We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Myscha Gaines. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Myscha below.

Myscha , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

The packaging we selected for our scrubs became an unexpected problem. Our packaging choice is not one, consumers are used to seeing for body scrubs and it produced some hesitation about trying the product. I can honestly say that we have rarely had a customer try our scrub and not love the results.

When we decided to relaunch EmGe Naturals I was searching for that thing that would help us stand out among the thousands of other body scrub brands. How to make a better body scrub and appeal to an eco-conscious customer was my goal.
How to package our scrub in a way that addressed issues that customers only thought about when they were actually using the scrub. Think about it. You are in the shower, with the water running. You open this wide-mouth jar of body scrub. How do you keep the water from getting in the jar? Yeah, you have to position yourself just right in the shower or move the shower head. Another thing people don’t think about is how many times you stick your wet hand in that jar. The more water you put in that jar the more opportunities there are for bacteria to grow. Not to mention, if the scrub is sugar or salt based, you are probably reducing the efficacy of the scrub, because the water on your hands could be causing the exfoliant to dissolve in the jar. That is part of the reason our scrubs are in a squeezable pouch. The funny thing is we entertained putting them in barbeque-like squeeze bottles but discovered the impact that rigid plastics were having on the environment and that is how we decided to go with the flexible packaging.

We plan to move to a foil-based standup pouch by 2024 to make our products even more eco-friendly and further reduce plastic use.

To help potential customers get beyond this non-conventional packaging choice I knew we better have a product that was more than just a great fragrance, sugar, and oil. Which lead to a search for natural ingredients with an established track record for improving the texture and appearance of the skin. It also had to be responsibly sourced. After months of research, we landed on shea butter. Shea butter contains components that have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, such as triterpenes, that may aid with cell migration and collagen deposition. Because shea butter is emollient it helps trap moisture in the skin. It also contains linoleic acid which can help with eczema, scars, and acne.

Sure, you can find other scrubs that contain shea butter, but you will be hard-pressed to find one with the amount of shea that we use. I have to say “We don’t add a little shea butter to our sugar scrubs. Instead, we add sugar into our shea scrubs.” Not just a hint of shea butter, but enough shea butter to actually be an active ingredient that produces the results our customers wanted to see and feel.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I set out to create a premium, plant-based bath, and body care brand that addressed the dry skin that comes with aging. Dry skin is just a normal part of the aging process and it happens to all of us. EmGe is committed to plant-based, responsibly sourced, cruelty-free ingredients, eco-friendly packaging, and unparalleled customer service to make the experience one you want to repeat over and over again.

I discovered body scrubs back in the year 2002 and loved the way they made my skin feel. Back then a scrub was simply oil and salt or sugar. As time passed the demand for body scrubs changed as consumers wanted a little less mess and less oil floating and big box brands started selling them. Problem,…They smelled good, but their skin benefits were limited. I wanted to make a body scrub that had more benefits after learning that our skin on the surface is made up of dry, dead skin cells and the likelihood that lotion was going to penetrate that for softer skin was not very likely at all. As we age the skin cell turnover gets even slower, which is why our skin gets drier as we age. I knew I could make a better body scrub, that did more than remove dead skin, but also improved the condition of the skin.

I earned a diploma in organic skin care formulation and begin sharing one simple fact with people. “Piling lotion on your dead skin is never going to improve your dry skin.”

Every person that I have shared our scrubs with will tell you using the scrub not only removed the dead skin but made their lotion work better. That is what makes it all worth it. When a customer tells you “I can’t believe how soft my skin feels” or ” I don’t itch as much because of my dry skin”. But I think my favorite customer quote is “That dry, dark patch on my skin is gone.”

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I first launched EmGe in 2013 as a small business, doing vending events and with a small wholesale account with a local health food store. By 2015 we were just beginning to see our sales momentum pickup and life happened. In May of 2016, everything came to a halt because my grandchildren had to come live with me. There I was 53 years old raising a 6-month-old and a 1-year-old. Talk about life interrupted. I simply could not keep up, with household, 3 children ( because I still had a teenager at home as well) a part-time job, and running EmGe. Something had to give and it was EmGe. I was so disappointed and a little angry. I packed up all my ingredients, every jar, lid, box anything that had to do with EmGe, and throw it in the trash. Because my hopes for my bath and body care company was simply not going to be possible. At least that is what I thought…

But with all the negative things Covid brought with it, It also brought an opportunity for me to try again. The grandchildren were older and online sales of everything were at an all-time high. I could not go to work so I needed to find a way to contribute to our family’s income. That is when I put the plan to relaunch EmGe Naturals into action.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

To foster brand loyalty we have created a community called the EmGe Tribe. Once a month we have an online event where we simply come together to discuss skincare topics. We even have guys occasionally drop in. We talk about anything the tribe members want to discuss. We have discussed, eczema, natural deodorants, menopause, do guys care about the skin below their chin, trending ingredients, children, and products we used when we were kids. It was pretty nostalgic. We call the event TRIBE LIVE and it is open to anyone. We announce upcoming events on Facebook, Instagram, and via email. It surprised me how much people just want a place to laugh and learn. and how much that interaction had built a loyal following. Our tribe mantra is Good Vibes and a Healthy Glow.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.emgenaturals.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emgenaturals/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmgeNaturals
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EMGENaturals

Image Credits
I have permission to use photos of customers. all photographs have been taken by me.