If you are as obsessed about beauty as I am, chances are at some time or another you will have tried your own hand-made beauty products. And have been pleasantly surprised at just how well the work, because surprisingly simple kitchen ingredients can be incredibly effective. Companies like Lush have made a fortune by stripping back the chemicals and creating gorgeous organic cosmetics and you’re able to do the same on a smaller scale. These kinds of things sell very well on sites like Etsy (a marketplace for handmade items) particularly in the runup to Christmas when people are looking for gifts. If you want to start a venture making handmade beauty products, here are a few ideas! You can buy your ingredients from comanies like New Directions.
Hand-made Sugar or Salt Scrubs
These are very easy to make but are incredibly effective. Combine sugar or salt (a nice variety like pink Himalayan salt works well) with coconut oil and essential oils to give it fragrance. With Christmas around the corner you could go with festive scents like spiced apple, cinnamon and gingerbread. You could use a stand up pouch design to package them, another option would be to mix the sugar or salt with a soap base, pour into ice cube trays and make mini exfoliating soaps. You could then put these into boxes or glass jars
Hand-made Bath Bombs
Bath bombs are surprisingly simple to make, there are recipes online you can follow and make some really impressive looking, colourful and gorgeous smelling combinations. They look mesmerising when you drop them into the bath! You could make a variety, package them up and sell them as a set. Alternatively you could wrap them individually and sell them as stocking fillers. These are the kind of inexpensive bits and pieces people will be looking for to gift for the holiday season, although of course lovely handmade beauty products will sell all year round.
Hand-made Soaps
Soaps are relatively easy to make, get some nice moulds, a soap base, lye and oils and you’re ready to go. Again they can be packed up in a way that looks pretty, and make ideal gifts that are a little different to mass produced products on the market. Play around with your formula until your soap looks, smells and feels as nice as it can possibly be. You could add things like herbs, oats, flowers or anything else. Have a look online for winning fragrance combinations and ideas for extras that could be put into them.
One thing to be aware of is that the TGA have very strict labelling guidelines, so it is important to make sure that all your ingredients are listed. Where possible use organic materials since these will be gentle to all skin types and appeal to the most buyers. You will also need to register with the authorities, although you won’t need to send your products to get tested by the TGA.
Have you ever considered selling homemade beauty products for a profit? If so, what route would you go down?
Credit cover image: lushcosmetics.com
