Beauty Kitchen part 1: Cooking up a natural storm

1. When did Beauty Kitchen launch?​

We started trading in October 2014 but opened the original Beauty Kitchen in 2011. We spent three years teaching people how to make products and getting customer feedback to refine our formulations.

2. How many employees do you have?​

We now have 10 employees, all based in Glasgow.

3. What problem was Beauty Kitchen trying to solve when it launched?​

Beauty Kitchen was inspired by my own personal search for natural products. I was shocked to find that some products were not as ‘natural’ as they first appeared, and those that were natural, were either ineffective, expensive or just plain boring.

So I enlisted the support of industry experts and created Beauty Kitchen – with the sole aim of making 100% effective, 100% natural, everyday luxury products with a sprinkle of fun and a big dollop of transparency. 

4. How are emerging consumer demands evolving the naturals, fragrance and aromatherapy segments?​

Consumers are becoming more interested in naturals and essential oils, which is leading to a lot of greenwashing by beauty brands.

However, consumers are also becoming savvier so hopefully this will lead to more transparency and genuine natural innovation with less exploitation of consumers’ lack of knowledge.

The fragrance category as a whole hasn’t seen much growth in the past few years, however I feel this is set to change, with more personalisation and natural fragrances that have multi-purpose attributes leading the way.

5. What inspired you to combine the benefits of natural fragrances with aromatherapy?​

We believe that every product must be 100% effective and only essential oils can give skin care as well as aroma-benefits. Synthetic fragrances seem to be the root cause of so many skin irritations, so it really was a very simple choice.

6. What is Beauty Kitchen's USP? ​

Making 100% effective, 100% natural, everyday luxury products with a sprinkle of fun and a big dollop of transparency!

7. How is Beauty Kitchen helping to evolve the natural fragrances and aromatherapy segments? ​

My overall goal is to inspire more and more people to buy natural products, not because they think they should, but because they really work.

We are targeting consumers who currently buy synthetic products and want their first ever natural purchase to be Beauty Kitchen.

By setting this standard and consumer experience we think we can change the whole industry to 100% natural.

The second part of our interview with Jo Chidley, Founder, Beauty Kitchen, will be published on Wednesday 8th November.