The 90-minute workshop will be hands-on experience with natural products. The objective is to enable participants to explore the connection between nature and skincare — and by referring to our natural environment in the Lower East Side.

Led by Kadidja Kabore Lamport, a local small business owner, participants will learn and discuss the benefits of all-natural, tree-derived ingredients like shea butter, baobab oil, and kukui oil, as well as beeswax. I will also present the local trees that have been sources of oils — like linden, the eastern red cedar, the black walnut, sweet birch and white pine; some are right here in our neighborhood, particularly linden.

Participants will then learn the traditional techniques of melting, blending, and infusing the raw materials in the workshop (shea butter, beeswax and baobab oil) with essential oils to create high-quality, clean beauty products. We will discuss why “simple and effective” is the best approach for both our bodies and the environment.