Hi,
My name is Mell Magill, and I am the owner and face behind Honeybee House Skin Co. I am just an average person, I am a wife and I am a Mum. It took me a long time to get the courage to start this business, it was a dream for a long time, but I guess that I decided that I would just go for it! I did not start off with the idea that I would start a business to make lots of money. I wanted to make products that were totally natural, but most of all I wanted to make products and build a company that was sustainable and kind to the environment.
I think that I need to tell you a little more about myself. I grew up on the Mid North Coast and spent much of my time at the local beaches. I then moved to the Gold Coast and spent about 5 years working and hanging at the beach, this is where I met my amazing husband Simon. We then lived at Mona Vale, on the Northern Beaches in Sydney, where we eventually got married and had our son Young. During my pregnancy I suffered from chronic Ulcerative Colitis, and was unable to get well enough to stop medication. We made the decision to move away from Sydney and relocated our tiny family to beautiful Lake Macquarie. We bought our house at Swansea Heads because we wanted to be within walking distance to the local surf beach.
I think that you can see that the beach and the ocean are very important to us and is a main focus in our lives. It is from this deep love and connection to the ocean and the wish to protect it that gave me the incentive to create and build my business. Over the years we have made decisions to live healthily and sustainably, and to reduce our environmental footprint. We have redesigned our lifestyle, house and garden to reflect this ideal, but that is for another post I think.
I am angered and upset every time I come home from the beach with a handful of plastic to put in the bin. It is the hard “recyclable “ plastics that are the big issue, I think that we need to make wiser choices and we can not continue to think that recycling is the answer. It has already got to the level that we cannot recycle all that is collected, and the majority of people are not choosing to buy recycled products. The main areas you find these “recyclable” plastics are in the bathroom and kitchens of our homes.
I wanted to replace all this plastic with zero waste products, products that do not need to be contained in plastics. Beautiful, natural, healthy alternatives, products that are inspired by nature and obtained from nature. My products contain only 100% natural ingredients, resourced ethically and responsibly. I colour my products with botanicals and clays, I do not use oxides or mica powders, my colourants are the beautiful muted tones of nature. My fragrances are obtained from pure essential oils, or are the natural smells of my oils, butters and other ingredients.
The best and most important thing, is that my products are NOT contained in plastics, all my labels and packaging are recycled and biodegradable. By choosing to support me and my business you are supporting the environment, and choosing a more sustainable path to walk. In my next post I promise to talk more about our simple life in Lake Macquarie and some of the steps we have taken to live more sustainably, and how you can make a difference too.
See you here next time xo.
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