Meet The Innovators – Imagine Skincare

We caught up with Lizzy recently at EcoBliss Beauty who makes the Imagine range of products listed on ecomersh. She has quite an amazing story and her experiences have led her to create her skincare products.

What inspired you to create your brand? How did the business start? 

I’m an eco-friendly and natural beauty salon  owner down in Cornwall, specialising in natural skincare treatments and hair removal.  Previously I couldn’t find a salon offering natural treatments using all natural products and which weren’t tied into one brand.  My work has always been in the environmental sector too – with sustainable transport and as an environmental Officer, so I knew I wanted to be a plastic-free and a zero waste salon as much as possible, which I’ve now achieved.  I only use washable couch roll for my massage couch, essential oil-based anti-viral, anti-bacterial and sanitising cleansers, use biodegradable plastic gloves for my sugaring hair removal service and reusable face masks during the pandemic and reusable bamboo facial pads instead of disposable cotton wool and use essential oils and steam to clean my salon.

I make all my own moisturisers, cleansers and scrubs etc in my treatments, so I decided to initially start making a natural eczema remedy, as I’ve suffered from this all my life, but usually get prescribed steroids and paraffin-based lotions from the doctors and I wanted to find an alternative to these solutions without having to use steroids and petro-chemical-based creams.  I started off speaking to local  honey and beeswax producers, as I’ve been using honey and researching this for a long time and using this as part of my treatments for people with acne and knew it had such healing properties.  So I made 9 different recipes for eczema creams and got clients and anyone I could find to test all these and the result of 4 years of research is my ‘Sooth:z’ eczema cream.

Whilst working on this, I discovered the healing properties of the ingredients on the lips and started developing my tinted lip balms, vegan lip balms and more.

What makes your products special? 

I’ve wanted to make natural products for a long time, but it’s also important to me that my ingredients are sustainable, fairtrade and local where possible – as particularly with remedies such as my Sooth:z eczema cream, using local honey and beeswax helps with healing in the same way using local honey helps with hayfever and asthma sufferers.  Also, using local ingredients where possible also helps cut down on the miles travelled to get your ingredients, therefore reducing pollution and your carbon footprint.  I use honey and beeswax that I buy from local sustainable Cornish beekeepers who look after the bees properly, don’t use chemicals, or take food from the hive during the winter period when the bees need it.  I also buy my rapeseed oil from a farm in Newquay, which is well-known for supplying local top restaurants – so it really is good enough to eat!

I package my products in British tins or cardboard containers and if you send my tins back, you receive money off your next purchase, as these are refillable – saving having to always buy new tins.

My products are special as they are all also handmade and quality controlled, use organic and local ingredients where possible, and I’m lucky enough to have my salon clients test all my recipes out, to help me research their effectiveness before I launch each one, so you can be sure that they are all tried and tested and effective.  They are all great for sensitive skins too, as they’re all organic and I have the Sooth:z eczema and body butters and Semple lip balm suitable for even those suffering with eczema and psoriasis.  They are also all Made in Cornwall official products with the Trading Standards Department of Cornwall Council.

What about your products is sustainable and plastic free? How and what have you changed or altered to make the products zero plastic, zero waste or sustainable?

As mentioned above, I use organic and local ingredients wherever possible.  My products are all plastic free and refillable and I am a zero waste business throughout my processes and in my salon.

What is your best seller or favourite product in your line? 

At the moment, the best seller in my vegan scented lip balms is Fenil-Lymaval (Fennel & Lemon), which I blended as I liked the smell, and I was surprised that at face to face markets, this is my best seller at any time of year!

My favourite product at the moment is my eczema cream, as I’ve worked hard on it and am really pleased that it’s been helping people with their skin and I also use it all the time.