One teacher and one stay at home mom come together to start an all natural business

Fresh Markets
Jul 21, 2017 · 3 min read

Brittany Nilsen may be a full-time teacher and Shannon Cusick may be a stay at home mother, but the two have always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

This past March, Nilsen, 25, and Cusick, 23, both started EssBees Naturals — an all natural business that creates handmade soaps, sprays, body scrubs, body butters, and lip balms.

Growing up, Nilsen was always crafty. She remembers hosting garage sales with her family and selling painted rocks to passersby. Meanwhile, Cusick grew up on her grandfather’s farm since the age of 5 — she used to sell flowers on the side of the road, hoping to make some quick cash.

Today, the duo combined their love of business with their health conscious lifestyle.

“Ever since having my daughter I don’t like to use any kinds of chemicals in the house,” Cusick said. “I use all natural laundry detergent and I now make her my own lotion.

“My husband also has very sensitive skin. Before I started making soap, he only used an olive oil soap. If he uses any kind of Dove, he completely breaks out. It made me realize a lot of people are sensitive to all these chemicals they put into our everyday use.”

Their products can be found at Belmar Fresh Saturday morning or on Etsy. Cusick said their soaps, which take four to six weeks to cure, are all made with coconut oil, olive oil, water, sodium hydroxide and essential oils with different scents, like lavender, lemon poppy seeds, eucalyptus, grapefruit, and orange creamsicle.

If their soaps are dyed, they use natural powders, like beetroot or paprika.

EssBees also carries calming sprays with chamomile and lavender or bugaway sprays. Their scrubs consist of sugar, grapeseed oil, green tea, coconut oil, brown sugar, sweet almond oil, essential oils, and sometimes coffee and cocoa powder.

The scrubs come in different scents, like lemon and honey, green tea, pomegranate, blueberry acai tea, and peppermint lime.

Starting this week, expect to find bath bombs on their ever-growing selection of products.

“There’s a little bit of everything,” Cusick said. “Some of my favorite scented soaps come to me in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, some come on a whim, others we do research, go on Pinterest, read books.”

Other times, inspiration comes to Cusick when she’s visiting family in Colorado, where all natural products are common.

“I always say to people when we’re selling that your skin is your biggest organ in your body,” Nilsen said. “It’s so silly not to treat it the right way. There are so many diseases and crazy things in the environment. It just makes sense to know what you’re putting into your body.”

Visit their Facebook page to learn more.

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Fresh Markets

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Farmers and Makers Market bringing fresh, local produce and curated, handmade goods to NJ communities. Asbury Fresh|Belmar Fresh

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