I met Epara founder Ozohu Adoh on a Zoom call that ran 20 minutes over — she was that convincing. She’s sourcing baobab and argan from women’s cooperatives in northern Nigeria, not Morocco.
Most luxury skincare brands fly ingredients to a lab in Switzerland. She cold-presses them in Abuja. That’s not a marketing story — it changes the potency.
Revitalising Face Oil. $85 for 30ml. The claim: “visible firmness in 2 weeks.” I rolled my eyes, then bought it because the ingredient list read like a botanical encyclopedia I didn’t know existed.
Absorption speed
Sinks in 4 seconds flat. No grease, no waiting.
Scent profile
Earthy, not floral — think crushed herbs, not a perfume counter.
Packaging
Glass dropper bottle with a pump that doesn’t suck. Rare win.
Three ingredients I’d never heard of before this bottle. Two I can’t pronounce. All of them work better than my usual vitamin C serum. Here’s the breakdown:
- Baobab oil: Lighter than marula, absorbs instantly, high omega-3
- African potato extract: Tightens skin without that stretched feeling
- Kigelia fruit: Anti-inflammatory that actually calms redness
- Argan oil: The only familiar one — but hers is unroasted, so more antioxidants
Texture is watery-thin, almost like a dry oil. I dropped two drops on my palm and it disappeared into my cheeks before I could rub it in. Felt like nothing — that’s the point.
Week 2: My left cheek (the one that gets angry from pillow friction) stopped flaking. Week 3: My forehead decided to stop producing its own personal grease slick. I did not expect this from an oil.
Fine lines around my mouth softened by maybe 20%. Not gone — but I stopped using concealer there. Dark spots stayed the same. This is a hydration and barrier play, not a spot-fader.
This is the kind of brand that makes you realize Western beauty has been gatekeeping the good stuff. I’ll repurchase — but only because I found a discount code.