Hi, my name is Johanna (short: Jojo). when I moved to the U.S. from my home country Germany two years ago, I wanted to buy the same low waste, safe body care products I was used to from home. after investigating dozens of brands, I was troubled to realize that sustainable and high-quality body care products were 1) hard to find and 2) often times overpriced.
that motivated me to start my own line of skincare essentials that focuses on sustainability and a level of quality you can’t get from a mainstream brand. and I want all of that at reasonable prices for you. it’s been a journey with lots to learn, but I am thankful and proud to say that I have a growing, loyal customer base who’s excitement apparently is contagious enough to get their friends and family hooked on Jojo’s Body Care as well. I am sure you will feel the difference, and your skin plus our environment will thank you!
the why
my husband Zack and I share a passion for the outdoors, influencing my commitment to minimizing environmental impact through sustainable product creation. embracing sustainability might seem daunting, but it starts with taking small, manageable steps. I developed each product with that in mind, so that you can effortlessly integrate eco-friendly choices into your daily routine, enjoying non-toxic, nourishing products that prioritize both your skin and the planet—all at an affordable price.
sustainability
the desire to share a sustainable body care routine was the main motivation to start Jojo’s Body Care. this motivation has not lost momentum since – rather the opposite. the more time I spend researching the beauty industry, the more environmentally friendly alternatives I find and the more ideas I develop to incorporate them into Jojo’s Body Care.
here is a breakdown of what I currently do to keep my business sustainable:
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I source supplies and ingredients from businesses as close to Bowling Green as possible
examples-
all beeswax is from local beekeepers
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calendula infused oil from the Community Farmers Market in Bowling Green
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dried flowers for packaging and taking product pictures are from the Community Farmers Market
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all plant butters are ordered from the Etsy shop ShopAfroCosmetics that ships from Atlanta, only 5h away
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bison tallow + lanolin from a small farm in Texas
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emu oil from a farm in Tennessee
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I purchase ingredients that I use a lot in large bulk quantities to minimize packaging and shipping (mango butter and lavender essential oil for example).
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I use recycled and/or recyclable packaging to ship your order. small items (like deodorant and knuckle balm) are shipped in compostable shipping envelopes.
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my office is mostly paperless. if I do need to use paper, I use the backside of unneeded printed sheets first.
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I avoid convenient paper towels in my production process. instead, I go out of my way to use cloths that are properly sanitized between each use.
my further goals are
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finding alternatives for ingredients that are casually used by a majority of beauty product businesses and even homemakers that are not necessarily sustainable just because they are natural and/or organic. instead, I am working on replacing these with ingredients that are either byproducts of another industry (think of grapeseed oil from the wine industry or raspberry seed oil in the jam and juice industry as well as mango butter made from the pits of edible fruits), made of just the harvested seeds of plants so that there is no need to replant (jojoba oil is an example), or simply don’t leave a large carbon foot print in their production (e.g. hemp seed oil. hemp plants grow fast and are resilient to most pests, which means they require less pesticides than other plants).
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minimizing non degradable labels by switching to biodegradable labels on all products
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finding even more regional suppliers to shorten transportation ways
tweaking recipes that work well but contain ingredients that meet my high standards of sustainability takes extra amounts of time and experimenting (which can be very frustrating). regardless, I am working hard to get there.
feeling safe with you as a loyal customer base is crucial for me to venture out into purchasing uncommon, but sustainable and effective (and, of course, typically pricey) ingredients and to invest time into research rather than recruiting new customers. so, if you’ve been shopping with me for a while, THANK YOU SO MUCH, your support means so much to me! if you’re new, I hope you get hooked on these sustainable products that work at least as well as their less planet friendly counterparts!