Sooth, heal, and rejuvenate

Give customers the pampering they deserve with natural health and beauty products.

The ocean can be a place of serenity, relaxation and renewal. It is the main reason people visit your coastal community and ultimately end up in your store. The ocean is also a place where, if one is not properly prepared, its elements can be harsh on the body.

You can help customers both enhance those good ocean feelings and restore and protect their bodies with health and beauty products. Many of these products also have a coastal vibe to them, having been made with natural ingredients and often taking on scents and sensations that remind customers of the tropical oasis they seek.

Natural products are surging in popularity.

The possibilities are bountiful, including shampoos, lip balms, lotions, soaps, ointments and perfumes. All these health and beauty products will make your customers feel good inside and out and keep them coming back for more.

And there’s no better time than the present to capitalize on the health-and-beauty market.

According to Sara Dewberry of Naples Soap Co., while customer demand for health and beauty products has always been high, over the last 18 months, consumers have really embraced the self-care movement.

“With more time at home to focus on their skin care routines as well as those up-close, dreaded Zoom calls, people want their skin to look cleaner, fresher and younger,” she says. “Customers are also looking for natural alternatives. They don’t want to be using chemicals on their skin so they’re searching for more natural alternatives where they can recognize the ingredients.”

Naples Soap products use coconut oil, shea and cocoa butter, sea salt and essential oils.

Going all-natural

Although a day near the water can be relaxing, she says, people’s hair and skin take a beating from sun, sand, heat and chlorine, leading to much needed evenings of self-care.

The company’s certified organic coconut oil is a light, versatile, naturally scented product that can treat sunburns, bug bites, minor cuts, scrapes, chafing and rashes. Coconut oil also promotes hair growth, moisturizes, strengthens and repairs damage from sun and salt, according to Conte. Customers can even run coconut oil through their hair before heading out on the water.

Aloe Up’s reef-safe sunscreens contain a minimum of 35% aloe vera. The company says this allows wearers to reap aloe vera’s benefits, which include stimulating the immune system, regenerating skin cells, reducing swelling and preventing itch.

As if those benefits weren’t enough, Kjell Ellefson, Aloe Up’s director of marketing, says health and beauty products are also good for a store’s bottom line. “Health and beauty products are some of the most popular retail accessories,” says Ellefson. “Offering health and beauty products in a retail environment boosts average-sale-per-customer totals, all in a high-margin, low-shelf-space package.”

Elements from the beach

Tessa Corp.’s California Mango brand combines mango oil, aloe vera, acai and goji.

Related Article: Read how one woman developed a product to help her young son in the article "Salty Solutions."

“There’s nothing more inviting than a warm California day, and when we created California Mango, we wanted to give everyone a chance to experience it all — to soak in the essence of California without leaving home,” she says.

Natural is also the foundation of True Ocean. Each skin and hair product is derived from clean, filtered ocean water. The idea for the new line of products came during a family vacation in Siesta Key, Florida.

“My teenage daughter experiencing typical adolescent skin issues was pleased how her skin looked and felt after swimming in the ocean,” says Darin Trimble, principal. “At the same time we noticed how the water resulted in our hair being thicker and more voluminous.”

Trimble calls seawater an amazing natural resource full of many different minerals, including potassium, calcium and magnesium.

“Creating products from this resource is a perfect fit for the vacation shopper, offering a unique purchase or gift from their beach trip as the products can only be found in coastal retail shops,” he says.