Does the fresh scent of cinnamon and vanilla sound enticing? How about lathering yourself up with a delicious chai latte beauty bar!? Who doesn’t want to start their day with a refreshing shower full of delicious flavours? Or how about Lemon Zing? That’ll be a sure way to wake up your taste buds and energize you for your day ahead?! Meet Ella, of Ella’s Botanicals! Ella creates 100% natural beauty care products that are free of chemical preservatives, artificial fragrances and color, phthalates, betaines, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, phosphates and trust me….the list goes on! Best part is, Ella’s Botanicals is Canadian and locally made! Her products are sold across Canada and around the world! I’m so happy to introduce you to her incredible line of products and of course, Ella herself; the amazing women behind this fabulous company! Plus….scroll to the bottom for a SWEEEEEET Online Savings! 
Welcome Ella!
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m the Mom of the most amazing 3 year old, Liam. I think my journey into the world of holistic health and alternative thinking started when I was a teenager and decided to go vegetarian. I am not a vegetarian anymore but alot of those principles have stayed with me. I I also love cycling, cooking and spending time with my family. I love working with herbs and my dream is to grow all the herbs we use in our products myself one day.
What got you interested in natural beauty care products?
My passions are aromatherapy, herbs, holistic health and natural skin care. I studied Herbal Medicine for 4 years and took various courses in Aromatherapy after first discovering them at age 20 and started exploring in the woods in BC looking for Poplar Buds to make an ointment for my now hubby’s eczema (which he doesn’t have anymore). As we experimented making different herbal ointments I thought-I would love to have a business selling my natural products and daring them with the world! My company is basically an extension of myself. I believe less is more in skin care products as much as with food and try to create the simplest formulations possible. If we use too many ingredients we don’t really know what’s working and what isn’t and it’s also a waste.
Tell us about Ella’s Botanicals and how it got started?
As I mentioned, it al began with that search for Poplar Buds LOL… The dream of started my own product line remained a dream only as I returned to Toronto and took various courses in herbal medicine and aromatherapy and furthered my knowledge. About 8 years ago, I finally decided to make the dream a reality when I started experimenting with cold process soap with a friend. I fell in love with it and still think it’s one of the coolest things ever! The soaps were a good thing to launch first-they were unique, the possibilities are endless and they didn’t require expensive bottles, jars and labels-in fact- up until our recent re-brand in October, I was still printing the labels myself on my laser printer, cutting them and then wrapping the bars and hand gluing them- crazy! Kinda glad that’s over haha! I got a small loan from the Canadian Youth Business Foundation and kept my job at Mountain Equipment Co-Op to support me while I built the biz.
Where do you source your ingredients from?
As much local as possible. Shea butter is of course not local, however we have an amazing supplier where we get Certified Fair Trade, Organic Shea Butter of amazing quality.
I often hear that if a product ‘foams’ theres a good chance it contains chemicals! How do you get your products to foam naturally?
We use Decyl and Coco Glucosides-these are sugars from corn and coconut. Very gentle, create amazing lather, don’t try the skin and are biodegradable. No 1,4 dioxane contamination!
What are some of your top sellers?
Our Bottoms Up! Baby Balm and Bubblemania 3-in-1 Bodywash, Shampoo and Bubblebath are our top sellers with our Skin Soother Beauty Bar, Lavender Bliss Magic Balm and Clementine Lotion close behind.
I noticed you now have a baby line! Can you tell us a bit about it?
Yes- it has a tiger Mom and baby on the front because my son and I are both Year of the Tiger! We currently have 3 products- our famous Bottoms Up! Diaper Balm which is an all purpose balm for preventing diaper rash and treating skin irritations and dry skin-it is incredibly effective because of our formula and all the amazing herbs we put in. Our Bubblemania is a 3-in-1 Bubble Bath, Bodywash and Shampoo is a favourite among parents since it’s 3 products in 1, is super gentle, creates amazing bubbles and doesn’t dry the skin or scalp. Our newest addition to the line is our Oh baby! Lotion- lightly scented with Lavender essential oil, it is made with avocado, coconut and sunflower oils, a PEG free emulsifier and our chemical free preservative from Kimchi so it’s completely safe, incredibly emolient and absorbs very quickly.
Any new products you plan to launch in the near future?
We are currently perfecting our new Muscle Rescue Balm and Muscle Rescue Bath Salts which we hope to launch very soon. Also in the works is a facial line-we already recommend our Beauty Bars for face but are also working on other cleansers, toners, creams and serums for launch next year.
Sounds Amazing! I can’t wait for the launch of your new products!!
And as a bonus to all my fabulous Holistic Wellness fans; you all get EB MONEY!!! SAVE $10 OFF YOUR ONLINE PURCHASE FROM ELLA’S BOTANICALS!!!
Use Coupon Code- Holistic Wellness at checkout to score on this amazing deal! Coupon is valid until July 30th, 2013.
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us about your company, your vision and sharing your passion with us! Your products are incredible and I feel good about buying clean, natural products! And locally made too….awesome bonus! 😉 Thank you so much for extending a discount to us Ella! You Rock!
Happy Canada Day Weekend Everyone!
Health & Abundance,
Samantha 🙂
