Bum balm puts Oh Lief on the map

It all started with a bum balm.
Christine Buchanan was
struggling to find natural
products to use for her baby
when her sister Louiza Rademan
decided to hand-make a balm for the
newest member of the family using
all natural products.
The result was Oh Lief – a thriving
business manufacturing natural
organic skin care products. Standing
in the factory in Maitland, Cape
Town, it is hard to believe that first
balm was made only six years ago.
“We grew up in a household where
green and organic principles were
valued,” explains Buchanan. “When
my son was born I tried to find a skin
care range to use for him and myself
that was all natural and organic,
but nothing really worked. My sister
made me this bum balm and it was
fantastic. We decided to make more.”
Shortly after they exhibited at
a baby show with a hundred bum
balms. Within hours they were sold
out. They realised they were onto
something.
Today the company has three
ranges for babies, children and adults
manufacturing 24 different products.
“We initially worked from
my kitchen,” says Rademan
remembering the early days. “The
kitchen was manufacturing, the
lounge packaging, the dining room
labelling. My husband came home
one day and wanted to make a
sandwich and I refused saying the
kitchen had just been sterilised
for the next batch of products. We
realised it was time to move out of
the kitchen into a real factory.”
The name of the business
references olive oil, which is the main
ingredient in all the products, as well
as their love for all things natural.
Buchanan, who
studied corporate
communications,
and Rademan, a
qualified architect,
have not looked
back once – even
though they admit
it has not been easy
all the way.
“Initially we
just made products and sold them
at markets and shows, not really
thinking about where we were
going or what we were doing,” says
Buchanan. “Each show would see us
launch a new product as people told
us what they wanted or needed.”
In 2013, through a Department of
Trade and Industry (dti) initiative,
they attended a trade show in
London – and the world
literally became their oyster.
“We realised that there was huge
opportunity and possibility. Our
business had grown organically
up to this point but it was a big
realisation for us that our product
was perfect for people all over the
world and they were falling over
their feet for
it. That show
opened doors
unlike any
other.”
Today the
business
operates from
a 1500sqm
manufacturing
plant moving
products not only across southern
Africa but also to Europe, Asia,
Australia and New Zealand.
Their advice to would-be
exporters is simple. “Take the time
to familiarise yourself with the
programmes within dti. There are
opportunities and yes it’s not a
bullet-proof system, but you have
nothing to lose.
INSERT 
After a dti trade show in
London the world became
our oyster.
CAPTIONS
Louiza Rademan and
Christina Buchanan
with some of their
workers in their
Maitland factory.