Chevée is the secret to perfect curls.

In the 2000s, paleontologists unearthed the oldest human ancestor in Chad. The 7-million-year-old specimen was nicknamed "Tumai," which means "hope of life" in Dzaga, the language of the country's north. Since its discovery, this African country has come to be regarded as the birthplace of humanity. It is also the birthplace of hair care. Not far from Tumai's resting place, the writing is literally on the wall.

"Our women have very old hair rituals, some of which can be traced back thousands of years through old rock paintings," says Salwa Petersen (opens in new tab), founder of the new eponymous hair care brand (opens in new tab). The prehistoric rock paintings she describes depict fashion shows, hair styling, and rituals that revolve around chebe (opens in new tab), a plant that has strengthened and moisturized Chadian women's hair for thousands of years. Petersen, a dual French-Chadian citizen and industry veteran who has developed best-selling products for L'Oréal, decided that someone had to bring this ancient practice to the world.

The traditional ritual, also known as shebeh, begins by baking the brown seeds into a powder. Then they are braided into the hair, alternately applying water, powder, and nourishing ingredients like shea butter or sesame oil. Chadian women do this several times a week, involving their mothers, sisters, and friends.

But for busy consumers who can't call a friend in the morning, Petersen spent three years streamlining the process with one easy-to-use product.

"We wanted to honor the ritual by creating a leave-in product first," Petersen says.

"The founders and leaders of the beauty industry advised us not to launch with just one cream. Using the best chebe on the planet will do just that. Some grow throughout western and southern Africa, but the most nutritious and effective chebeh comes from Chad.

"Not all chebes are created equal," says Petersen. His team harvests the chebet between February and April, when it is at its strongest, and extracts it from it in the brand's laboratory outside Paris. 'When we analyzed it, we found that the chad du chad is different from chads from other continents. It looks different. It is more concentrated and its enhancing effects are more potent."

And while its effects are best seen on textured hair, it stops breakage, improves curl structure, and moisturizes for elastic, even curls. Let me prove it: after shampooing and towel drying my fine, straight hair without conditioner, I blended a small amount of the cream into my hair. Sure enough, when I dried it with a hair dryer, my hair was silky and shiny. For the rest of the hair care, Petersen has big plans for Chebeh and her country's rituals: "Chad has seven million years of history. Chad has seven million years of history to share.

This article appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of Marie Claire.

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