Hi, my name is Emma and I’m the creator of Byron Bay Bath Bombs. I’ve always been a huge DIY queen! I make everything at home, I sprout my food, I make my own toothpaste etc. One day whilst visiting Brisbane, all I wanted to do was go to a very well-known skin and bath product-focused retailer. I was obsessed with baths and bath bombs, but this time I got a coloured bomb and my skin reacted, badly! So the next day I thought: could I make my own? It was like a spec of magic dust fell from the universe, and the next day I started making my first batch of bath bombs, researching essential oils and organic matter - and here I am months later, with eight products that I love, plans for expansion, 15 amazing stockists and big plans for creating more sustainable self-care products!
The vision for Byron Bay Bath Bombs has always been about promoting self-love and ritual as much as the product itself. The idea of running a bath is so dreamy, and it’s all about the moment. What I do is create a sustainable product that enhances that experience. I grew up in the Northern Rivers, on the far north coast of NSW, Australia. We're a like-minded bunch – we’re all about creating a greener, cleaner environment while reusing and reducing waste. It’s so much a part of my lifestyle that it was a no-brainer to create a product that’s completely eco-friendly. Additionally, creating an eco-friendly product is commonsense now; if you don't do your research and create a product with as little impact on the environment as possible, you'll be left behind – it's an amazing movement that I’m so happy to be a part of!
Top tip: Emma is right that sustainably-produced products are becoming an expectation amongst large groups of consumers. You can read more about this growing trend on our blog!
Around the Northern Rivers where I live, I’m lucky to have the ocean and the subtropical rainforest close by! I’m very plant-obsessed and I forage a fair amount of my ingredients from my garden and the rainforest. We’re so lucky to have some very interesting native plants, the Macadamia being one of them. I use the oil of the nut in my products, and it was the inspiration for my logo design! The flower you see on my noissue tissue paper is a Macadamia blossom. Using this oil in the bath bombs is my point of difference - it's sustainable and nourishing for the skin!
Having a strong creative vision is very important to branding. I’ve been lucky to have found a graphic designer, Mullo Studio, who I trust wholeheartedly. Lucy from Mullo Studio helped me to bring my brand alive; her approach is very holistic and intuitive. I’m about to create a new product line, and I know working closely with her will to keep a cohesive identity. I believe that any creative project needs a small community you can call on and trust for advice and support.
Byron Bay Bath Bombs was originally just bath bombs. However, I found I could create products like bath soaks and essential oil perfumes from the ingredients I already stocked. I’m very conscious about the ingredients and essential oils I use. All the oils I source come from a trustworthy farm that is growing the plants sustainably and helping out communities in need of work. We all love Rose and Jasmine scents, but they are not sustainable. It takes about 1000 rose buds to make a 10ml bottle of pure essential oils! This is why I use native oils in my products like Tea Tree, Lemon Myrtle and Eucalyptus. Being 100% eco-friendly is definitely hard at times. I still get some deliveries that are bubbling with plastic wrap and it drives me mental! WHY? Luckily, there are new and innovative green packaging alternatives out there – you just have to find them!
In the initial startup stages, I’d spend most of my time researching eco-friendly packaging companies. I live a very low waste life, so my business was going to showcase exactly those values. My friend Lucy Tann from Mullo Studio was the angel who sent me your way! I love that noissue uses vegan inks and eco-friendly tissue, of course I was going to be on board! I’m so happy with the colours and the quality of the printing – noissue has printed our beautiful Macadamia flower pattern perfectly. Along with the tissue paper, I use a paper sticker on a cardboard cylinder. These are both recyclable, and the cylinder can be repurposed for many things; as a pen holder, a planter box, and some local customers even return them!
Top Tip: Packaging is necessary in order to protect your products and market them, so reusable designs like Emma’s are a fantastic way to integrate your packaging into the circular economy. It also gives your customers an ongoing reminder of your business!