2019-2020 NPD Roadmap

Yes, the headline reads more like a business plan than an informational post. That is intentional as this is a more formal piece on where we are heading as we go into our busiest time of the year.

NPD = New Product Development. This will layout what our plans for new products that in the works for the upcoming 6 to 9 month period beginning July 2019.

BODY BUTTER & BATH BUTTER – available now

These have been in the works for the last year and have finally launched. The Body Butter was a bit premature as we had a huge “A-Ha!” moment. We have retooled the base formula of our Beard Butter into an amazing skin cream for superior moisturizing.

The Bath Butter was actually slow in development but we finally got around to actually producing it. This is a body cleansing cream with Himalayan salt for exfoliating and softening. This will be available in “flavors” that will be unique [for now] to this product line.

MEN’S UTILITY SOAP BAR – plan is for November 2019

We have been tossing around the idea for this product for some time, repeatedly pushing it off. The concept is a soap bar that is ideal for hair and skin. Intended to be launched with our Bar Shampoo, we held off as we wished to not overwhelm the market at the time. Many men like to keep it simple and have one product that does all their bath time cleaning. Where many of these bars that are already on the market do the duty with varying levels of mediocrity, we will get down to the skin and hair basics to create a product that has the right levels of what will work best for head, beard and skin. Using some of our newest ingredients that bring out the best in your skin in hair and pack them into a clean, organic soap bar. These bars will lather great, rinse away easily and come in our most popular J&L Pogonotrophics’ fragrances.

DEODORANT STICK – February 2020, maybe

Another project that has been in the works for some time. We have looked at numerous recipes and like everything else we do, we look into the core ingredients that will best suit the job of keeping BO at bay while not being greasy or irritate sensitive skin. We plan to bring 2 to 3 variants to market that will give options in performance and fragrance.

“JUNK OIL” CREAM – Fall 2019

It has been requested that we make a cream or balm version of our JUNK OIL. We have a name selected for this product that will be just as fun and attention grabbing as Junk Oil has been. The idea is to have a thick lotion like deodorizing item that is natural/organic, safe for the most intimate of areas, does not feel greasy and most of all, does the job of keeping you fresh “down there”.

FRAGRANCES & FLAVORS – FALL 2019

As part of our plan to always bring variety to our fragrance offerings we will be retiring a couple fragrances at the Holidays to make room for new scents. The plan is to rotate out some scents after 2 years. This year we will say farewell to TAROCCO and CITRUS GROVE. Tarocco will remain as a custom order scent for Beard Oils & Beard Butter. At this time we have ceased production of these 2 scents. LONDON may also be retired as well.

We are currently testing new scents to bring forward. Some are already out there in select products to test the public’s reaction. So far, ARUBA looks like it may be a winner for J&L Apothecary products, but we don’t see it being a great fit for Beard Care products.

Lip Balms will see TWISTED MINT and PINK GRAPEFRUIT come to an end. DREAMSICLE will launch this fall. CUCUMBER MINT is also on the horizon. Expect a couple more flavors to be added. We also plan to introduce new sets with exclusive flavors.

Solid Cologne has been very popular and we hope to expand this line with more fragrances from our current assortment as well as try new ones. Solid Cologne has been a means for us to test new ideas for fragrance. If we get plenty of positive feedback from a new cologne scent, we begin to share it with other lines.

“BUG REPELLENT SPRAY” – SPRING 2020

This is likely the product that we have been working on the longest. We intended to launch it this summer but we had too much on our plate and shelved it to be launched Spring 2020. This spray will be 100% natural, safe for you and your pets, and safe for most fabrics as well.

Recently we took a camping trip where we were able to field test our formula. It performed very well, keeping flies, moths, beetles and mosquitoes at bay. A simple spray over exposed areas and at the feet lasted for hours before reapplication was necessary. The blend of essential oils smell pleasant to you but offends the bugs enough to keep them away. The formula is light, water based and does not require shaking before each use.

PRIMP & JOL

This retail concept, as first introduced, is postponed indefinitely. Our Pop-Up last this past Holiday season taught us a lot and has inspired us to re-tool this concept. Our focus will be to create a production facility that we can open to the public for shopping as well as demonstrations and group activities around personal care, grooming and self care. By doing this we feel we are capturing more of what “Jol” means as we create a fun environment to explore us and our products as well as yourself. Depending on how well we do going into this coming holiday season will determine how soon we can make this happen. If only we can flip a switch and make it happen today!

SUMMARY

Much of what is listed here are ideas that we have had since the launch of J&L Apothecary. We feel that once these products are completed and introduced we will then put our focus on improving the products we already offer, update packaging to be more environmentally friendly and challenge ourselves with expanding our customer base. 2020 may see us pull back from doing Chicago street festivals and focus on retail outlets that take less physical drain on us and presents our products in a better fashion. Festivals are fun; but they are a lot of work to prepare for as well as operate. The sun and heat are not ideal environments for our products, which have caused quality issues for some items. Fluctuations in weather affects how well we perform at these festivals and due to their costs to participate, we cannot risk rainy weekends that soak us and keep shoppers at home.

We hope you appreciate our roadmap and are excited for what we plan to bring to you. In some ways this is the fruition of our “Phase 2” as we plan for “Phase 3”.

Thank you, John & Larry – and the J&L Family

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Us vs Them: Beard Shampoo

From time to time we wish to call out what makes us different and in our eyes, better. With much of our beard care line it is almost MacIntosh to Gala comparisons (apple to apple). But sometimes there is a distinct difference that needs to be called out so you can see that there are not always equal comparisons.

We recently introduced our all new Beard Shampoo, replacing our Quotidian Beard Wash. Time was taken to research and study what is best for most beards to clean without stripping away important oils. Looking at the marketplace we saw a lot of shampoos out there that are merely a typical liquid soap with a more “guy friendly” scent. Focusing on the most popular beard shampoos and we see that they really don’t treat the beard’s hair any differently that what’s on the top of your head. Well, any bearded gent can tell you those hairs are not the same.

Here is an example of a popular brand that can be found at many common stores:

Water, Decyl Glucoside (plant-derived surfactant), Cocamidopropyl Betaine (coconut-based), Glycerin (plant-derived), Cocamidopropylamine Oxide (coconut-based), Xanthan Gum, Coco-Glucoside (coconut-based), Glyceryl Oleate, Polysorbate 20, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Hexylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Ethylhexylglycerin

Colorfully Named Pirate’s Brand Beard Wash – retails for $14.00 for 4 ounce bottle

Above is a very popular and well established brand’s ingredients list for their Beard Wash. They make a point of calling our what is plant based or derived. We find it easier to have all our ingredients be plant based or derived. While nothing stands out as being outright harmful to you or the environment, although there are organ toxicity concerns over Ethylhexylglycerin. With this being pretty much a standard liquid soap formula made by a larger brand we don’t see any justification in the price. A 12 ounce bottle of any popular natural shampoo brand is about $5.00.

Water, Potassium Cocoate*, Potassium Oleate*, Lauryl Betaine, Glycerin*, Macadamia Nut Oil*, Hemp Seed Oil*, Avocado Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Decyl Glucoside, Aloe Vera Leaf, Potassium Citrate, Natural or Essential Oils for Fragrance, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5)   *Organic Ingredient

J&L Pogonotrophics’ Beard Shampoo – retails for $8.00 for a 4 ounce bottle

Read through our ingredients, you can see that between the two shampoos, we share many of the same core ingredients. Our formula does use Xanthan Gum, which is used to give a liquid soap viscosity, nor Polysorbate 20 – an ingredient to get water and oil to mix. We also do not add Vitamin E as a whole ingredient, we do use Hemp Seed and Avocado Oils which are very high in Vitamin C as well as Omega Fatty Acids that enrich the hair. In this new formula, we also added Panthenol. Panthenol is a B5 Vitamin that helps repair the hair cuticle, which can easily be damaged by heat, sun and harsh soaps. The cuticle locks in moisture, and that is very important for your hair!

Our pricing is $6.00 less than the colorfully named pirate’s brand. We can assure you that our quality is on par, if not better; as well as we offer our Beard Shampoo in fragrances that can be mixed or matched with any of our other beard care products.

So, if the quality is comparatively close with both brands being rather natural in ingredients, why pay more? Now add in that one is a major brand that focuses on beard care and they offer a rather generic shampoo at a higher price than a small boutique shampoo with added hair nourishing ingredients; the choice should be clear.

To help in your choice, we are offering a special deal for a short period of time. Save 15% in our online shop until the end of July. Then let us know what you think of our brand…

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The package changed, the product improved.

Since we first introduced J&L Apothecary Brand back in 2017, we relied upon packaging materials we were already using for J&L Pogonotrophics. Partly because the first items were merely a new label applied to the same product we were already making. Other items, we were not all that sure how well they would be received upon hitting the market. And then, we were not sure how to best differentiate the brand yet ensure people knew it was an extension of who we already made ourselves out to be.

Customer feedback was an important factor in how we recreated J&L Apothecary’s look from the start. The biggest factor was the necessity to make it appeal to as many folks as possible by removing any gender profile. Through use, customers also told us what they liked and did not like about our bottles or jars used.

Most of our product photographs were done before we fully implemented all the packaging changes. Some packages saw a complete overhaul while others just had a color change. We are still in the process of revamping our presentation. Soon, we will work through all Cobalt packaging for the majority of products as we transition to white or clear bottles and jars. We are moving through all unique packaging at this time, which means some products may not match their photographs. Once we have completed more of this transition, we will have our photographer work on creating all new photos for all J&L Apothecary Brand products.

Another benefit has been the refinement of production methods and an increase in new ingredients in our raw materials cabinet. This has allowed us to tweak ingredients for some products to bring in better ingredients than what was being used previously. Our move to more Certified Organic Ingredients is also a factor. We rather provide a high quality organic ingredient over a less expensive non organic ingredient if how that change improves quality if there is a change at all.

These changes have not been limited to J&L Apothecary Brand. Our Beard Care line has seen upgrades as well. When we first acquired the “tottle” bottles for our lotions, it was a perfect fit for our After Shave Cream as well. And when we decided to make changes to our Beard Wash and introduce the All New Beard Shampoo and companion Beard Conditioner, the “tottle” bottle was an ideal package to help ensure users dispense the right amount, easily and with less mess. Unfortunately it migrated away from our “signature” blue bottles.

Due to supply and pricing issues we had to change our Original Beard Butter TM package to an amber jar with black lid. Nobody really noticed, but we were sad to see the blue with aluminum lids gone. Another change that is soon to come is our move from the aluminum caps for beard oils. We loved using metal as it was easily recycled as well as looked great with the blue bottles. Quality issues from our suppliers had led to us having to recycle near a third of the caps we were attempting to use. There were even cases where the caps were popping off the bottles due to temperature changes caused the caps to warp and loosen. This increase in scrap of packaging materials made the caps too costly to continue to use. Before the end of the year you wills start to see our beard oils transition to black plastic caps. We analyzed the concept of moving to droppers for our closure and felt it was still a messier mean to apply beard oil. Our reducer “shaker” insert will still be in place to ensure dosing without spilling, and less mess if you knock the bottle over.

Behind the scenes we are working on a new Original Beard Butter formula that will be vegan friendly while still performing as awesome as it already does. There may also be the addition of an all natural plant-based emulsifier to avert a repeat of our past performance issue. We pride ourselves of always providing a high quality product at a fair price, we will always work to make our products better in formula and packaging.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Product details updating

Over this summer we will be auditing our product details and revising information as we add a new tabbed feature layout to all our own branded products.

As we have grown, it is time to convert all ingredient details to the FDA INCI standards. These are the approved botanical or scientific names larger cosmetic makers are required to use to establish uniformity and consistency to ingredient listings. Because of our size of business we are not required to use this system, using the common accepted names for all ingredients it its place. The intent was to be able to convey to consumers our ingredients in a manner that is very easily understood. We could legally still use our current system but as we wish to expand our marketplace it is sensible for us to make this change now. As always, we wish to be upfront and honest about our ingredients as well as our processes.

New Product Information Tabs

Our mission is to make our main product page easier to read and for you to get to the information that is most important or relevant to your search first. Our format always had a structured tab system, but it was one that was not editable in a manner that we felt was beneficial. We have added a back end feature that will allow us to fully customize our product information tabs.

For most products you will see 3 key tabs: Description, More Details & Use, and Ingredients. Description is the first tab all will see when viewing a product. It will contain the general purpose of the item along with basic details and call-outs for benefits and key ingredients.

Next tab will be More Details & Use. A place where we will describe the best or more common use or application of the item and dig into product details such as suggested storage, additional uses and added benefits. Our instructions on how to use a product are based upon the designed purpose of the product. Many of our products have multiple uses and it is good to know what else you can use it for. NOTE: We will alert safety concerns that relate to proper uses, if any. If an item is used outside of the noted methods of use, it is outside our Terms & Conditions and we can not guarantee its performance or safety.

Ingredients is our last custom tab. This is where all base ingredients are listed. For scented items, we keep the details concerning scent on our SCENTS page as they are shared among many products and would be far too lengthy to add into each product listing. Scents are covered under INCI as “fragrance” and are not required to be detailed. We will also call out packaging details and suggest recycling for commonly recyclable packaging components.

The Reviews tab will remain and is moved to last. Reviews are very important for sharing your experience with others. The more reviews a product receives, the more trustworthy it can become to a new customer who is uncertain about the experience they may encounter using our products.

We hope to provide comprehensive information about all our products to help shoppers get the information they want as well as set the right expectations. We do not have an in-house team of content writers, nor have we contracted a 3rd party to do this task. Like everything we do, it is by our small team of people that work behind the scenes to keep us running. By small, I mean pretty much one person. This process will take time and may have some hiccups along the way. Please pardon our “dust” as we make these changes. If there is information or details you would like to see, put it in a product review and we will address it right away.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Our take on “Utility Oils”

We get it; men like it simple when it comes to their grooming regimen. Preferring one product that can be tasked with more than one duty. We embrace this with many of our products where it makes sense; where each task is performed well and you get the best results for everything it does.

It seems there is trend out there of a grooming product collectively referred to as Utility Oils. Utility oils perform the duties of beard oil, shaving oil and skin moisturizing oil. Sounds great, right? Well, when it comes to soaps, shampoo, many creams and lotions such multitasking is sensible. A good body wash can work well as a shampoo. Even our shampoo bars can be awesome body bars. But when it comes to beard oil and shaving oil there are very distinct properties that you should be looking for in each that are at opposing ends of the spectrum.

The best beard oils are light and thin. They will spread easily and evenly through your beard and absorb more quickly into the skin as well. On the other hand, an ideal shaving oil will be thick and viscous. It should become a barrier between the razor and the skin, creating a slick surface for the razor to glide upon. Although it being an oil, it will still absorb into the skin and moisturize; but it will also feel greasy if used as a lotion.

A utility oil is either a beard oil tasked with being a shaving oil, a shaving oil you can use on your beard or a blend of the two. One may think a blend would do the trick but when you think it through you are actually getting a thinned down shaving oil that works as a thickened beard oil. Tasking one to work as the other means it is only doing one job well. Why pay for a product that only does one job well in place of buy 2 products that do their respective jobs very well independently?

An answer may be that it is less expensive while keeping down the clutter in your bathroom. And here is the GOTCHA! – these utility oils are often more expensive than buying an oil for each task. A 2 ounce bottle of a “premium” utility oil can run $40 to $80 anywhere you go. The average 1 ounce bottle of beard oil is about $20, most shaving oils are about the same for a 2 ounce bottle. In our case, each will run about $16 each and come in the same sizes.

Quality of the oils is also important. Castor oil is the ideal oil to use for a shaving oil. It is also one of the cheapest oils used in grooming products. That is why a shaving oil can be twice the size for the same price as a beard oil. A premium beard oil will use mostly argan, almond, apricot and avocado oils to give the performance punch. By the way, if your beard oil does not have at least 2 of those in greater proportion, you should find a better beard oil.

The biggest factor into pricing of any of these products is marketing and pricing to match a desired image. If we get down to the core, with all parts being equal, you are paying more for less with a utility oil. The only thing you are saving is space on your bathroom counter, or wherever you would store your grooming wares.

J&L Pogonotrophics’ Shaving Oil [2 scents, 2oz. $16] and Beard Oil [3 formulas, 17 scents, 1oz. $16]

We provide 3 great formulas of beard oils that vary in viscosity to target the best conditioning you may need. Separately we offer an amazing Shaving Oil that stays slick as a foundation to a great close shave. For skin conditioning we offer Junk Oil as an wholly different beast as well as varying skin lotion formulas. Save the money, give up a little space and do yourself a favor and buy your beard and shaving oils separately. You are likely not needed them both on a daily basis anyway.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Why keep it a secret?

We have good amount of loyal fans of our products and our values. People really seem to love that you can get high quality bath & body products without spending a small fortune. Although I personally don’t see our prices as being inexpensive when compared to your national available mass produced products. It was never our intentions to be on the same price level and there is no way at this point in time for us to even come close. When you look at luxury, salon and boutique brands that are often only sold in limited stores or online, our prices are often shockingly lower for comparable ingredients in a product.

J&L has very loyal fans and followers. Our list of customers who keep coming back for more continues to grow. They often tell us how much they love our products and our prices; and we hope they are telling their friends and family as well. But we have a favor to ask of all of you that do love our products. Please, tell strangers what you think of our products. The best and easiest way to do such is to review the items you have tried on our website and with Google.

Strangers will trust another stranger’s opinion far more than anything we can say about our products. While browsing our site they can see what other users have to say to help them decide if they wish to buy a product from a brand they may have never heard of before. On Google, it not only helps potential customers evaluate our products but helps us spread the word through our own listings. The more and better reviews we get through Google the higher they place us on searches for our products for others to find.

In a way, we like being that little secret brand that maybe folks aren’t sharing too much for fear that we may grow too big and become more expensive and lower quality. We truly wish for that to be the reason. The fact is, you don’t need to keep us a secret. We have the means to easily scale up production to provide more product. As we do so, we are able to buy our supplies and ingredients at even lower prices which will offset the increased manufacturing costs. It may even be possible to lower prices or offer more premiums, discounts and sales.

But, honestly we know you are busy people and may not have time to go back online to give a review for products they just bought. Maybe it was a gift and you hate to ask how much the recipient likes it. Maybe you’re scared that giving us any rating than 5 stars will upset us. (Actually, it will drive us to make it better).

To review us on Google, just search for us (J&L Pogonotrophics) and you should see a box to the upper right in your browser window with company details. There should then be a place where you can enter a review. For any of our products, next time you shop you can easily give a review as you browse for each item.

We thank you for this assistance and hopes this will help other shoppers to give us a try.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Advanced Skin Care is here!

We listened to what you were saying. Over the past few months we have worked on developing formulas for very specific skin care products that truly bring depth to our catalog of products. Current trends are pointing to simple and natural means to bring spa quality products to the home that are affordable. This speaks to us loud and clear. We are always trying to find ways to make higher grade, premium or even luxury level goods to more people. Simplicity and being natural is our style as well!

In mid June we introduced the first 6 products of this new branch of our skin care line. Designed to work together to be a complete face and skin care cleansing regimen. We look for this line to expand over the next year.

  • SERUM H.A. – 2% Hyaluronic Acid serum that penetrates and restores. A tiny bit of this alpha-hydroxy goes a long way to work with your skin to deeply moisturize and reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
  • TONER – a simple oil-free toner to remove dirt and oil that soap leaves behind. Water based formula that is very light on the alcohol. Contains Witch Hazel, Cucumber Extract, Green Tea Extract (still to come)
  • TONER with 2% Salicylic Acid – the same as our basic toner but with added acne fighting power.
  • FACE MIST – a great way to refresh the skin and prepare it for your care regimen. Ideal for those who have dry skin to prevent a dry feel from other products.
  • CHARCOAL FACE WASH – a specialized version of our FOAMING FACE WASH where we added the cleansing trio of Activated Charcoal, Tea Tree Oil & Lemongrass Oil. Each works to ensure as much dirt, oil and residue is removed before you go forward with your daily face regimen.
  • FACE WASH – a liquid face wash built upon our organic liquid soap base. It’s light, lathers very well and rinses away super clean.
  • FACE WASH with 2% Salicylic Acid. Our new face wash with acne fighting power of beta-hydroxy Salicylic Acid.

All of these products are free of added fragrances. The formulas are kept to the fewest ingredients possible and are designed to be a total daily facial regimen.

We are very excited to introduce these new items to our Skin Care line. With our Clay Mask System, Lotions and Scrubs we offer a very comprehensive collection of total skin care all priced attractively while offering equal or better quality than most known luxury brands. Produce in small batches to ensure you get a fresher product.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Why your expanded assortment item takes more time:

In select products we offer “Expanded Assortment” options for scents. It literally means we are able to expand upon or normal assortment of in-stock offerings with items that are made to order. These additional items are scents we have made in the past as regular stock that had limited popularity or are scents some have requested but do not warrant full production.

Most of our items are easily customizable. We produce an unscented base that can be scented and packaged later, as needed. This permits more flexibility in our offerings without increasing our production costs exponentially. This is how we are able to offer Expanded Assortment. As long as if we have the fragrance ingredients we can continue to make the finished scented item. Unlike our normal inventory, where we produce an amount to satisfy anticipated demand for a span of time, expanded assortment items are produced the day we receive your order.

Whenever we package products, whether for inventory needs or for customized orders, we need to wait an extra day to ensure the product set as expected and meets our quality control standards. When adding fragrance and essential oils to our bases it can result in unexpected changes to the product. This is chemistry and if the ambient temperature and humidity levels are not ideal it can cause the base to react differently. This is extremely rare, but possible! Gently adding any amount of oils to our liquid soap base can cause the bonds of the ingredients to break and make the soap too watery. With beard oils & Original Beard Butter it can cause the ingredients to separate or layer.

Whenever we make an expanded assortment item for you, it is scented and packaged and set in a cool dark place overnight. The next day we open the package and inspect for any changes to consistency as well as fragrance accuracy before we commit to fulfilling your order.

By being able to provide this service, we are able to reach more people and provide more options to our customers. It also allows us to ensure you get a fresher product that has not sat waiting to be shipped for too long. We wish to continue to offer more items in more options for you. Sadly, we cannot bring these options to bar soaps, solid shampoo, creams, and lotions.

So, this is why it takes at least 1 extra day to process your order when you order an Expanded Assortment option.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

New Product News for May

We have quietly been evaluating the skin care marketplace to see what the current trends are as well as what is genuinely GREAT for your skin. Some of what we have learned has already go into our existing lotions. Formulas have been tweaked to improve their benefits. We have started to add PANTHENOL to our products, a Pro-V B5 vitamin that binds with and penetrates skin and hair more easily to boost lubrication and hydration.

Our Foaming Face Scrub will have a couple new variations that will include 2% SALICYLIC ACID, a key BETA HYDROXY which aids in managing acne. Our original formula will go unchanged, but you will see at least 1 new formula by June in our shop.

There will also be a new cleansing scrub for the J&L Pogonotrophics line. This scrub is geared for men who are bald or who shave their heads. It will help remove excess oil and dirt and to prevent acne and other scalp irritations. As a bald man I have found that I needed something that will tackle these issues that are more common because of the lack of hair that protects the skin. The scrub will be awesome for all skin, so while you have it you can also get great skin anywhere you wish.

Recently we asked our customers what other products they would like to see from us. A common response was a desire to get more specialized skin care. Especially something to treat dry or aged skin. Our research brought us to ALPHA HYDROXY ACIDS like GLYCOLIC and HYALURONIC. Both of these acids help with adding elasticity and moisture to the skin and more easily breaks the bonds that hold on to dead skin cells. They are a part of those “chemical peels” you hear about. In a much lower percentage they still do a great job of reducing fine lines, wrinkles and redness that occurs. We currently have SERUM H A in testing. This all natural formula that uses plant sourced ingredients is a simple serum that can easily be applied to the skin in a fine layer under a moisturizer or sunscreen. Dermatologists recommend using such a serum twice daily. SERUM H A also includes vitamins B5 and C, along with Aloe Vera to aid in its effectiveness. Serums like this can run as high as $300, although most are under $20Our plan is to introduce this serum soon at a price point that is competitive to value brands while offering a higher grade pure product.

SERUM H A is part of a new branch of our Skin Care line that will carry a slightly new look to reflect their more specialized mission and ingredients. We plan to add a face moisturizing spray and a face wash to this group for launch. Look for details to come.

We are excited about this new additions. These new products will further differentiate us from the rest by providing more options, higher quality and value-minded pricing. Choice has been the foundation we built ourselves upon and we don’t see that changing.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Product Development: Conditioner Bar Part 2

We have been analyzing recipes to see what we can do to perfect the shelf consistency of the product to remain firm, even when it when the environment is warm or humid; along with being easy to use where it will create the “just right” creamy consistency of a conditioner when being used. We are sure there is the perfect ratio of thickeners/hardeners while still being something that will melt in your hands. So far we are not having any luck.

It seems the issue for us is that we wish to consist of 100% natural/plant based ingredients. We looking at recipes we are seeing agents being used that are not derived from plants. Currently we are working with Cetearyl Alcohol and Behentrimonium methosulfate – working together as BTMS-50. The names may be scary but there are genuinely plant based products, and not synthesized versions. Cetearyl Alcohol is a thickener for fats and oils. Don’t let the alcohol part scare you as it is a “fatty alcohol”, which are absolutely non-irritating and can be exceptionally beneficial for skin and hair. It is heavily used for lotions and conditioners throughout the cosmetic industry. Behentrimonium methosulfate is made from rape seed (canola) oil, and is a very popular conditioning agent along with being a great emulsifier. Together they work as a base for creating lotions and conditioners. Designed to be mixed with all your other butters and oils to bind them with water to get the right consistency. By adding higher ratios of Cetearyl alcohol you get a thicker to even solid product.

For now we are scrapping our Solid Conditioner plans until summer. The coming weeks we are busy building up inventory for the summer. Hopes are that we can piece together the right formula and have a product ready for Autumn. This project is important to us and we know it is something many are waiting for but we do not want to rush this and produce a mediocre product.


Posted on by — Leave a comment