We are always trying to find sustainable alternatives for shampoos. I like to think there are businesses out there thinking about sustainable beauty and toiletries products to make a difference in our lives and in this planet too.
A shampoo bar is one of those products. The product is in the form of a bar and is made with natural and organic ingredients. It can be used on all types of hair, as well as conventional liquid shampoo, but it does not have dyes and chemical preservatives.
In addition to being completely biodegradable, it does not harm the environment and prevents the accumulation of packaging bottles on the planet.
Beauty Favours is one of these companies – an eco-friendly and cruelty-free brand that creates luxury beauty products containing high-quality and efficacious active ingredients. Read now the interview with Dr Leanne King, one of the founders of this amazing brand.
Midlands Traveller: Tell me a little bit about your background in business.
Leanne King: Beauty Favours was founded by both Leanne and Graham. Leanne has a PhD in Chemistry creating new antioxidant compounds which then led to a 10-year career as a formulator and a skin science researcher in the innovation team with a large global cosmetics company.
In this role, I was both formulating new products and creating patented skincare technologies for a well-known clinically proven healthy skin brand. Graham is an expert in tech with a career in cloud engineering and cloud security working with large businesses.
MT: How did you come up with the idea of a business like yours?
LK: Our backgrounds work perfectly together to get our business up and running. Working in the cosmetics industry is something I’ve absolutely loved being a part of and the creative side of developing products is fun too.
So, creating my own range is something I’ve always wanted to do, and it makes sense with my background. Graham’s expertise in tech means he was able to manage another arm of the business which is also just as important as the final product. Graham ensures all of our data is secure, manages our procedures and the website including the design and he also is in control of SEO and marketing.
We decided to go for it when we were put into lockdown. Being at home meant we had more time to focus on it and after lots of discussions, we made a plan and stuck to it.
MT: What is the main inspiration for your business?
LK: I always want my products to make people feel good! They may just be cosmetic products, but my aim is to make sure they are of a professional standard with ingredients and combinations of ingredients that are beneficial in one way or another depending on what they are.
We currently have a range of shampoo bars which have been developed with both hair and scalp care but are also designed to be eco-friendly too. There are so many benefits to using a shampoo bar!
MT: Tell me about Beauty Favours’ mission.
LK: Our mission is to create products that make an eco-friendly alternative without any compromise. That is, we want to ensure our products perform just as well as regular professional products or better.
MT: What is unique about your business?
LK: We carefully hand-make and develop all of our products in-house.
MT: What is your kind of clientele?
LK: Our clientele is mainly females aged 20-60 yrs. who regularly use beauty products and want to reduce their plastic usage.
MT: What are the challenges of a business like yours?
LK: The challenges we face are that the beauty market has a very competitive landscape, so it is hard to stand out against the big brands which are also often endorsed by celebrities and magazines with huge followings.
Consumers are also nervous to try a new product from a new brand and so are reluctant to even try it. It takes time to build a reputation, but we are confident in our products.
MT: What are the rewards of providing a service like yours?
LK: The reward is having an eco-friendly, vegan-friendly and cruelty-free product that provides a multitude of benefits.
We currently have a range of shampoo bars that do not require plastic packaging, are formulated without water, and are lightweight and concentrated meaning they last longer and have less CO2 impact.
Shampoo bars provide a cost-saving benefit to the consumer too versus using a regular shampoo, this is because each bar can last the equivalent of three regular shampoo bottles.
MT: What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting a business like yours?
LK: I would advise people to get advice wherever they can. There is a lot of free information out there for entrepreneurs and it can feel overwhelming at times when there’s so much stuff to do and think about.
Getting advice from other businesses on what worked and what didn’t work when starting out can help to save a lot of time and cost. One of the main points is to create your USP and target audience for that because the market is just so competitive.
MT: What are the next steps for Beauty Favours?
LK: We’ve got so many ideas for the future! but for now, our next steps are to increase our current product range and offerings.
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