People ask us how on earth we came to make Wonder Balm and where the idea came from. I'll keep it short (kinda)!
As some of you may know, A Pony Called Steve has been around for a while. Until late last year we sold only to independent shops and had a massive collection of products (126 at our last count). We exhibited at trade shows, sent out line sheets and brochures and rarely spoke to the people who actually used our products.
Business was really pretty good. We were busy. Very busy. Making products, packing boxes and doing a lot of paperwork. During this time we had three daughters between us - two of whom were under 2.
We got busier and busier. We had a couple of part time staff. Childcare was a nightmare. We spent more and more time packing boxes. We were really short on time.
Fast forward to the busiest week we ever had. It felt like every box that week either had something missing, was sent to the wrong address or had a bottle break inside. So we did something very very brave.
We stopped.
Just like that. We didn't want to do it any more. We emailed every one of our customers and said it was over. They had one last week to order and we were done.
That Christmas we thought long and hard about our business and our lives. We knew what we wanted. It was joy. We wanted to only make choices that were about joy.
It might sound crazy, but whey else are we here? Why would anyone choose to start and run a business (which can be very hard work and very scary) when they can't feel joyful about it?
We had this one product we had always made for ourselves but never sold. To sell it through independent shops would have made it incredibly expensive (£29.50 for a small tin) so we just shelved the idea.
The product was an early version of Wonder Balm. I had made it on a holiday in the East Neuk of Fife in a kitchen overlooking the sea. It was just a case of playing about and seeing what happened with some oils and waxes and citrus fruits. We used it for ourselves for around ten years.
When we decided we wanted to launch it for real, we knew it had to be even better. We researched like crazy and tested a zillion options. We treated it like a magic potion. If we could create a magic spell for your skin, what would it contain?
The answer is the recipe we use now. The ingredients are like magic and do such amazing things. They melt off make up like a dream and leave your skin amazingly well nourished. Wonder Balm is our happiest creation.
We hope you can see the joy when you watch us on social media, dancing about or taking massive amounts of make up off. We really are having an incredible time.
Thank you for using our Wonder Balm. We hope it brings you joy too!
Much love,
Emma + Aminah
xx
