Meet 'The Brand' - Kim of Botanical Brands

In the first (of many) posts about the Gorgeously Green Gathering  we wanted to help you get to know the wonderful people behind our speaker brands.

First up is one of our two sponsor brands: Botanical Brands, distributor of Lippy Girl and Living Nature (...plus many more). 

"Botanical Brands is a distributor of organic and natural beauty products from around the globe. We supply both the public and trade and all our brands are thoroughly tested and appraised to ensure they meet with our strict criteria for organic and natural beauty products.

We choose to only represent brands with the highest ethical values and most natural formulations that are free from synthetic preservatives and other chemical nasties; using instead sustainable, organic and wild crafted ingredients. Our products are not tested on animals and offer high quality safe skin and body care solutions that you can trust."

I have always been very impressed with any of the products I've tried that come under the Botanical Brands umbrella and I extremely excited that they are part of the Gorgeously

Green Gathering, bringing the much requested and coveted make up element to the day.

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Being a fan of the products I am even more excited to know that I will be working closely with brand owner Kim over the upcoming months. She is an inspirational business woman and mother who has spent over 15 years working within the natural products and beauty industry. Her passion and expertise are clear to see, read on to find out more about her:

What does 'naturally beautiful' mean to you?

I feel to be naturally beautiful means to feel and be healthy, both emotionally and physically.  Beauty isn't about age or conforming to arbitrary ideals of size or colour or appearance. It's about health, happiness and a nurtured mind and body. I love brands that support this ethos like Living Nature and Lippy Girl. We’ve also just joined The Real Beauty Manifesto to illustrate our commitment to natural beauty.

What has been your biggest challenge with your brand/products?

In this industry I think one of the biggest problems is education about natural and organic and what this really means.  The market is awash with brands that claim to be natural or organic, which really aren’t and are using these claims to “greenwash” their products.  This makes it hard for consumers to determine which brands are genuinely natural and which aren’t and they get cynical about “green” claims.  For my brands that are 100% natural, honest, ethical and accredited, like Living Nature and Lippy Girl, the key is getting this message across.  That’s why it’s been wonderful having our products reviewed by green beauty bloggers that understand this industry. They can honestly review products and their formulations and ingredients.  This not only helps with education but also in helping consumers determine what they can trust.

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Which product(s) are Botanical Brand's (or Living Nature/Lippy Girl's) best sellers? 

I have worked with Living Nature for 12 years and their skincare has always been a strong seller for them but recently their make-up has been pushing for the top spot.  Liquid foundations are really popular.  Being 100% natural they’re pretty unique within the mineral make-up sector.  They provide both Illuminating and Matt coverage options and really work in harmony with the skin, not clogging but instead moisturising and protecting. They particularly work well for those with sensitive or problematic skin types probably because of the Manuka Honey and Manuka Oil components.  The coverage is brilliant too and long lasting.  In fact we sold out of most colours at Professional Beauty 2015! 

Lippy Girl has really taken off for us and been fun to launch.  We love their 100% natural, vegan credentials but also their cheeky names and brilliant colours.  Even their colour pigments are natural but they’ve managed to get a good variation of strong colours.  It’s interesting to see which colours have become the most popular.  Pinks are always a winner like Schoompy and Fancy Pants but they do some great corals like Hot Diggity Yam and Coral Me Maybe which are definitely giving a pinks a run for their money. 

What does the future hold for Botanical Brands?

We are planning on launching some new brands this year particularly within the bath and body category.  We also have some exciting product launches including a new sensitive skin range from Living Nature and new face and eye powders from Lippy Girl. I’ll launch these first on our website http://ift.tt/1diI4vr. We will also be developing our distribution to the professional beauty sector. As a distributor I want Botanical Brands Ltd to become a one stop shop for excellent quality natural and organic brands. It will enable beauty professionals including independent, holistic and mobile therapists, make-up artists and salons and spas to access a range of brands allowing them to pick and choose the best products for their business needs. To help with this we have a specially designed trade section on our website for beauty professionals. 

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What are you most excited about when it comes to attending the Gorgeously Green Gathering?

I am really looking forward to meeting the green beauty bloggers in person. Over the years I’ve been reading many of their blogs regularly and finally it will be great to put a face to the words! I’m also really looking forward to the hands-on session with the make-up. It’s an excellent way to get new ideas and feedback – and what woman doesn’t get a bit excited about having a bit of a play with make-up!

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Thank you very much to Kim for such wonderful answers and for being involved in our Gathering. 

Gorgeously Green Gathering is sponsored by Botanical Brands (distributors of Living Nature & Lippy Girl) and The Rose Tree and organised by Sarah sugarpuffish.uk, Jen jensgreenskincare.blogspot.co.uk and Rachel allnaturalaspirations.com

Information: 
This post does not include any products sent for consideration.
The links are not affiliated.
All opinions are honest and my own, any suggestions made are based on my own experiences and are meant as a guide. Please always take care when making any DIY products and patch test to rule out an adverse reaction.

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