharing Marula with you helps us share a better and brighter future for our sisters working to produce Marula oil. If beauty was only skin deep, it wouldn’t look or feel nearly this good to give back. Thanks for your support from the MarulaBeauty team and from the beautiful families and futures in East Africa.  Read more

 

Marula - The Leakey Collection is throwing off the bowlines and sailing straight into the Malaysian beauty scene. We recently introduced our Marula Oil to the Malaysian beauty markets, and women are taking notice. Philip and Katy Leakey recently presented at the  Breast Cancer Symposium  in Malaysia, and met with beauty bloggers and our distribution partners  to discuss launching Marula on the other side of the world. Fiona, a blogger and attendee of these meetings, is one of the women the Leakey’s met in Malaysia that is a proponent of facial oils.  She has oily skin and learned that if she uses oil as a moisturizer that the production of oil from healthy, hydrated skin actually goes down not up.  She loves Marula oil now!  Jacinta has already written  a piece on the Miracle of Marula Oil.

We are excited to be launching in a new market, and sharing the beauty of our Marula Oil with our new sisters in Malaysia.  Read more

October is Fair Trade Month but in our world...it is every day.

When we thought about bringing Marula Oil to the West from East Africa, it wasn't part of our thought process to bring you something ordinary, we wanted to create a beauty oil that delivered something extraordinary!  Paying attention to every detail, we did our homework...we wanted to get this right because so much depended on YOU...falling in love with our formula. Designing the bottle was a labor of love. From the luxurious dark glass bottle that extends the life of our oil to the twist applicator which we purposely selected to deliver the perfect amount of oil for facial application.  Read more

There is a documentary, inspired by the book, "Half The Sky", airing on PBS both Monday, October 1st and Tuesday, October 2nd at 9/8 Central.

This book and documentary are so spot on when it talks about turning oppression into opportunity.  One of the key messages you will hear throughout this film is “the importance of creating work opportunities for women in rural communities.” The Leakey's have dedicated their lives to creating natural products using sustainable methods that provides rural women an essential sustainable source of income with which they feed, clothe, and educate their families. Their work is a testament on how opportunity has an affect that is far reaching.

Dr. Ashton Kaidi, learned about the lives the Leakey's were changing. When they brought the oil to him and told him about what they had witnessed in regards to the healing benefits of the oil, he tested  Marula oil on his breast cancer patients with amazing results. He then joined the Leakey's and together they are committed to bringing beauty to the lives of women around the world. Read more

International Youth Day is August 12th and what better way to acknowledge that day then to talk about how our co-founders, Katy and Philip Leakey, have been at the forefront in their rural communities in East Africa when it comes to making a difference in education. Marula - The Leakey Collection and The Leakey Collection, both strive to bring you beautiful and reliable products with an added social benefit that improves the health, life, and development conditions for our sisters in East Africa.

One of the most exciting ways your purchases contribute is by providing the work opportunities that allow the women to educate more of their children. In the past families usually could only afford to send one child to school, and it was typically a male. Also, as more parents were able to afford to send their children to school, the classrooms became overcrowded.

To combat this, co-founders Philip & Katy Leakey, founded T.R.A.D.E., Trust for Rural African Development and Enterprise, a non-profit dedicated to create sustainable environments in rural Africa. One project through T.R.A.D.E. rejuvenated the education system by building more classrooms and by paying for more teachers in rural areas, which lowered the student teacher ratio from 80/1 to 35/1. Another program dedicated to positive and sustainable community change is the Beads for Learning program that our sisters at The Leakey Collection have created. As we grow and add additional beauty to our product line, East African mothers will be able to send more of their children to school, with a majority of them being girls! Read more