The clean beauty movement is happening in full force right before our very eyes. We see words like non-toxic, paraben-free, sulfate-free, and so on and it gets overwhelming. What if a brand was here to make it simple and straight to the point with its product and message? That's where Primally Pure comes in. The clean beauty brand has made its mark in the industry, particularly with its natural deodorants.
Primally Pure is made up of certified organic ingredients that are truly safe for everyone's skin. More brands have become transparent about what actually goes into products, but Primally Pure was ahead of the curve. The founder, Bethany McDaniel, was kind enough to chat with C&C about how she came up with the brand's concept, competition in clean skincare, and why natural products are important for our health and wellness.
Create & Cultivate: You’ve gone from an organic livestock farm to owning your own beauty business. How did farm life inspire your brand?
Bethany McDaniel: When you put it that way, my transition from farming to skincare seems like such a bizarre shift! But in reality, it was a very natural next step. When my family spontaneously started a farm, it got me started on a path of cleaning up my lifestyle – and skincare was a huge part of that. I had dealt with acne, rosacea and other random skin problems for years, and began making natural alternatives to the toxic products I had been using since my teenage years with little to no success. Within only a few short weeks, I observed a noticeable difference in the health and appearance of my skin. The further I strayed from conventional products over the next several months, the better my skin looked and felt. I was sold on natural skincare and wanted the rest of the world to experience the same benefits that I did!
What has creating your own beauty products taught you about the industry as a whole?
The more we’ve grown, the harder it is to stay true to your mission and core values as a natural skincare company. Natural ingredients are not easy to work with. Not every batch of essential oil, arrowroot powder or shea butter is the same, and natural variations often make it difficult (but not impossible) to produce high-quality natural skincare products at a large scale.
For this reason, it’s commonplace for natural beauty brands to switch over to synthetic alternatives as ingredients and have their products made by a manufacturing facility located offsite or even overseas. But despite this being so much simpler and more uniform, we are 100% committed to continuing to source the purest, most natural ingredients possible. We make our products in-house and train our staff on what each ingredient should smell, feel and look like in order to detect any possible inconsistencies. This has become more and more difficult as we’ve grown and scaled, but it’s the foundation of our brand and everything we stand for – and those values aren’t changing!
Primally Pure consists of clean beauty products. Can you explain what exactly makes it clean and how it’s different from other clean beauty brands?
We believe that products made with fewer, better ingredients truly do yield superior results. Our products are formulated with fewer ingredients so that the pure oils, clays, herbs and other elements we use can have the space to do what they’re meant to do – transform your skin. The market for natural skincare products is on the rise, and it’s become commonplace for brands to take advantage of the consumer’s desire to find products made with pure ingredients. For example, you can find phrases like “made with organic essential oils” on just about anything these days. And while that may be true, organic essential oils (or whichever ingredients are being talked about) are often times at the very bottom of a long list of not-so-natural ingredients.
Our niche is crafting products made with pure ingredients that aren’t diluted with chemicals. We use nature’s most precious + healing elements to formulate our products–and you won’t find them buried under a long list of cheap fillers and stabilizers.
It seems as if there’s a sudden boom in the clean beauty movement. With many retailers being more transparent about product labeling, are you hopeful that this will convince more brands to consider transitioning to more clean ingredients?
Absolutely. And while the beauty industry has a long way to go as a whole, we’re already seeing so many steps in the right direction. There’s been a huge shift in consumer awareness in regards to what we’re putting on our bodies over the last several years, and brands are scrambling to keep up. I don’t view it as a bad thing to have more competition in this area. No single product or line of products will work for everyone, and more choices mean more demand and education/awareness —which is a win for everyone!
Primally Pure is most well-known for your natural deodorant. Can you tell us a bit more about this product and why it's so important for women to swap out their antiperspirant for a more natural option?
Deodorant alone may not seem like that big of a deal. However, when you think about all of the assaults our bodies go through daily in terms of toxins we’re exposed to in the foods we eat, air we breathe, the water we drink, etc., it’s important to do what we can to lessen our toxic load by making changes in the areas we do have control over.
Switching to a natural deodorant is one of the most powerful changes one can make, as our armpits are extremely absorbent and easily take in what we apply. The biggest benefit of using natural deodorant is a less toxic burden on the body. After making the switch, many people find that they’re sweating more than normal as your body rids itself of toxins. This typically normalizes after a few weeks. And once it does, most people find that they sweat even LESS than before.
The market for natural deodorants seems to be growing. What makes Primally Pure's unique?
Every day, customers tell us that after trying loads of natural deodorants, ours is the first that has worked for them. Not every natural deodorant is created equal and there are a number of different pitfalls that can occur when using natural deodorant including odor, irritation (usually caused by high levels of baking soda found in most natural deodorants), and more.
Through years of trial + error, we’ve formulated our deodorant with the perfect amount of baking soda – enough to combat odor but not enough to cause irritation for the vast majority of people. The results are fresh-smelling, perfectly nourished pits.
Our deodorant is made with a short list of ingredients including organic coconut oil, organic beeswax, organic arrowroot powder, baking soda, organic tallow from grass-fed cows, and organic essential oils. Ingredients like these allow the skin to breathe and function as it should. Nourishing vitamins and essential fatty acids with anti-inflammatory + anti-microbial properties help to improve the health of skin, leaving pits smooth and protected.
You’ve managed to own a successful brand in what many presume to be a saturated space. What advice do you have to women who are looking to start their own beauty business, but are hesitant about actually going for it?
Even though the space may seem saturated, I strongly believe that the natural beauty movement is only just beginning to pick up steam. There are SO many people on this planet. And in the grand scheme of things, very few of them are on the natural skincare bandwagon. But more and more are getting on it each and every day! It’s easy to assume that something has already been done and that there’s no use in doing it – but the truth is, there is no one who can do that thing (whatever it is) in the same way that you would do it.
You’ve made it clear that Primally Pure believes that beauty goes much deeper than skincare and involves a lot of self-care. How do you practice your own self-care?
As an introvert, having “me-time” is super important. But as a wife, mother to a toddler and business owner, this doesn’t happen as often as I would like.
I know that at some point I’ll be able to exercise regularly, sleep longer, read often and get together with friends again more than once every couple of months. But for now, I try to care for myself in ways that are easier for me to stick with. I go on walks with my daughter around the lake by our house, take baths with Epsom salts and organic essential oils a few times a week, and sneak away for massages whenever I can. I do what I can and I don’t stress about all of the things I’m doing wrong, because I know life won’t be this way forever.
What can we expect from Primally Pure for the rest of 2018 and beyond?
We just moved our headquarters into a new 11k square foot space, and it’s been so exciting to work through the design process. The best part of this move is that we’re putting an actual spa into our new headquarters! We’re beyond excited to provide our local community with holistic + organic facials and massages. Additionally, we always have new products in the works and can’t wait to share more on those in the coming months!
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