The story behind the amazing Tulips Apothecary and the wonderful Amanda & Nicole! Trust me this one is a gem of a read! I must say I adore their branding – very simple but effective!
Tulips Apothecary
Tulips Apothecary was born on a girl’s weekend in 2013. But not just any girl’s weekend…a sisters weekend in Vegas! See my sister Amanda and I don’t live anywhere near each other. Both born and raised in Chicago, we moved to pursue our dreams in warmer places. Her to LaLa land in Southern California and I to the land of Sweet Tea and Bourbon in Georgia. While we lead incredibly different lives we love to take a moment to catch up and why not Vegas!
Somewhere between a few cocktails, slot machine playing, eating and more eating we noticed how the dry desert air was chapping our lips. Both being self proclaimed “Lip Balm Junkies” we were whipping out our balm every 10 minutes. We had our “aha” moment in the Bellagio Bar while drinking overpriced Bellini’s.
We can do this, let’s make our own lip balm…you can actually do ANYTHING after several Bellini’s!
What’s in the stuff we were using anyway? Well, we were shocked to see the actual ingredients in our favorite brand….petroleum, isopropyl myristate, paragons??? The list of toxic junk goes on and on.
We knew that we could do it better with cleaner ingredients and perfect packaging. We focused on using simple, natural, high quality ingredients that would actually repair the lips. We wanted good smelling essential oils to invigorate the senses, as well as those with healing properties.
Thus, our shop was born. Two sisters, two coasts, Tulips Apothecary!
We spent many months leading up to our launch researching the best butters, oils, scents, packaging and presentation. We wanted an ingredient list that our customer could understand and get behind. We are the Tulips Apothecary customer so we know what she wants. We focused on a few simple ingredients that are straightforward and easily understood. Lets face it, who has time to decipher all the crazy ingredients in those mass market brands and then determine if they are safe for you? We did the work for you, just check out our ingredients list. There are so few that everything fits right on the tin!
Our chosen vessel to house the final product had to be a round tin as we felt it was a more unique application process for the balm. It just felt more special than a boring tube. We felt the tins looked more glamorous when you applied the balm, and they are also easier to feel for in your handbag:)
Our last task was naming these little gems. We wanted fun spirited names that evoked happy thoughts. A few of our favorites are Orange You In the Mood?, Sour Puss and Honey Bee Mine. We had many late night phone conversations arguing over these crazy names. Amanda would usually wake up on the West Coast with a phone full of text messages with over the top pot names! I think the most challenging name was our Valentine pot. Literally weeks of thought went into the perfect name until one day someone (we don’t even remember who gets the credit!!) said that it smelled like a Red Hot candy….and the name was born. It is our best selling debut pot since we launched and it is only available for about 4 weeks a year!
Our first few pots were launched in April of 2013 and we now call them “The Classics”. They are the old standby’s and are some of our best sellers like Pep Me Up, Live Love Lavender and Tulip A Go-Go. We both take quite a bit of inspiration from the seasons and have expanded our collection into several seasonal pots. We welcome Fall with some Organic Pucker Pots like Pumpkin Pout and A La Mode. We embrace Winter with our Candy Cane and Christmas Cookie. The best part is every Pucker Pot also has a coordinating Lip Scrub Pot. These pots are made from organic sugar and the same nourishing oils as our Pucker Pots.
We have received amazing reviews from our followers. Some of our favorite reviews are about additional ways that they have used the product. Our lavender pot has been used as a temple rub for headaches and stress relief. The peppermint and eucalyptus pot has been used on the body as a natural bug repellent. Our Shield me pot is actually a lip balm with SPF but has been used to protect the nose and ears of our customers. And lastly, several customers have said that the pots make an amazing cuticle softener and a general hand salve. How awesome is that when a customer not only loves your product but can give you a number of new uses for it!
We offer wholesale and absolutely love to work with our stockists and are currently available in a number of brick and mortar stores throughout the country. We also offer custom order options for those looking to provide gifts at bridal and baby showers, corporate gifts, teacher and hostess gifts and party favors. We really never say no! Several of our upcoming new pots have come from custom order ideas from our customers!
There is a Pucker Pot for everyone and every mood. We create for ourselves and our families and always keep a natural approach in mind. We hope you love our line of Pucker Pots as much as we do.
Love and Tulips,
Amanda & Nicole
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