About Bubble & Balm
When we tell people about our company, we've found that some of them are inclined to make all sorts of assumptions about us...that we're a charity, that we have a penchant for sandals, that we think coffee is the devil's brew, that we don't know our balance sheet from our body butter and so on.
Actually we're pretty normal...we're running a commercial business like any other focused on creating fantastic products, we sometimes put things in the rubbish that could be recycled (although we feel guilty about it), we drink caffeinated coffee (probably in excessive quantities)...you get the picture!
We believe that business has a huge influence in the world, perhaps more influence than politics or campaigning. And we have a horrible suspicion that this influence is not always positive. As they say (whoever 'they' are) - if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. We run our business on ethical principles because want to do our bit to be part of the solution.
We also believe that profits, used wisely, are a good thing - they allow us to develop more lovely products and grow our business.
Of course visions and objectives are all well and good, but actions speak louder than words (we love our sayings)...
Fairtrade
Bubble & Balm was one of the first companies in the UK to offer Fairtrade certified bodycare products, and the first '100% Fairtrade' UK bodycare company (the first to achieve certification across all products). We intend to continue and develop as a dedicated Fairtrade business. Click here for more on Fairtrade.
Ingredients
Our products are created using natural plant based ingredients, and we plan to keep it that way (we may also use beeswax and honey). We will never use parabens, sulphates (eg SLS, SLES), phthalates or animal derived ingredients where the animal is harmed to obtain that ingredient (a good example is carmine, which is used in colour cosmetics and obtained from crushed beetles).
Bubble & Balm supports the production of sustainable palm oil through the GreenPalm programme. This means that for every tonne of palm oil we use in the production of our products we have paid a voluntary premium to a palm oil producer which is operating within the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) strict guidelines for social and environmental responsibility. GreenPalm is a certificate trading programme which is designed to tackle the environmental and social problems created by the production of palm oil. Exclusively endorsed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), it works on the principle that the best way to encourage people to work in a sustainable and responsible way is to reward them for doing so. Visit www.greenpalm.org for more.
We are opposed to animal testing for cosmetic purposes, and we do not test our products or ingredients on animals (or ask someone else to do it for us). We operate 'fixed cut-off dates' - for our soaps it's 1984.
Manufacture
Our company started out with our founder making products in her kitchen (it's amazing what you can achieve with a food processor and a double boiler!). Although we've now moved on to using bigger and more sophisticated pots and pans (which are actually quite similar to their kitchen equivalents), all of our products are still made in the UK by partners who share our ethical approach.
Our soaps bars, for example, are hand made using very traditional methods - there's no squishing together pre-packaged soap noodles for us, even if those noodles are triple-milled. We believe that UK manufacture is important for lots of reasons, including a reduced carbon footprint, confidence as regards working conditions and quality control.
Overall, we think Fairtrade ingredients plus local manufacture is a great combination, and saves our customers from having to make an choice between buying local and buying Fairtrade.
Packaging
We use aluminium because it is strong, lightweight and readily recycled via local councils. Our aluminium tins are made in the UK, and contain around 50% recycled aluminium. We also use UK made recycled card boxes and UK made plastic bottles containing recycled plastic.
Company information
Bubble & Balm is a trading style of A Bag of Goodies Ltd
Registered in England Number 6345537
Registered office Highdown House, 11 Highdown Road, Leamington Spa, CV31 1XT
VAT Number 916 8071 16