Meet the Team

This week we meet Julie from Just Specialty Products, LLC. Grab a cup of coffee and get to know her!

tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm a displaced (Gulf Coast) Texan living in Northern Wisconsin with 3 fab kids (6, 8 & 12 yrs old) and a PhD chemist husband who's kind enough to help me formulate and solve problems when they come up with. We started making liquid hand wash because our kids have sensitive skin and I have high standards about products we use including concerns about their impact on the environment. Sometimes, we'd give family and friends products as gifts and soon they were asking to buy them. Eventually, I caved, LOL! . I also added traditional bar soap, shampoo, conditioner, and bath bombs to my line-up. This month, I'm adding my "Organics" line to my Etsy store.

Getting used to the snow and cold, pretending to be a stay at home mom and running a more than full time business have recently made me realize that I need to take more time to appreciate what I have, what I do, and all the gifts in my life. My goal is to find balance and not be stressed, stretched and overwhelmed. To enjoy my life.

What is your motto/theme

My background (and degree) is in environmental resource management, and I've always been driven to a wise steward of our planet. So my aim for my etsy store (and products) is simple but ambitious; make products that are safe, simple and luxurious. No small feat, to be sure!

where did you get your name

My company is Just Specialty Products, LLC. My website is TrustJust.com - so that's what I named my etsy store (TrustJust), and it's my name at Facebook too.I'm the "Ju" and my husband is the "st" (of Just). Together we're Julie & Steve. "Just" not only means "what you see is what you get"... but also Honorable and Fair. Those concepts are very important to me. The word "Just" simply rings true for me on many levels. Our product are Just Plain Clean, Just Foaming Clean, Just Clean Fun, Just Bar Soap.... you get the idea.

tell us about your most favorite item

I'm most proud of my foaming face wash. http://www.etsy.com/listing/64313120/neroli-face-wash-biodegradable

It's truly a fantastic product that balances biodegradable ingredients with great quality. Neroli, rose geranium, and palmarosa, along with aloe, allantoin, avocado oil and hydrolyzed oats are a part of what makes your skin feel so good after washing. My face doesn't appreciate soap. I need a gentler product for the skin on my face - and formulated the face wash specifically to spoil my skin.

why did you choose to be on a team

Being a sole business owner/employee can be lonely. Bouncing ideas of my walls... results mainly in the same ideas coming back unchanged. I find a group of like minded colleagues to be a great place to stay motivated and be inspired - even challenged. The friendships and camaraderie are also a huge draw for me. This group, in particular, has such a warm heart and is full of experienced soapmakers with diverse backgrounds. Who wouldn't want to be part of such synergy and dynamics?! Truly, these members are inspirational. As part of this group, I feel I'm a better soapmaker, business-person - and a better human too.

You can find Julies products in her Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TrustJust

and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TrustJust

EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY

Here is a little bit about Urban Eden's contributions to the environment!!

It's hard to run an environmentally sound business, even when you're making something as seemingly innocent as soap. I thought I was doing pretty well because I was using natural fragrances and colorants, my soaps were almost all vegan (one variety contains local honey), and I was using minimal packaging. So I was horrified when I learned that rain forests are being decimated to make way for palm plantations. Palm oil is one of the key ingredients for most soapmakers, myself included. It makes a bar hard and long-lasting with a stable lather--and there's no perfect, vegan, environmentally benign substitute.

I still haven't developed a palm-free recipe, but I've switched to an organic, sustainably-grown palm oil. It comes from South America and is grown on land that was cleared over thirty years ago. More recently I've switched to organic shea butter as well. But I think it's the palm oil that's most important.

I try to be environmentally responsible in other ways as well. My local customers get a discount when they bring back their containers for refilling. My deodorants are aluminum-free (mining bauxite for aluminum causes environmental damage). And my fragrances are still natural. Of course, the plants from which essential oils are derived are resources to be used wisely. Everything we consume has a price. But the majority of synthetic fragrances are petroleum-based. Some are neurotoxins. And waste water treatment methods can't filter synthetic fragrances out, so they end up in our rivers and oceans. Synthetic musks, which are used to anchor or extend scents, have been found accumulating in mussels and fish.

Although these are the choices I've made, I want to emphasize that other soapmakers--and customers--may weigh the environmental factors differently. You could easily argue that an animal-fat based soap is the most environmentally sound choice, or that it's better to use a chemically-derived fragrance than an essential oil derived from a precious botanical. Or maybe your wallet is in conflict with your ideals. (I know I wish I could afford to print my labels with soy inks.) But one thing's for sure: any handmade soap is a better choice than a mass-produced, petrochemical-based "cleansing bar" or "beauty bar."

Happy Earth Day from Bambu Earth

In celebration of Earth Day we will showcase a few of our earth concious team mates over the next couple days! Enjoy!!

Bambu Earth is an Earth Conscious company that leads by example and promotes the use of natural, organic, handmade and energy efficient materials. The company name "Bambu Earth" was inspired by the bamboo plant, which is a wonderfully sustainable resource. It grows without the need for petroleum-fueled tractors and poisonous pesticides and fertilizers, thereby being incredibly "earth friendly"!

::About Bambu Earth::
My soaps are made from scratch using the cold-process method, and everything in my shop is handmade by me. My products exclusively contain natural, nourishing ingredients without synthetic fragrances or harmful dyes and colorants. I use only pure essential oils, herbs, botanicals, clays and other natural ingredients to formulate the unique scents and color combinations of each soap. All of my soap recipes palm oil free and eco-conscious!

::About Packaging::
Each bar comes beautifully packaged and ready for gift giving in handmade (by me) plantable paper labels that grow basil! Each bar comes with planting instructions. Outer label is made from recycled cereal boxes and contains the product information and ingredient listing. Each product that comes in a plastic container will be accompanied by a few ideas on how to recycle and reuse the packaging. (More ideas, photos and tutorials coming soon on http://www.bambuearth.com/.Some items (such as my seasonal Irish Locks O' Luxe Hair Rinse) come packaged in recycled glass containers.

::Promotional Materials::
All Bambu Earth business cards are printed on recycled cereal boxes with an energy efficient laser printer. All invoices are printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper.All thank-you notes are printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper handmade by a fellow artisan.