An interview with Only NatCHeryl

A beauty product company with a name that will make you think and possibly smile.

How did you get into making beauty products?

I started making organic personal care products for my family. My son was born with a hormone related birth defect (which was correctable by surgery, thankfully.) After researching, I discovered that this birth defect, along with other hormone related issues, low sperm count and some GYN issues, have increased substantially in the past 40 years. The incidence of this birth defect, Hypospadius, has actually doubled in my lifetime. It seemed to me that environmental causes must be a major contributing factor. It was at that point that I discovered the Environmental Working Group’s database called Skin Deep where they rate personal care product safety on a scale of 1-10 and found that many of the products my family was using were rated in the hazardous range. That’s when I decided to start making my own lotion.

When did you start the company?

Since I’m a crafty kind of person, I decided to give the products that I was making for my family to my friends as gifts. I kept making new things and giving them as gifts. A number of my friends told me I should sell my stuff, so in 2011, I did. That’s when I started Only NatCHeryl Body Cremes.

Why did you choose the name Only NatCHeryl?

My family helped me come up with the name. We have a large family and I host many of them here at our house for thanksgiving. In 2010, I used my family as my research group. I gave them a choice of different company names and they all (30 of them!) liked Only NatCHeryl. It’s a play on my name, Cheryl, which is pronounced with a hard “ch”. Frequently, when I talk to a new customer and introduce myself, after a few minutes, a light bulb goes off and they say: “Oh! I get it!”

What materials do you use when making your products?

I use only organic oils as the base for most of my products, including olive oil, safflower oil and coconut oil. I say that I use 99% organic ingredients because I only scent my products with essential oils, some of which are prohibitively pricey when buying the organic version. I feel that organics should be affordable for everyone and I reflect that in my pricing. Since most of the essential oils that I use are organic, it works out to be about 1% of the products that aren’t.

 What inspires you?

I love to come up with new products the way that I come up with new ideas in the kitchen. Sometimes the mood just strikes me to try something new. The changes in seasons also inspire me. I let my imagination run wild and then ask my family and friends to test my new ideas. Some of them are keepers and some need a little more work, but at the heart of my ideas is always the emphasis on safe and healthy personal care products.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I’m currently in the end stages of developing a liquid facial moisturiser. I’ve been using it for about a year and it’s wonderful! I’ll never go back to using lotion on my face again, and I have very dry skin. Since our skin is our biggest organ, it’s so important that we only use the safest products. Think of all of the shampoo that runs down your body in the shower each morning. If that shampoo contains Phthalates to hold the fragrance in all day, or Parabens, or BPA, you’re literally bathing in hormone disruptors, every day. The long-term consequences of those ingredients aren’t fully known but the initial studies don’t look good.

Jenny Rodgers

For further information on Only NatCHeryl visit here.