We caught up with the brilliant and insightful K’Rishina Stoudemire a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

K’Rishina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My journey began in 2019. I was abnormally breaking out and decided to look more into the products I was consuming on a daily basis. During my research I came to the conclusion, a lot of products we use contain harmful ingredients, which can cause long term, negative effects on our health and human psyche. I started being more mindful of the ingredients in products I used, and within a few weeks I saw a MAJOR difference. My skin and body began flourishing again. I decided to create K’ssentials to give people affordable self care products that are beneficial to their health and human body. Through the creation of K’ssentials I have felt really empowered to help create ingredient awareness amongst my customers. I knew this endeavor would be worthwhile because people are taking the initiative to research for their own personal gain and the rise of natural and organic products. My products contain 100% unrefined and organic ingredients. We do not use preservatives, which can also cause long term negative effects.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have really dry skin, sensitive skin and I’ve always had issues with finding products thick enough to keep my skin fully hydrated. A lot of products that are on the thicker side, tend to leave an oily residue OR cannot easily absorb into my skin. I decided to research types of products that keep the skin hydrated, and I came across “handmade body butters”. After deep diving into my finding, I decided I would be creating my own body butter, that aids in hydrating ones skin and contains safe ingredients. I really enjoy creating things. Whether it’s through painting, drawing, baking, and cooking, I enjoy making things with my hands. Hand making my K’Butters (body butters) for K’ssentials is another creative outlet. Having to create my own recipe and find the perfect consistency was fun for me. I definitely took time researching my market and other brands who sell body butters. Whether I was researching their price range, target market, marketing strategies, and ingredients, it was really important for me to get familiar with my competitors. What sets K’ssentials apart from it’s competitors is the unrefined, organic ingredients we use, our price, and product consistency. A lot of brands use harmful ingredients in their products and we believe these harmful ingredients can cause negative long term effects. When it comes to price, our price falls right in the middle of our competitors. We are offering our customers the best sourced products at an affordable price. With the rise of organic/natural products, everything is becoming more expensive, and we want to make sure K’Butters are affordable to all. Last but not least our consistency is like no other. Our K’Butters have a rich, creamy, thick texture that easily absorbs into your skin. You do not have to worry about an oily residue left behind and a little goes a long way.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients is social media. Whether I am posting on instagram, tik tok, or facebook, social media allows me to share information with not only my following, but with those who share similar interests. It’s a faster way for me to connect with a wide variety of people, and the possibilities are endless. I also do. enjoy “word of mouth”. It is easier for me to talk face to face with people, rather than on a computer screen. I also enjoy answering their questions and getting first hand feedback regarding my products.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I created my own website to sell my products to my customers. I decided to only sell on my website, so I can focus on one platform at a time and to keep my products exclusive. In the future I do plan on expanding to other platforms to create more channels to reach my target audience. I am also working on connecting with people within the cosmetic industry to sell my products at their store fronts. 2024 is all about expansion and intention.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.k-ssentials.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k.ssentials_/?next=%2F

Image Credits
Chevelle Taylor and K’Rishina Stoudemire