About PataGlow
Great Kenyan beauty products should be easier to find.
PataGlow started with a simple idea: discovering skincare, haircare and body-care products should begin with what you need — not with already knowing which brand to search for.
Hi, I'm Hussein.
I'm the founder and builder behind PataGlow.
But my connection to the beauty industry started long before PataGlow existed.
Years ago, my family and I opened a beauty shop.
It was my first real job. I handled the shop's social media, photographed products, posted them online and tried to help more people discover what we were selling.
One thing I still remember is how often customers would walk in without knowing exactly what product they needed.
They would explain what was happening with their hair or skin and ask the staff for advice.
“My hair keeps breaking.”
“My skin is really dry.”
“What can I use for this?”
The staff would listen, ask a few questions and help them find products that might suit what they were dealing with.
At the time, I didn't think much of it.
Years later, I realised how important that was.
People don't always shop for beauty products by brand name.
Very often, they start with a problem they want to solve.
The shop eventually closed, and I later went on to become a web designer, spending years helping businesses build a stronger presence online.
But that first experience stayed with me.
I knew what it felt like to have products sitting on a shelf and wonder how to get the right people to notice them.
And I remembered the customers who simply wanted help finding something that could work for them.
Years later, I started seeing the same problem online.
Kenya has incredible skincare, haircare and body-care brands.
But finding them isn't always easy.
A lot of great local brands grow through Instagram, WhatsApp and word of mouth.
That works when you already know the brand exists.
But what if you don't?
Maybe all you know is that your scalp is itchy.
Your hair keeps breaking.
Your skin feels dry.
Or you're looking for a natural deodorant.
There could already be a Kenyan brand making exactly the kind of product you're looking for.
You just need a better way to find it.
That idea kept coming back to me.
So I started building PataGlow.
In a way, PataGlow takes something I saw happening inside that little beauty shop years ago and brings it online.
You start with what you're looking for.
PataGlow helps you discover products from brands you may never have come across otherwise.
And for brands, it creates another way to be found — because they make something someone is actually looking for.
PataGlow has been built from the ground up, without outside funding or a big team. I started with what I already knew from years of web design, a lot of research, plenty of experimenting and a determination to keep learning as I built.
I built the first version and started sharing it with Kenyan beauty brands.
Brands joined.
Products started appearing.
People gave feedback.
And what began as an idea started becoming a community.
We're still building it that way today.
There are people behind every product.
One of my favourite parts of building PataGlow has been discovering just how many incredible beauty businesses are being created in Kenya.
Some are established companies.
Some are small family businesses.
Some are founders making, testing, packaging and selling their products themselves.
Some are only just getting started.
I've been on that side of the story too.
That's why I want PataGlow to be more than a place to browse products.
I want it to be somewhere people discover the brands, founders and stories behind them.
Because behind every bottle, jar, bar or tube is a real person building something.
Where we're going.
My hope is that one day PataGlow becomes the place you think of when you know what you need, but don't yet know what to buy.
A place to discover Kenyan skincare, haircare and body-care products.
A place where smaller brands can be discovered alongside established ones.
A place where you can explore your options, learn and make a more informed choice.
And ultimately, a place that helps make Kenya's beauty industry more visible.
We're still early.
We're still learning.
And there's a lot more to build.
That's what makes this exciting.
Hussein SwalehFounder, PataGlow