When this amazing Mama saw her son suffering from eczema from almost every major line of sunscreen and lotion, she took matters into her own hands. Andrea became an herbalist and became obsessed with formulating different balms and oils for the face, body, nails and even hair. She felt it was her calling to make others aware that you can use what the earth provides for your skin and overall health. From this obsession Laguna Herbals was born in 2016 with just a couple products. Fast forward to 2020 and Laguna Herbals has over 25 green skin care products for both Mom and baby. Learn all about Andrea’s can’t live without products, why she chose to raise her family in Laguna Beach and her go-to favorite family meal.
What made you decide to launch an organic/Green beauty product line? I have been a hobby herbalist for many years so when I decided to get my certification I thought I wanted to develop an ingestible supplement but actually came away with a love of cosmetic formulation. At the time my son who was just a baby was breaking out from anything I would put on his skin from commercial lotions to sunscreen products and I was at a loss of what to do. Then I started making balms and oils with food grade only thing that didn’t make him break out.
What was the first product that you launched? The first product we launched was our organic spf 50 sunscreen and 4 flavors of lip balm.
What is your number one, can’t start your day without product or products? I would say our RENEW face and eye oil, I use it day and night to moisturize and it always feels like it does its job for anti-aging, moisturizing and just giving me a healthy glow. Second is our talc free powder it doubles as a moisturizer.
You have amazing baby products as well, which products should every new mom have on their changing table? All of them, lol, but I’m biased. I would say the Organic Bum & Body Balm ( it can be used as an all over moisturizer/protectant and a diaper balm) and the talc free baby powder. These are definite must haves that can help to soothe eczema and treat and prevent diaper rash. We sell these two products individually and as a “set” on lagunaherbals.com. All of the ingredients ultra gentle and 100% natural and certified organic . They will not cause allergic reactions or rashes.
Can you give other Mom Entrepreneurs looking to launch their own business one piece of advice? As a mom it is great to have your own business since you can set your own hours and have flexibility to “be there” when you need to. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to have patience with yourself and the process, and make sure your immediate family members are supportive of the time and money you will need to invest. Some businesses are easier to launch than others, a products business requires investment of time, money, physical space and energy, nurturing its growth is similar to nursing a baby around the clock (literally). This is a second career for me. I previously had my own recruiting company doing permanent placement for the retail industry, looking back it was a much simpler business model.
Why did you decide to raise your family in Laguna Beach? We moved here from the east coast when my son was in 3rd grade. We were living in Massachusetts at the time and in our last winter there we got a cumulative 6 feet of snow. We were done! We had come to Laguna Beach to visit friends earlier that year and loved the area. We did some research and found out they had great schools and a vibrant family oriented community, not to mention great beaches, hiking, and beautiful and mild weather year round.
How do you practice self-care? Self care can be practiced in many ways. My favorite self care routine is our Green Beauty Milk bath indulgence set. It comes with 3 products, our milk bath, whipped body butter and our talc free body powder. It is a soothing and relaxing routine. Or if you just need some mental downtime and exercise I love to hike, walk the beach or just chill and watch a favorite movie or tv show.
What is your go-to healthy family meal, that everyone loves? Vegan chile. It tastes great and is super healthy. I serve it with fresh baked sourdough bread.
Favorite Date Night restaurant/activity in SouthOC? (pre or post COVID) – Pre covid it was Watermarc. We would go every weekend for date night; dinner and wine on the patio. We loved the food. Sadly it has closed due to covid. Post covid our favorite date night activity is grilling and watching movies on our newly (post covid) furnished outdoor patio.
How can SouthOCMoms find your amazing products? The best place is on www.lagunaherbals.com. Where our entire line is available and we ship for free within 24-48 hours. Everything ships out of Laguna Beach so local socal delivery time is super fast.
