Using grandma’s secrets in our formulations

Bare Necessities began with the intent to make zero waste consumption accessible and easy. Now how do we do that in an era that is caught up in the web of urbanisation and convenience? The answer was to time travel. 

Our grandma's became the ready reckoner to share recipes and concoctions with us! How did our grandma’s wash their hair before store bought shampoo was a thing? 

These were real questions that put us on the track to creating formulations that were rooted in simplicity, yet tackle the most pressing skin issues of today. 

Our formulations have always been handcrafted using no-nonsense, fuss-free ingredients, that are easy for customers to understand and therefore, consume safely.

Take for example, our Terracotta Body Scrub. It has Green Gram flour, Orange Peel Powder and Orange Essential Oil. Simple, straight forward ingredients rooted in grandma’s recipes, using easily identifiable ingredients. It doesn’t intimidate a potential user. 

Now, take for example, our lip balm, which needs to be smeared on to your lips and is typically used several times a day. Our most popular, Busy Bee Lip Balm is crafted using Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Beeswax, Almond Oil and Vanilla Oil. Transparently shared in our product description pages, it’s once again testament to utilising simple ingredients, yet packing in that day long moisturising quality that our lips totally need. Our lip balms don’t leave a tint, but achieve the mission that they’re set to - deeply moisturise your lips. 

Let’s move ahead a little bit to talk about products that we launched a little recently. Our deodorants. As much as we love our grandma’s recipes, we couldn’t really ask her for any tips. That said, the idea behind it was to create a simple, fuss free, earth friendly product. The philosophy still remains the same. Which means the answer still lies in nature! 

So, what did we use? Baking soda? Beeswax? No, and nope. 

We chose to innovate instead with Arrowroot Extract, Coconut oil, Cacao Seed Butter, Apricot Oil and other such goodies! And we now have this gorgeous formula that spreads on your skin like butter, doesn’t leave any trace behind, and keeps you fresh all day long! 

As we continue to grow, we’ve realised that it’s so important to stay rooted to our core. Yet at the same time, innovate through new formulations and techniques that makes conscious consumption super accessible.

Though we may not be using every one of our grandmum’s recipes, we certainly seek inspiration from her always. And more importantly, we’re making recipes and packaging that paves the way for our grandkids to live in a better world.