Hello there. I'm back again with another blog post in the much loved series #MyNaturalBeautyJourney. It's been over a month now since the last post, so I'm sorry for that. It's been very hectic as you can imagine with a baby! Also, my eldest boy turned 3 today so there's been lots of birthday prep over the last few weeks and celebrations this weekend.
The next journey I'm sharing with you is quite relevant to my me in my current situation being a new mum and also having a subscription box business so I was delighted when Marianne and Jackie contacted me to share their journey. so without further a do, here it is....
Hello everyone, It’s Jackie here from Gentle Mamas and I am delighted to share our natural beauty journey with you. I set up Gentle Mamas with my sister, Marianne. We had both just had our first babies when the idea came to us. Marianne now has two little girls Ella, 2 and Laragh, 1 and I have a daughter, Alessia, 2.
Like most people, we became hyper aware of what we were eating/drinking and putting on our skin during pregnancy. It’s like we all know on some level that there are nasties in our skin care and food etc and just brush it to once side, but once you are making those choices for a vulnerable unborn baby you stop and think a bit more. We gradually became more uncomfortable with the amount of toxins we were finding in conventional baby products and just organically started looking for natural alternatives. We would then discuss our finds and realised that there were probably many more women out there who would love and benefit from this information.
Simultaneously, we noticed that everyone always seems to bring the same gifts to baby showers. A lot of the gift sets we saw were either full of the conventional, chemical laden products or would have one or two useful items and then some random filler items that I couldn't see anyone ever using (I saw a brooch in one! The only badge any pregnant lady needs is the 'baby on board' badge for the London Underground! A new mum would totally forget its existence for a few years at least).
We felt the calling to create an amazing gift box, full of high quality, super useful, natural products that you can take to a baby shower and feel proud of, knowing your friend is going to need and love everything in there, or buy as a subscription for yourself or someone else and just know that you’ll or they'll receive the best natural products, when you need them. We both wished that something like that had existed when we were pregnant so decided we just had to create it!
Living more naturally has always been a part of our existence. Our father is a doctor who quickly became disillusioned with conventional medicine and embarked on a lifelong journey of discovery into alternative medicines and therapies. As a child I wasn’t particularly interested, until I contracted Glandular fever at the age of 17 and was convinced I was dying! I’ve never felt sick like that in all my life. Every joint in my body ached and the pain was constant and debilitating. When my father announced his treatment would be high dose Vit C, Beta Carotene and Echinacea I felt he really wasn't grasping the seriousness of my situation but I trusted him nonetheless. He told me I couldn't leave the house for 10 days and should do nothing but rest, which sounded amazing since I was (in my mind) barely clinging to life. Within 3 days I felt 80 percent better, 100% in a week and I recall feeling well enough to vigorously dispute the last 3 days of quarantine - there was a life defining party I just had to attend, you know how it is :-). The best thing about the treatment was my glandular fever has never re-occured which I believe is quite rare. This experience was proof enough for me that while the natural way may seem too easy or not complicated/scientific enough - it is mighty effective.
Growing up in a home where the effects of chemicals and pharmaceuticals on the body was frequently discussed, it was almost inevitable that Marianne and I would choose a more natural path for our babies. We know how much of a blur the first few months of motherhood are and we want to support mothers by taking a load off their shoulders - guiding them towards purer and more natural alternatives and helping them to feel supported and cared for.
When you are negotiating an intense sleep deprivation fog it is so easy to fall back into old patterns and just choose what is available in the supermarket because you, understandably, don't have the mental energy for anything more, and that is where we felt we could come in. We will send you those essentials and introduce you to the best there is out there so when you need it, it's already there. No thought required, and if you need to restock you know exactly what to buy.
We believe calm is so important for the bonding process and know that so many needs crop up once the baby is here that you just can’t anticipate (nipple pads were a big one for me - I didn't realise how many I would need and how gross the supermarket ones can be). So we have carefully curated our subscription boxes to grow and change with those needs and save you the time of trying to shop/choose/learn about all the options when you already have too much on your plate. We’ve also focused on quality and style - you should be surrounded by beauty at this time more than any other. An added bonus is that a lot of the incredible products out there have been created by other mums who have also started their own businesses and it is just such a pleasure to be able to support them and help them to achieve their dreams.
Living a more chemical free life is definitely a journey, one that we are both on, and we are constantly growing. I’ve recently discovered that the foundation I’ve been using since I was 19 contains aluminium and as your skin absorbs 60% of what you put on it, that concerns me deeply. I’m now on the hunt for a new one that matches performance but without the nasty additives. Wherever you are on your journey, we are here for you should you need us and will continue to do all we can to support all you amazing ladies through the most important transition of your lives.
Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us. Mine too started after I became a mum to Jaxon 3 years ago so we have much in common! Like you said above, it is most definitely a journey and we are all on different paths. There is no right path or wrong path, we are just doing our best to get to the right place, a better place for ourselves, our children and the future of our planet.
I have recently purchased one of their lovely boxes as a surprise for a friend, and can't wait until she receives it. Check out their lovely boxes here.
Hope you enjoyed reading this, and if you would like to festure your own journey, please get in touch. Email hello@thenaturalbeautybox.co.uk
Have a lovely week ahead!
Emma xx