Balmonds was founded more than 25 years ago with a clear mission to help people living with sensitive skin live more comfortably.

Please introduce yourself, and your business

I’m Lucy, the PR & Community Manager for Balmonds Skincare. Balmonds makes extremely gentle skincare out of natural ingredients, with a particular mission to support those with sensitive skin to live more comfortably.

How did your business start?

The business started at least 25 years ago, when my friend Natalie Balmond and I were looking for natural solutions for our children’s eczema, and made a traditional ointment out of herbal tinctures, oils and beeswax. It worked so well that Natalie took on the task of making products to sell, and built up the business over two decades, winning awards and huge appreciation from grateful customers along the way.

What is unique about your company?

What’s unique about Balmonds is that we are super-careful about making products that are both effective and genuinely natural for the sensitive skin community – we don’t do greenwashing, and don’t add extra ingredients, such as perfumes or dyes, for cosmetic reasons. Everything is in there to benefit skin health. There are very few ‘natural’ skincare companies that make as natural products as Balmonds do, and fewer still who are operating in the eczema skincare arena. We’re up against pharmaceutical giants!

Who and where are your customers?

Our customers come from all age groups and socio-economic demographics, all over the world, because all kinds of people suffer from dry, sensitive, or eczema-prone skin! Although we’re incredibly careful about the quality of our natural ingredients, our products aren’t high beauty with a price tag to match: they’re effective, accessible, solutions-based natural products which are priced fairly for the quality of the ingredients. A Balmonds customer is as likely to be a grandparent as a new mum, a natural beauty fan or an outdoorsy dad with sore hands.

How’s the future looking for you? What are your plans?

The future is looking bright! We’ve already launched in the US and Australia but are also going to be stocked in Japan and China later this year. In July, we’re undertaking a big makeover of our branding to bring in more eco-friendly packaging and up-to-date designs, and are launching three brand new products.

Most excitingly of all, our original hero product, Skin Salvation balm, is being licensed as a medical device for the treatment of eczema, which means we’ll officially be allowed to shout about how effective an all-natural emollient can be for managing eczema-prone skin.

Why do you buy from Organic Herb Trading?

We buy from OT because it’s extremely important to us to know where our ingredients come from, and be assured they’re being sourced sustainably and fairly.

What do you buy from Organic Herb Trading? How do you use it, and what do you like about it?

We buy our herbal oil infusions from OT, which are made with our four hero herbs for skin health: chamomile, calendula, chickweed and nettle! These are really lovely herbs which have good evidence-based research behind their benefits for inflamed skin, and we use the oil infusions as star ingredients in our award-winning Intensive Hand Cream.

Why is organic/provenance important to you?

Sustainably farmed, minimally processed organic ingredients really do seem to make a difference in terms of effectiveness and quality, so we’re really pleased to have found such excellent ingredients for our products. We know that OT organic oils are as packed full of actives as possible, so they’ll really benefit our customers’ skin.

Do you have any heroes?

Corny though it is to say, our heroes are our customers, especially those who are speaking up and making a difference for the millions of people worldwide who live with inflammatory skin conditions! We’re so proud to support them, both with our products and our platform, and admire those active on social media who post about their eczema or psoriasis in such a brave and open way.

What is your favourite cup of tea/or long cool relaxing drink?

We all love the Balmonds Calming Infusion, made with chamomile, one of our key herbs!

Please feel free to tell us one unusual fact!

I love sharing the fact that natural oils and ointments applied directly to skin act like vitamin supplements, especially when skin is depleted in certain nutrients as it is for many eczema sufferers! Research shows that it’s more effective to rub calendula or hemp seed oil into dry skin than take supplements orally. So if you’ve got dry skin, slather yourself in lovely organic oil infusions as well as taking your omega and vitamin tablets!

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