Suppliers by category
Last updated 11 June 2020
These are some of the people and the companies who from whom I have bought ingredients and other supplies.
Ingredients
G Baldwin & Co is a “real old fashioned herbalist”. They supply herbs, remedies, essential oils, supplements, bottles and jars and more. They supply to professional herbalists and teaching institutions. As might be expected, there is a small premium in prices for their reputation. They are based in Elephant and Castle in London.
Naissance is my go-to supplier for most cosmetic ingredients. I like their products, and I like the company ethics. I buy oils, butters, glycerine and aloe vera from them. I also buy essential oils. Where possible I buy direct from them, but on occasions when they are out of stock there may be stock available at Amazon.
Neals Yard takes its name from the location of its store in London’s Covent Garden. There are branches throughout the United Kingdom, and there are other stockists in the UK and internationally. The company offers ingredients, remedies and cosmetics, as well as offering a range of courses. Neals Yard is pitched as a premium brand, and the prices reflect this. I don’t generally buy from them, but there’s just one or two of their products to which I might be a teeny bit addicted.
Mystic Moments is my alternate supplier for cosmetic ingredients. They have a wide range of products that includes additives and preservatives. They also stock a wide range of essential oils. Mystic Moments also stock fragrance oils, cosmetic products, candles, crystals, dowsing pendulums…
Essential Oils
Aqua Oleum was founded and is owned by Julia Lawless. The range of oils, carrier oils and associated equipment is substantial, and the quality is very high. Prices tend to be a little higher than average, but unless you are on a very tight budget it’s worth the little extra.
Hermitage Oils was based in Kingston upon Hull until the business re-located to Tuscany in 2017. They supply a very wide range of essential oils, tinctures and absolutes. They may be the only place you can find to supply something rare and very special, but the more esoteric products may be short production runs that go out of stock.
Equipment
I’ve put in a section for equipment, but the truth is that I don’t really have an equipment supplier. I have dedicated equipment for making cosmetics, mostly sourced from High Street discount shops. The equipment that you need to blend perfumes or mix cosmetics is very simple, and you may have a lot of it in your kitchen already. If you are careful, you can use your everyday kitchen equipment to make cosmetics. Most cosmetic ingredients are “food quality”, so you just need to wash up thoroughly with very hot soapy water. I’d add a caution about essential oils, though. While most can be washed up like other ingredients, there are some essential oils that are viscous and corrosive. I have the scars on my kitchen table, and my plastic-bodied wand mixer, to make the point.
I browse for things that “might be useful” in second-hand shops, charity shops, fairs and flea markets. Trinket boxes can be filled with creams or lotions, and seem to make very acceptable presents.
Herbs and Spices
There are many suppliers of herbs and spices for making infusions and tinctures. I’m sure most source their products ethically, but it’s difficult to be sure. Companies such as G Baldwin & Co and Fox’s Spices are among those I’ve used. Fox’s are an interesting company in that they continue to operate a catalogue and phone business. Although they now accept orders by email, they continue to resist opening an internet business, although some of their stockists have online shops.
Packaging
Ampulla was my main supplier for packaging, whether glass, plastic or aluminium. Unlike other commercial suppliers, they were, and still are prepared to process small quantity orders from craft producers. However, there have been some recent changes to the Ampulla website and customers’ order history is no longer available online. Another site, Ideon, offers a similar range of products at different prices. (In the case of my last order the cost from Ideon was 10% less than for an identical order from Ampulla.) To further complicate things, Ideon styles itself “Ideon by Ampulla”. Until there is more clarity of the relationship, I’ll continue to price check both sites and order from the cheapest.