Introducing a new Global By Nature exclusive, Raw Nature. This global award-winning range of plant-powered body care is vegan + ethy accredited, harnessing the best of green chemistry.
1. Can you share with us the humble beginnings of the Raw Nature brand?
Having various health issues made me reassess the body care products that our family were using and particularly what was going on the skin of our two young teenage daughters.
I was unable to find brands that were truly natural and safe, yet powerful enough to give me and my girls the confidence of smelling great throughout the day. So, I decided to create my own body care products.
Like a classic small business story, it all started in the home kitchen, which looked like a science lab most days. A range of body care products were carefully designed to deliver the performance of conventional brands using only plant-based ingredients, while offering an unmatched aroma experience. Raw Nature was born.
2. Why was the creation of this brand so important to you?
I’ve always loved eating healthy food, so as I was becoming more aware of what went in my body it just made sense to look at the products I was using on my skin.
Natural makeup was the next change I made but when it came to body care the selection was so limited and what was out there was not effective at all. This convinced me that there were others wanting to make more natural body product choices. I was also adamant that if I started this brand it wouldn’t be contained in plastic, so all of the products are packaged in beautiful biodegradable and compostable cardboard tubes and labels.
3. What is the success behind your formula’s and how do they differ from other natural personal care brands?
I think the success of the formulas is due to me not having a background in cosmetic chemistry. I didn’t know how to make cosmetic formulations but I do know how to bake and make creations in my kitchen, so I thought how hard can it be to make body products? It took about 18 months of research, trial and errors to come up with the products. What I learnt is that the power of natural ingredients, married with science, ensures each product works as well as or better that the mainstream alternative. The formulas are clean, conscious and considered with special attention on high performance, and that I ended up teaching the cosmetic chemists a few things about natural formulations.
4. As a busy mum and entrepreneur, how do you incorporate natural health practices into your everyday routine?
I’m a big fan of listening to what your body needs and I try and encourage my children to do the same. A lot of ailments can be prevented when you are in tune with what’s going on with yourself – I believe mental wellbeing (not just physical wellbeing) plays a huge part in our health. Our family loves laughter and joking around with each other which I think keeps us sane.
5. Which would you say is the one SKU in the range you absolutely can’t live without?
The geranium + lime deodorant. It was the very first product I perfected, and I’ve worn it every day since. The scent of citrus and floral and doubles as my perfume if I’ve forgotten to put it on.
6. Has there been a particular challenging aspect to the building of the Raw Nature brand?
Yes, as I mentioned before not being a cosmetic scientist caused some challenges for me when I needed to scale production – I had to learn very quickly how to convert my basic ‘recipes’ into formulations that a manufacturing cosmetic lab could understand. There were a few tears!
7. What has your experience with GBN been like?
Really fantastic. I feel very lucky to have a great partnership with GBN as they really understand the health product environment which is very important to me. Everyone I have dealt with is very helpful and caring.