100% natural handmade personal care

[Amy Thomson]

I'm working on a range of skincare, haircare, bath and home fragrance products. All will be preservative free and made with lovely essential oils along with natural waxes, clays, butters and carrier oils.

I plan to sell online and possibly at car boot and craft fairs. I'll be offering some free samples on these forums soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

A wee question I'd like some opinions on: for this sort of market, do you think it's worth going all-organic?

[Elaine Kirk]

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I have no experience myself but my gut instinct would be to wait and see if you need to . Maybe have an 'organic selection'and see which sell best organic or standard?.

[Ali Admin]

I agree with Elaine. It might be good to test the market with a small selection of each and see what the demand is for organic.

Sounds like a great idea and will look forward to hearing more.

[Sheila Struthers]

Free sample of moisturiser is lovely - can't believe how little was needed...

[Amy Thomson]

Originally Posted by Sheila Struthers

Free sample of moisturiser is lovely - can't believe how little was needed...

That's because there's no added water. More bang for your buck!

Okay. I think I'll carry on as I am for just now. Apart from anything else I want to keep my prices reasonable (but still profitable of course ) The mark-up on cosmetics is ridiculous, not to mention the amounts spent on packaging. I'm planning to use plain old-fashioned (and cheap, hygienic and recyclable!) glass jars, jazzed up with some simple, bold and hopefully attractive labels. And if there's demand for more expensive organic options further down the line, that can be done.

[moonrabbit]

Hi Amy,
That sounds really good. My personal preference is for organic, apart from the environmental considerations of using chemicals to artificially grow plants etc. a lot of people have chemical sensitivity/eczema/allergies and can only use organic products. If not buying organic, I always prefur if I see the company has at least some ethics in that regard, ie. perhaps the lavender they buy isn't certified organic, but they haven't used pesticides and have at least some thought towards ethics, eg. Highland herbs say on their packaging

"These herbs thrive without the need for chemicals in the unpolluted west highlands of Scotland"

So, I may buy these rather than an organically certified product that comes from a larger company........

There are so many chemicals in so many things that I do really prefer organic where possible - they taste better and I would think have more of the beneficial qualities if they're grown in a caring and considerate way..... That's just me though!

Another company I've bought this sort of thing from: Naturally thinking

Sure there's many more too, but I'm rushing to get out the house and thought I'd just add my thoughts too.........

Gemma.x

p.s. we are on a tiny small budget but we reached a point where our health and conscience meant we had to sometimes choose what cost more in money but less in other costs, if that makes sense? We're not perfect and often have unorganic stuff from the local shop when in the mood for some crap, but usually find we don't enjoy it as much as the shiny packet would have us believe - sorry getting way off topic now - will go do things with children away from computer land now!

[Amy Thomson]

Originally Posted by moonrabbit

Hi Amy,
That sounds really good. My personal preference is for organic, apart from the environmental considerations of using chemicals to artificially grow plants etc. a lot of people have chemical sensitivity/eczema/allergies and can only use organic products. If not buying organic, I always prefur if I see the company has at least some ethics in that regard, ie. perhaps the lavender they buy isn't certified organic, but they haven't used pesticides and have at least some thought towards ethics, eg. Highland herbs say on their packaging

"These herbs thrive without the need for chemicals in the unpolluted west highlands of Scotland"

So, I may buy these rather than an organically certified product that comes from a larger company........

There are so many chemicals in so many things that I do really prefer organic where possible - they taste better and I would think have more of the beneficial qualities if they're grown in a caring and considerate way..... That's just me though!

Another company I've bought this sort of thing from: Naturally thinking

Sure there's many more too, but I'm rushing to get out the house and thought I'd just add my thoughts too.........

Gemma.x

p.s. we are on a tiny small budget but we reached a point where our health and conscience meant we had to sometimes choose what cost more in money but less in other costs, if that makes sense? We're not perfect and often have unorganic stuff from the local shop when in the mood for some crap, but usually find we don't enjoy it as much as the shiny packet would have us believe - sorry getting way off topic now - will go do things with children away from computer land now!

Thanks for your input! It's good to hear the other side of the story.

I should mention that I will be buying with a preference towards organic. All of the base products (cocoa butter etc.) will be, and the essential oils too unless there's a vast discrepency in price, for example the difference between 10ml of bergamot oil and 10ml of organic bergamot oil is £2 - no problem. However the difference between 10 ml of organic and non- organic rose otto is more like £70, which would bump up the cost of a pot of skin cream quite considerably, especially for something that will constitute > 1% of the finished product. But if being all organic is something that's important to customers it's certainly something I'd consider.

I've found when looking for preservative free products, that a lot of places use all organic ingredients, then dump a bunch of preservatives in the finished product which seems counter-productive. Mind you, you could argue the other way around - what's the point of making preservative free products if a bunch of chemicals have been used in manufacturing the ingredients?