When Life Gives You Lockdown, Make Candles: The Sweet Story Behind Essence by RJ

From Personal Experiment to Wellness Brand

The story of Essence by RJ is one that beautifully captures how personal struggles can birth something that brings healing not just to one person, but to many. Founded by Orume Oghenejode, Essence by RJ began during the unexpected stillness of the COVID-19 lockdown. Struggling with anxiety and unable to access her regular supply of candles, diffusers, and room sprays, Orume found herself turning to essential oils to create calming scents for her personal space.

What started as a deeply personal experiment soon caught the attention of friends and family. The positive feedback was consistent and encouraging, pushing Orume to explore the possibility of building something bigger. With gentle nudging from her mother, who was already active in the wellness space, Essence by RJ was officially born—a brand dedicated to bringing tranquillity and calm to others through the power of scent.

The Heart of the Brand: Wellness Through Fragrance

At its core, Essence by RJ is more than just a home fragrance company; it’s a wellness experience. The brand’s products are thoughtfully designed to create calming spaces that support self-care, ease anxiety, and offer moments of peace amidst the busyness of life.

With every carefully curated blend, Essence by RJ helps individuals create a sanctuary in their own homes, allowing fragrance to serve not just as a pleasant aroma but as a therapeutic tool for emotional balance and well-being.

Products & Services: More Than Just Candles

Essence by RJ offers a wide variety of products that span both home fragrance and personal wellness:

  • Home Fragrance Collection:
    Diffusers, Room Sprays, Candles, Pillow Mists, Wax Melts.

  • Beauty & Wellness Collection:
    Massage Oils, Massage Candles, Pheromones, Body Oils, Glow Oils, and Body Butters.

But beyond personal use, the brand also extends its services into custom and corporate offerings:

  • Personalised scent experiences

  • Bespoke fragrance curation for hotels, spas, offices, and businesses

  • Retail, wholesale, and private label services

  • Corporate gifting solutions

Through these services, Essence by RJ creates memorable sensory experiences for both individuals and businesses, making wellness and self-care accessible on a larger scale.

What Sets Essence by RJ Apart?

While many brands create scented products, Essence by RJ distinguishes itself through its intentional approach to scent as therapy. For Orume, fragrance is not just about making a space smell nice; it’s about creating emotional harmony. Each product is carefully crafted to soothe, uplift, and ground its user.

Moreover, the brand’s flexibility in offering bespoke scent solutions allows businesses, hotels, and spas to customise the atmosphere they offer to their clients, making wellness an immersive and tailored experience.

The Vision Ahead

As Essence by RJ continues to grow, the vision is clear: to bring peace, balance, and calm to more lives. Whether it’s through individual products or large-scale collaborations, the brand remains committed to its mission of using scent as a tool for daily well-being and mindful living.

In a world that often moves too fast, Essence by RJ stands as a gentle reminder that wellness can be as simple as breathing in a scent that grounds you.

 

 

Creating Your Own Essence

Whether you’re looking to transform your living space into a calming sanctuary, support your daily self-care routine, or create a signature scent experience for your business, Essence by RJ offers that perfect blend of quality, care, and genuine understanding of what it means to need a little peace in your day.

Because sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do is light a candle, take a deep breath, and remember that even in the most challenging times, there are simple ways to create beauty and calm.

 

Find Your Essence:

Because everyone deserves a space that smells like peace.

Unlocking Africa’s Healing Secrets: The African Rhapsody Revolution

In a continent where ancient healing wisdom has been passed down through generations of women herbalists, one visionary brand is bridging the gap between ancestral knowledge and modern skincare science. African Rhapsody isn’t just creating beauty products; it’s unlocking Africa’s vast botanical heritage, transforming traditional remedies into research-backed solutions, and rewriting the continent’s role in the global wellness industry.

What started as a personal quest for healing has evolved into a movement that’s positioning Africa not just as a supplier of raw materials but as a powerhouse of value-added wellness innovations. With laboratories in Lagos and partnerships across West Africa, African Rhapsody is proving that the most effective skincare solutions have been growing in African soil all along.

A Personal Journey to Continental Impact

Ifekoya Funmilayo of African Rhapsody

The African Rhapsody story begins with a struggle, a persistent skin condition that refused to respond to conventional treatments. Faced with this challenge, the founder, Oluwafunmilayo Ifekoya, turned to something more profound: the age-old wisdom of African women herbalists and the medicinal plants rooted in the continent’s rich soil.

“That was the turning point,” the founder reflects. “Not only did these remedies work, but they also revealed something deeper: Africa holds one of the richest repositories of healing plants in the world, yet their value remains underexplored and underappreciated.”

This revelation sparked a three-year journey across Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire, researching cosmetic scientists and botanists. The mission was clear: uncover the true potency of African flora for both beauty and healing, and bring this knowledge to the world through scientifically validated formulations.

Redefining African Skincare Excellence

African Rhapsody has emerged as more than just a skincare brand; it’s a research-driven company that addresses real dermatological concerns using Africa’s botanical heritage. The product line tackles everything from acne and eczema to hyperpigmentation, tinea, and stretch marks, all through the power of plant-based actives.

What sets African Rhapsody apart is its commitment to gentle yet effective solutions. Every serum, oil, butter, and plant essence is formulated without retinol, harsh acids, or synthetic chemicals. Instead, each product draws from ancestral healing wisdom while undergoing rigorous clinical analysis to ensure both efficacy and safety.

The Science Behind the Heritage

African Rhapsody’s approach represents a perfect marriage of tradition and innovation. The brand’s formulations are inspired by centuries-old beauty rituals and healing practices, but each product undergoes thorough scientific validation through collaboration with cosmetic scientists and clinical analysis.

This methodology ensures that customers receive products that are not only culturally authentic but also scientifically proven to deliver results. It’s an approach that honours African heritage while meeting modern standards of skincare excellence.

Beyond Beauty: Building Africa’s Botanical Future

Perhaps most revolutionary is African Rhapsody’s vision beyond direct-to-consumer skincare. The brand is pioneering a B2B vertical that refines African medicinal plants into standardised extracts, tinctures, and infusions for wellness brands, spas, and naturopathic medicine companies worldwide.

This initiative addresses a critical gap in the global wellness market. Rather than simply exporting raw materials, African Rhapsody is creating high-value, wellness-ready ingredients that showcase the sophistication of African botanical science. From anti-inflammatory botanicals to antioxidant-rich elixirs, the brand is transforming African herbs into globally competitive solutions.

Solving Real Problems, Creating Real Impact

African Rhapsody tackles challenges on multiple fronts:

For Consumers: The brand addresses the lack of authentic, effective skincare products rooted in African botanicals. Most available solutions are either too harsh or imported, or completely disconnected from African environmental needs and heritage.

For the Ecosystem: The company is revolutionising how Africa’s vast medicinal plant resources are utilised. Instead of allowing these valuable botanicals to be exported in raw form with minimal value retention, African Rhapsody refines, validates, and exports African-made plant actives.

What Makes African Rhapsody Exceptional

Rooted in African Biodiversity: The brand sources powerful medicinal plants from across Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire, including underutilised botanicals like cassia alata, giving products a unique, plant-rich identity not found in mainstream beauty brands.

Clean and Problem-Solving: Every formulation is free from harsh chemicals while offering gentle yet effective solutions for complex skin concerns, using only botanicals that heal, protect, and restore the skin barrier naturally.

Sustainability and Empowerment: From working with local farmers to training young women in botanical science, African Rhapsody is committed to sustainable sourcing, biodiversity preservation, and women’s empowerment across the entire supply chain.

Building Africa’s First Botanical Refinery: The brand isn’t just creating products—it’s building a regenerative B2B supply chain that ensures Africa creates and retains value from its natural resources.

The Vision Ahead

As African Rhapsody continues to expand from its flagship store and laboratory in Lagos, the brand’s impact extends far beyond skincare. It’s preserving biodiversity, empowering communities, and fundamentally rewriting Africa’s role in the global beauty and wellness industry.

The company represents a new paradigm where African botanical knowledge isn’t just preserved—it’s elevated, validated, and shared with the world through products that truly heal and transform. In every formulation, African Rhapsody proves that the most powerful skincare solutions have been growing in African soil for centuries, waiting for the right vision to unlock their potential.

Experience the African Rhapsody Difference

Join a movement that celebrates Africa’s botanical heritage while delivering scientifically-proven skincare solutions. Discover how ancestral wisdom meets modern science in products designed to heal, nourish, and transform your skin naturally.

Connect with African Rhapsody:

Africa holds the healing. African Rhapsody is unlocking it.

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