I have ALWAYS struggled with extreme dry skin for as long as I can remember. My mom and I would compare notes with all the products we had tried for our dry skin: Badger Balm, overnight cotton gloves, Bag Balm, and every form of "dry skin lotion" imaginable. My mom then was gifted a "lotion bar" from a friend and called me to suggest I figure out how to make one. Without any ingredients or even a concept to go with, I began my search.
Right away, I found my answer: a list of lotion bar recipes on the internet. Not wanting to waste time and money, I chose the recipe with the most accessible ingredients: shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax. A trip to my local health food store and by the evening, I was in the kitchen, cooking up my first bar of lotion.
Once it was ready to use, I rubbed it over my hands and felt IMMEDIATE relief. I don't have to say more about the effectiveness of the bar, because thousands of reviews on our website over the years have already proven it a huge success with fixing their skin. Read them here: https://store.hardlotion.com/pages/madeon-product-reviews
A few months later, I was driving through our little town when I saw a sign: New Farmer's Market Coming! We Need Vendors.
We were homeschooling our 7 kids, our oldest boys were 10 and 8 (yes, we had kids close in age, including a set of twins), and in my mind, selling something at a farmer's market would be a fun opportunity for my boys and me.
Why not sell lotion bars?
We quickly threw ourselves into everything we needed to know to start and run a booth... and then a business. We officially started in 2009 with a table, a tent, a mom and her two boys wearing the most adorable homemade t-shirts, and lots of lotion bars. We were in business.
After a season of selling at local farmer's markets, we took the business online to become an e-commerce business that shipped worldwide. Within two years, we made this our family's full-time income. We're a large family running a small business, making products that that are family-tested and mom-approved.
THE STORY
While Renee and her two pre-teen boys sold lotion bars at the local farmer's market, she found herself using the lotion bar on her dry, chapped lips. She went back to the kitchen and adjusted the ratios to create a nourishing lip balm.
Ingredients: beeswax, coconut oil, shea butter (variations of scented lip balms include cocoa butter and/or essential oils)
THE STORY
Renee's husband took their two older sons to a quarry in Southern France. This ultimately led to research on creating a tinted lip balm from iron oxide, the safe colorant used in natural lipsticks.
Choose from: Crimson Rose, French Plum, Copper Glow and Pretty in Pink.
Ingredients: coconut oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, iron oxide
THE STORY
Renee's 7th child was two years old when she noticed the tube of baby rash ointment boasted 17% zinc oxide on the packaging.
Knowing how safe and effective zinc oxide was as a skin care ingredient, she whipped up a 3 ingredient recipe and tried it on her son. Worked like a charm!
Ingredients: coconut oil, beeswax, & non-nano, uncoated zinc oxide
THE STORY
Before making this product, we were selling DIY kits so our customers could make their own lotion bars.
Time and time again, we'd hear from customers using the package of shea butter alone for their skin, including their face.
They loved that it was creamy and easy to apply. Some asked if we'd sell it as a facial product.
So, we added rose hip seed oil to it (great for aging skin!) and came up with a new product.
It's one of our best sellers!
THE STORY
Our first scented lotion bar was lavender, chosen for its safety for all ages and relaxing aromatherapeutic properties.
Spring Break came about when Renee, her friend Kerry and Renee's sister-in-law talked about various favorite essential oil blends.
Chai: Renee's fav winter drink
Frank & Ylang: two romantic oils with a citrus-y twist
Fir Needle: Christmas memories
Frankincense & Myrrh: we wanted to call it 3 Kings because of the eo's and added gold mica.
THE STORY
A friend of Renee's had a newly adopted baby from Ethiopia. She wanted to learn how to best care for the baby's hair and so with her input and testing, Renee came up with 4 ingredient recipe that nourishes hair that works for the following: coarse, dry, ethnic, curly, grey or colored hair.
Ingredients: coconut oil, beeswax, shea butter, orange essential oil