Au Naturale Magnificence | Options

Handcrafted magnificence merchandise giving drug-store manufacturers a run for his or her cash

By Rachel Pasche | Dec. 24, 2022

As the brand new yr approaches, so does the time for self-care, and for 2023, we’re leaning into all-natural magnificence and wellness merchandise. These 4 Michigan makers have simply the factor to make your pores and skin easy, your nails gleam, and your hair shine…they usually discovered lots of their components proper right here in your yard.

HIPPIE TWIG BOTANICS

hippietwigbotanics.Etsy.com

Primarily based in Traverse Metropolis, Hippie Twig Botanics gives an array of pure, small-batch merchandise, sourcing components from native farms, Michigan-based distributors, or the good outside. Proprietor Heidi Sharp is keen about making merchandise which can be good for patrons and the planet, and her choices change with the seasons to make sure clients can discover what their pores and skin wants at the moment.

Categorical: How did you get began?
Sharp: After I found my ardour for herbalism and studying the intelligence of crops, I used to be working as a full-time nurse and in search of a artistic outlet. I turned notably enchanted with how [plants] assist our largest organ, the pores and skin. That spark finally led to studying the way to craft varied self-care merchandise and opening up my small enterprise.

Categorical: What sorts of merchandise do you carry?
Sharp: Our choices embrace herbal-infused cleaning soap, varied pores and skin and hair care merchandise, aromatherapy, candles, and infrequently a supportive tea and/or tonic.

Categorical: How do you supply/make your merchandise?
Sharp: My merchandise are lovingly crafted in small batches in my dwelling. I purpose to supply as many components as doable from different small companies in my dwelling state. A lot of the crops I work with are bought from small Michigan farms or ethically wild-harvested. Different components sourced are licensed natural and assist honest commerce each time doable.

Categorical: What’s one product you make that everybody ought to do this winter?
Sharp: It’s so exhausting to suggest only one! I must say a Hippie Twig lotion bar is available in actually useful this time of yr. They’re moveable, low waste, and supply the right quantity of moisturizer to maintain pores and skin hydrated and nourished.

Categorical: The place can clients discover your merchandise?
Sharp: The Refillery, Blessed Be Apothecary, Crimson Door Espresso Home, Oryana West, and Blue North Arts. Seasonally, I’m on the Interlochen Farmers Market, and I’ve an Etsy store.

NORTHERN NAIL POLISH

northernnailpolish.com

KC Springfield had the ingenious thought of making pure nail polishes a decade in the past and has been wowing individuals together with her creations ever since. With no dyes or harsh chemical substances, her polishes, balms, oils, and removers preserve fingers wholesome and searching their finest. (And we love that the colours are Michigan-themed, just like the peachy pink “America’s Excessive 5” or the rose gold “Dune Climb.”)

Categorical: How did you get began?
Springfield: I began making nail polish 10 years in the past after studying an article concerning the publicity to chemical substances like carcinogens and endocrine disruptors in typical nail polish manufacturers. I got down to create colours and a system that’s secure for everybody! It’s vegan, non-toxic, cruelty free, lengthy lasting and chip-resistant.

Categorical: What sorts of merchandise do you carry?
Springfield: My colours range from Petoskey Stone taupe to Cherry Competition crimson, and every part in between. I’ve a coloration and texture of nail polish for everybody, of all ages and preferences. I additionally supply cuticle oils and balms, nail recordsdata, and pure soy-based nail polish remover.

Categorical: How do you supply/make your merchandise?
Springfield: My uncooked materials suppliers are all USA based mostly, and most are women-owned small companies like mine. It’s necessary to me to assist and construct relationships with different small companies. I take advantage of micas which can be ethically sourced, and that’s additionally how my polishes are cruelty free, vegan, and received’t stain nails after removing, as a result of my polishes don’t include dyes.

Categorical: What’s one product you make that everybody ought to do this winter?
Springfield: I like to recommend our Nourishing Base Coat, 30 Second High Coat, Cuticle Balm, and a glass nail file. Our Nourishing Base Coat could be utilized below a coloration or worn alone for the moisturizing properties which assist nails through the winter, and even after eradicating gel/acrylics.

Categorical: The place can clients discover your merchandise?
Springfield: We now have a small storefront behind the Pit Spitters stadium known as Northern Self Care & Items, open on Saturdays from 11am-5pm [428 W Commerce Dr, Traverse City MI]. Or at northernnailpolish.com.

GREAT LAKES BATH & BODY

greatlakesbathandbody.com

Lynn Rodenroth is a grasp soapmaker who takes pleasure in creating merchandise which can be as helpful as they’re enjoyable. From pure tub fizzies that add an additional little bit of “ahh” to your routine to softening soaps and salts, Nice Lakes Tub & Physique has loads of physique care choices.

Categorical: How did you get began?
Rodenroth: I dug exhausting into researching and formulating tub and physique merchandise beginning in 2005 as a result of I had extreme pores and skin points. I turned a product formulator and grasp soapmaker, and in 2008, I launched Nice Lakes Tub & Physique. In 2012, we launched our on-line retailer, then our flagship retailer on Entrance Road in downtown Traverse Metropolis.

Categorical: What sorts of merchandise do you carry?
Rodenroth: We feature all of the enjoyable and helpful fundamentals: handcrafted soaps, premium lotions, soaking salts, tub fizzies, soy candles, and extra.

Categorical: How do you supply/make your merchandise?
Rodenroth: All of our merchandise have been formulated by and are proprietary to Nice Lakes Tub & Physique. We manufacture on-site below GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices). We take quite a lot of care in ingredient choice, together with the sourcing of these components. This excessive customary additionally applies to all of our packaging parts.

Categorical: What’s one product you make that everybody ought to do this winter?
Rodenroth: Our common tub fizzies … fizz like loopy as they launch your favourite scent and soften your pores and skin. They include no colorant, and also you received’t have to wash out the bathtub after a calming tub.

Categorical: The place can clients discover your merchandise?
Rodenroth: We’re situated at 110 E Entrance Road, in Downtown Traverse Metropolis and on-line at greatlakesbathandbody.com.

FLORA AND FUNGI APOTHECARY

florafungiapothecary.com

Amanda Derocher runs Flora and Fungi, a modern-day apothecary that makes use of natural and wild harvested components in all of their merchandise and practices conventional strategies of steam distillation and infusion. She crafts a variety of merchandise in her workshop in Au Gres, all of which evoke a nostalgia and appreciation for the pure fantastic thing about Michigan.

Categorical: How did you get began?
Derocher: I’ve been making primary skincare merchandise for years for household and associates, however I went again to high school for beauty science and formulation coaching to stage up my abilities and guarantee I used to be creating secure, efficient merchandise earlier than launching my model.

Categorical: What sorts of merchandise do you carry?
Derocher: I handcraft a variety of skincare merchandise, from facial lotions and serums to salves and shampoo bars made with botanicals native to the Nice Lakes area.

Categorical: How do you supply/make your merchandise?
Derocher: My course of begins with analysis into the chemical composition of every plant to find out the very best methods to switch the medicinal properties of the plant into the longer term product. Crops are harvested on the peak of their season from wholesome ecosystems. Some crops are dried for use in oil infusions; different crops are steam distilled to acquire their hydrosols and important oils. Others are handled with solvents to acquire potent extracts to include into my merchandise.

Categorical: What’s one product you make that everybody ought to do this winter?
Derocher: Lauma: Goddess of Bushes Coniferous Forest Facial Elixir is my favourite facial product I make, formulated to guard the pores and skin’s barrier from harsh Michigan winters. This lotion is wealthy in occlusive components, together with balsam fir oleoresin, frankincense resin, and cocoa butter paired with hydrosols of Japanese Hemlock and Black Spruce.

Categorical: The place can clients discover your merchandise?
Derocher: My merchandise could be discovered at Blue North Arts in Suttons Bay; Nature Stroll Sleeping Bear Dunes in Empire; and on the Crooked Tree Artwork Middle Petoskey’s Gallery Store (quickly at Crooked Tree Traverse Metropolis), in addition to on my web site.