Simple Ingredients

Simple Goodness from Local Sources

Wherever possible, Van the Man Wonder Balm uses ingredients obtained from sources in the Baltimore area. What’s more, simplicity means there are no secrets: the only ingredients are those listed on the label.

Shea butter originates from Africa, where it is made from seeds of the fruit of the Vitellaria tree. Once mature, each tree produces about 40 pounds of fruit per year – for 200 years! The shea butter used to make Van the Man Wonder Balm is obtained from Shea Radiance, a company started in Ellicott City, MD, and now based in Savage, MD. Co-founder Funlayo Alabi says the shea butter used in Van the Man Wonder Balm was made by a women’s cooperative in the the West African Republic of Benin. Shea Radiance’s natural organic shea butter is unrefined with no color or dyes added.

The majority of cocoa butter comes from two African countries: Ivory Coast and Ghana. Van the Man Wonder Balm is still trying to find an ongoing local supplier, but for our initial production we obtained a large amount of high-quality cocoa butter from Organic Chemistry, a Baltimore organic hair-care products company that also values simplicity and sustainability.

Van the Man Wonder Balm is committed to sourcing its bees wax from apiaries in the Baltimore region. This will mean a changing roster of producers over time, as many area apiaries are small and accumulate their wax until they have enough to refine and sell. For our initial production, we used bees wax from The Bee Folks, a family-owned beekeeping business located in Mt. Airy, MD.

Almost all of the world’s coconut oil is produced by the Philippines, Indonesia, and India. Van the Man Wonder Balm’s initial production relies on two brands of organic coconut oil: Dr. Bronner’s Whole Kernel Virgin Coconut Oil; a fair-trade product of Sri Lanka; and Wellsley Farms Organic Naturally Refined Coconut Oil.

Van the Man Wonder Balm includes four additional oils: Vitamin E oil from Nature’s Bounty; and clove bud, tea tree, and neem oil from Sobotanical, a small-batch producer based in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore, MD.