Shalom Ijeoma Lloyd builds ethical beauty, clinical research, and science-led trade, empowering African women globally.
Shalom Ijeoma Lloyd MBE stepped into entrepreneurship, trying to stop her newborn son from bleeding. When Joshua was born, he developed severe eczema that left his skin raw and constantly inflamed. Conventional treatments failed.
As a trained pharmaceutical scientist who had studied pharmacy in Ukraine on a fully-funded scholarship at the age of sixteen, Lloyd understood medicine, yet nothing she tried worked.
Out of frustration and instinct, she turned to the remedies she grew up with, sourcing raw shea butter and coconut oil from Nigeria and formulating blends guided by both science and African culture. Within three days, her son’s skin softened. That personal breakthrough became the foundation of Naturally Tiwa Skincare, which she founded in the UK in 2014.
‘Naturally Tiwa’ was built around a clear idea: efficacy must come first, and ethics must follow closely behind. The brand produces natural, vegan, and cruelty-free skincare for eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, chronic dryness, and the side effects of cancer treatment.
Its formulations rely on African ingredients such as shea butter, coconut oil, kola nut, millet, sea buckthorn, and bakuchiol, a plant-based alternative to retinol. Products like Yara Body Food, Mimo Facial Serum, and Agu Beard Oil are then designed for all skin types, genders, and ages, and have been widely lauded for relieving pain and inflammation rather than simply improving appearance.
More so, Shalom Ijeoma Lloyd understood that ethical skincare could not exist without ethical sourcing. Instead of relying on extractive supply chains, she remortgaged her home in the UK to build a shea processing facility in the Kingdom of Essan (an ethnic tribe in Edo State), Nigeria and partnered with JE Oils in Abuja. This infrastructure supports over twenty-two rural women, produces up to twenty metric tonnes of shea butter monthly, and keeps value within local communities.
The model reflects her long-standing belief in “Trade, not Aid,” prioritising income, skills, and ownership over dependency. Naturally Tiwa’s approach has earned B Corp certification, Made in Britain recognition, and the 2024 Enterprise Vision Sustainable Business Award, placing it among a small group of purpose-driven beauty brands committed to reduced packaging waste and energy-efficient production in an industry that generates over 120 billion units of cosmetic packaging annually.
The businesswoman’s work extends into global health equity. After losing her father to cancer due to limited access to treatment and clinical trials, she co-founded Emerging Markets Quality Trials (eMQT) in 2018, where she serves as Chief Strategy Officer.
Based in the UK, eMQT connects African patients and healthcare sites to global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, addressing Africa’s chronic underrepresentation in clinical research despite its rapidly growing population.
Through AI-powered data collection, regulatory support, patient monitoring, and training platforms such as INSIGHT, eMQT improves trial quality, accelerates drug development, reduces costs, and strengthens compliance. Its partnerships with institutions, including University College Hospital, Ibadan, help ensure African data contributes meaningfully to global medicine.
In 2025, Lloyd added another layer to her portfolio as General Manager of The Body Shop Nigeria, launching the brand’s first West African stores in Abuja and Lagos. The expansion created local jobs, embedded sustainability practices, and localised ethical beauty without diluting its values, reinforcing her role as a bridge between African markets and global standards.
Recognised with an MBE in the King’s 2024 New Year Honours for services to international trade and women in business, Shalom Ijeoma Lloyd continues to build systems that link science, commerce, and justice across skincare, clinical research, and retail.
