Scrubbing is Good For You!
Written by Gayle
Meet Bernadette, creator and founder of Ojai Sugar. Lassen’s is proud to have recently brought Bernadette’s Sugar Scrubs into our Ventura Store. She has been coming into the store monthly to do demos and introduce her products to our customers.
Bernadette is a California native, and says she was a 70’s hippie. She has always been interesting in knowing and understanding nature and the source of food and products. She has lived in beautiful Ojai for 32 years, and loves that natural and creative community.
In the 1980’s, she found herself a single mom with two boys, and had to buckle down and become a responsible head of her household. She has worked for many years in sales and marketing, which has helped her so much as she has begun this new adventure with Ojai Sugar.
In 2009, Bernadette decided to use her creativity and make sugar scrubs for her sisters (there are 6 sisters!) as Christmas presents. She also gave some to some friends, including one who is a manicurist/pedicurist. Everyone loved her gift, which was the Citrus and Sweet Lavender Body Scrub. Her friend began to use it on her clients, and asked Bernadette if she was going to take this seriously or just as a hobby. That was a light bulb moment for Bernadette, and she began to think about what it would take to become an entrepreneur.
So in 2010, Bernadette launched Ojai Sugar. For two years she did direct sales at farmers markets and by word-of-mouth. She expanded her product line by hand-crafting aromatherapy-grade essential oils into some amazing scents–not only for the scents themselves, but for their therapeutic properties–their effect on mind, body, and spirit. She did a lot of research into how essential oils work together, and how best to blend them. She began to see some success as she sold out of her supply at her first Ojai Lavender Festival, which was a great encouragement. Her business is growing organically, and each success propels her forward. She feels that this is helping her on her path of self-realization.
Never used a scrub? This is what Bernadette says about the benefits:
“Ojai Sugar All Natural exfoliation for body and face will help you look and feel great in your own skin. Our all-natural sugar-infused products thoroughly cleanse, moisturize and refresh the skin deeper than regular soaps and body washes. The sugar exfoliates; it removes dead skin cells and yucky stuff from the surface which promotes new skin cell growth and improved circulation which also creates a balance in the body’s production of its own natural oils. For our unique scents, we use plant-based essential oils with therapeutic properties that truly reflect the beauty and diversity of Ojai and Central California.”
Bernadette says that new scents are always “brewing in my mind.” She gives the example of her new First Rain scent, which she blended to recreate the scent and feeling that she gets when she walks on the local bike path after the first rain of the year–earthy, with a touch of bark and eucalyptus.
It was wonderful meeting Bernadette and feeling the passion and creativity she feels. She said, “What I love about Ojai Sugar is that I get to renew the free spirit of my youth and then creatively blend this with some hard won business savvy–I get to have the best of both worlds.”
If you are interesting in trying Ojai Sugar Scrubs and Facial Polish and you can’t get to our Ventura store, please talk to your local Lassen’s Beauty Aids department, and they can have some brought in.
Thanks, Bernadette, for sharing your story with Lassen’s!
***Bonus! Bernadette will be in the Ventura store on Friday, December 13, 2013 from 11:00 am to 2:00! Come meet her and check out her products!***
Love,
Lassen’s
