#GoodSquad Interview with Kelsey from Birch Babe

In a world where beauty and skincare products often come at the cost of our planet's well-being and are filled with toxic ingredients, Birch Babe emerges as a breath of fresh air. Birch Babe, who focuses on all natural products, has set a new standard in the beauty and skincare industry by intertwining self-care with Earth-care. Birch Babe is not just a skincare and beauty brand; it's a movement towards a healthier, more beautiful you and a healthier, more beautiful planet. Join us as we delve into the world of Birch Babe, as we interview Kelsey, Head of Communications and Creative, and discover how this company is redefining beauty and skincare for the environmentally conscious consumer.

Tell us about your founding story of how Birch Babe came to be, and how has your vision evolved over time?

Six years ago Birch Babe’s founder Debbie (our mom!!) hiked solo from the southern tip of Patagonia to the Northern tip of Chile. On this trip she saw a lot of waste but while in Patagonia she noticed that everyone was super conscientious about the environment. 

The trip inspired Debbie to do more for our planet. She came home and immediately dove into creating cleaner skin and body care. First for herself, then friends, and eventually for festivals. During the pandemic in 2020, Debbie’s daughters (Kelsey and Lindsay) decided to join forces with Debbie and help rebrand Birch Babe. 

 Birch Babe’s new look launched October 2020 and can now be found in over 300 stores across North America, has been featured in various articles including CNN, Breakfast Television and CTV’s The Social, and has a growing online consumer base.

 Watch more about our Story here 

We love that you are a female-owned and family-run company! Tell us about what it’s like to work alongside your mom and sister! What are the rewards and challenges of a family-run business?

If you told me 5 years ago I’d be working with my mom and sister I would have told you, you were lying! Never in a million years could I have dreamt this and it’s beyond my wildest dreams. Working with my mom and sister is incredible and actually the most beautiful and perfect fit! 

 We’re all very strong personalities and so it works out because we each have our own roles. Debbie is the Founder and Lead Organic Skincare Formulator. Lindsay is the Studio Director and I’m head of Communications and Creative. Together our unique and diverse skills balance out kinda perfectly! We’re also all super passionate about making a positive impact on the health of our bodies and the planet and so it’s inspiring to always share ideas around how we can push ourselves to be better than industry average!

Tell us a bit about how you source your all-natural ingredients - how do you ensure transparency and traceability in your sourcing process?

Birch Babe has a total collection of 60+ certified all natural skin, hair and clean beauty products and so it’s important we ensure transparency of ingredients for everything we make. All products are handmade in Bon Echo, Ontario by our team and so we physically come into contact with every ingredient we use. We work very hard to connect with who we source our ingredients from to ensure they’re sourced to the highest standard. We’re proud to say that all our ingredients are Ecocert and fairtrade as well as certified all natural, certified cruelty free and vegan. 

Our sustainable business practices include using only plastic or package free packaging wherever possible, reusing materials we already have while also offering refill options.

Could you share any success stories or testimonials from customers who have benefited from your products?

There are so many!! One of my favs though are all the stories around our 2X Award Winning Hydrating Face Cream. 

There’s so many people with sensitive skin, psoriasis, eczema, and rosacea who have shared incredible stories of how this cream has helped them when nothing else would! Below are just a few of my fave reviews that make me smile :)

“Obsessed with this cream!!!! My husband & I have been using it for the past week & it’s everything! My skin is already glowing & it soothes his eczema. Would definitely recommend & will be buying again!” - Stephanie H.

“Thank you, thank you!! My skin has bouts of sensitivity and I tried this cream during a desperate battle with super reactive skin. Soothed and settled things promptly, face feels and looks great!! Clean beauty for the win!!” - Veronika B. 

“This face cream is wonderful, very light, yet hydrating and nourishing. I have extremely dry and itchy skin, and I use this cream in summer for the day, while in winter and for nights I use the rejuvenating face cream. My skin is very happy about it, and it smells wonderful, too! “ - Anna L.

What are some of your biggest challenges when it comes to creating sustainable and all-natural beauty, skincare, and dental products? How do you address these challenges?

This is an amazing question. There are so many and all have been worth it! 

One that sticks out is when we launched our first rebrand in October 2020 we were dedicated to being as plastic free as possible (we still are!). One of our top sellers is our Lip & Cheek Tints. They’re very special because they’re handmade with nutrient rich ingredients, super moisturizing and packaged in glass with metal lids. 2 months after our relaunch, our lids arrived and they were plastic!! We were devastated and needed to make a decision to sell the Lip & Cheek Tints online with the plastic lids or stick to our morals and promise and wait till we had the metal lids in hand. 

 Well, we waited and it took SIX MONTHS to get the metal lids due to delays from Covid-19. People were asking us for months when the Lip & Cheek Tints would be back in stock and we were heartbroken to keep telling them “we hope next month”. Overall we would do the same thing again because it was a mark in the sand that we didn’t cross when it came to our values. It’s too easy to give a little here and then there and then next thing you know it’s a game of shifting baselines and the overall mission to be more sustainable is lost. To us, we need to commit to this journey of sustainability and healthy skincare at 100% or why are we here? 

What exciting new products or initiatives are you working on for 2023 and beyond that you would like us to know about?

So glad you asked! We’re actually about to launch another full rebrand of Birch Babe. This will include new products, updates to the ingredients of some of our top sellers to be even better and also a whole new skincare category!!

Exciting news alert!! 

Birch Babe has just launched their brand new line Birch Baby yesterday! Birch Baby is a collection of premium all natural skin, hair and body care products specifically designed for babies. 

Birch Baby is committed to providing parents with a safe and reliable option for their baby’s skin care needs with the certifications to prove it! Birch Baby products are vegan, organic, all-natural, and Fairtrade certified. The company also has the well-being of our planet in mind with a strict no-animal testing policy and recyclable packaging! 

Shop the Birch Baby collection now!

XO,

Kelsey and The Birch Babes