Abieke Hamilton is a Berbician, a mother, and as she puts it, a woman who over time has worn “many hats” and tried her hand at various pursuits. She recalls that at sixteen she underwent a course in hair dressing afforded her as a Christmas gift. “That sparked my interest in hair care. Later I underwent a massage therapy programme and it was here that I learnt about the body and its sensitivity to touch. I learnt how to apply massage therapy and how massage could be useful in the treatment of a stroke as to aid blood circulation, among others things. I also learnt the benefit of essential oils and how these are incorporated into marketable products.”
Abieke’s health conscious outlook is, she says, a family trait. “My family have been vegetarians for most of our lives. Eating healthy, using superfoods, fruit and vegetables, have been part of our lives. We try as far as possible, to grow what we eat and to control what is in our vegetables.”
Purpleheart Organics, Abieke’s line of health and beauty products derives, she says, from her love of ‘mother earth.’ It grew out of a personal challenge. In 2018, her new-born son had developed eczema on parts of his upper body. “Being a country girl I started to look for a natural (non-chemical) remedy that might be helpful. That was when I discovered Sleeping Andiroba (crab oil).” It took two days for results to materialise. Thereafter, she became a firm believer in crab oil. She ‘drew a line under’ the use of over-the-counter remedies and began to explore “alternative, organic, options.”
Abieke’s approach, going forward, was to incrementally incorporate other ingredients which, she says, were readily available. “I experimented with what I had in my home and surroundings: oatmeal, coffee, green tea, sea moss, mint, flowers. It was this experimentation that got me thinking of creating a line of products, using fruits, herbs and plants.”
Over time, she has learnt how to document her ‘formulae, an approach underpinned by a desire to continue to refine her creations and to enhance their effectiveness. She went further, enrolling at a United Kingdom-based online Academy where she immersed herself in a period of diligent studies.
Two years later Abieke believes that she is ready to share her undertaking with a wider audience, transforming what began as a necessary home remedy into an entrepreneurial pursuit. She believes that she has arrived at a point where her work can impact on areas that include: increased hair growth, dandruff remedies, anti-aging facial products, baby hair & skin products, eczema relief, mosquito repellant for babies, male facial hair treatment, and acne.
What many of her customers may not be aware of is the fact that product creation is done on the basis of pre-determined formulae. Her aim, she says, is to provide the market with “highly effective, luxurious, botanically based products that boast alluring natural scents.”
Each of her products, Abieke says, has been given a female name. The decision, she says, derives from the fact that women are the vessels through which creation is delivered. Here, she refers to a 1961 instance in which a courageous seventeen year-old mother defied professional advice, took home her premature child and nursed him towards healthy manhood. There are, she says, other stories of the fortitude and courage of women which she recalls.
Abieke believes that if her products make an impact on the broader local market and eventually the regional and international ones, its significance will go beyond whatever commercial ‘waves’ it might manage to make.
The success of Purpleheart Products, she says, will make yet another impactful statement for nature and for organic options to say nothing of its role in making a wider range of natural remedies available and in the final analysis, placing Guyana on the international map.
Currently Purpleheart Organics boasts a lineup of about 13 products but according to Abieke, the sky’s the limit. The number of products that can be formulated are only restricted by the fact that ‘unfortunately’, there are only 24 hours in a given day. Given that each product has to be carefully formulated, she ruefully observes, “There just isn’t enough time.”
Some of her products include:
Baby Sleep Elixir – an oil that relaxes babies and induces sleep.
Phyllis Hair – a thickening treatment for locks.
Baby Mosquito Repellant – repels mosquitoes & insects from biting babies
Iva Hair grower – beeswax-based product that increases hair growth & thickness
Alison 10 growth Elixir – increase hair growth
Louise Hair Elixir – for shedding & thinning hair
Gaius Hair Elixir – Moisturiser & conditioner – formulated for babies’ hair
Purpleheart Organics products can be had at Medicare Pharmacy on Hincks Street, Georgetown, and the Babe Café at 129A Duncan Street, Bel Air Park, Georgetown.
Persons can also contact Abieke Hamilton 660-1140 to answer any questions regarding formulations for the above-mentioned products or any of her other offerings, or to place an order. She can also be emailed at purpleheartorganics@gmail.com and is on Facebook (purpleheartorganics@FB).
