KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — What began as Jeanie Ho’s search for a solution to her son’s diaper rash has now become a full fledged business: Jeanie Botanicals.
Set up last March, the homegrown venture has a line of all natural products that is good for your body and even the baby.
Ho has always been a fan of natural and organic botanicals, having been exposed to herbalism at a young age. Her grandfather would often ask her mother to make traditional Chinese remedies from herbs when anybody in the family got sick. Ho’s family was also in the traditional Chinese medicine business at one point.
When her baby son had diaper rash, she tried to look for 100 per cent organic balms to relieve his discomfort. However, when she could not find a suitable product she decided to take matters into her own hands, making the first Jeanie Botanicals product, the Baby Bum Balm.
Using only natural ingredients which are sourced from abroad, she was able to formulate a balm that soothed her baby’s skin. Now he is five years old and Ho decided to learn more about how to make natural products.
“I started making natural products a year ago but it was really two years back when the research and development stage started.
“We officially launched in March last year. Before that, at the end of 2014 I was testing out with family and friends first,” said Ho.
She studied Chemistry and Biology, and holds a Masters in Nutrition. Growing up in a family that practises herbalism influenced her to go natural when it came to food, products she uses on her body and also for her family. Ho worked as a nutritionist for 11 years before this.
“I use herbs in my daily cooking. My grandparents were herbalists too, they made their own wine and ran a traditional Chinese medicine shop. I’m careful about what I eat and I also take care of my family. All along, I’ve always used organic and natural products,” said Ho.
The former nutritionist wants to educate people about the importance of natural products. She found that botanicals were more effective when it comes to organic baby products.
Initially, she wanted to make baby food but she saw the potential in making natural baby products. Jeanie Botanicals is not 100 per cent certified organic but she sources for natural and organic ingredients as much as possible. Currently Ho’s aunt and uncle help her out part-time in the production. As the business grows, Ho plans to expand her production space.
Every item in the Jeanie Botanicals line is below RM100 to make it accessible to all. Their prices start from RM15 for a lip balm to RM83 for a bottle of face oil. If the ingredients are too expensive, they prefer to make a smaller bottle.
The range includes products for the mother and baby, bath and body, skincare, home and health as well as hair products. Within a year, they launched a wide variety of natural products, free of synthetic preservatives and unhealthy chemicals.
“We are very cautious about using preservatives. For our products we use natural preservation techniques rather than artificial ones. For example, we use body oil rather than lotion because lotion and cream has water. Our bar soaps have a higher pH, meaning it lasts longer. Ideally, the expiration date for our products is one year. We put the expiration date on every product,” said Ho.
Jeanie Botanicals reaches out to their customers via their official website, events and bazaars, as well as through their stockists. Most of the customers are working executives, mothers and expatriates.
According to Ho, people who buy from Jeanie Botanicals like it because it is natural and they are honest in ingredient labelling. All their herbs are imported and organic which is also one of Jeanie Botanicals’ unique selling points.
“Our best-sellers are the luxury face oil and liquid soaps. People may think that a face oil is oily but it is actually less oily than a moisturiser,” she said. There are plans to come up with travel kits as there are many requests asking for them, even from hotels.
Jeanie Botanicals also ships internationally and they have had customers from as far as Spain, UK and Canada buying the products. Some countries also asked Ho if they can be distributors for the products.
Find out more about where to get Jeanie Botanicals from www.jeaniebotanicals.com
