B-Amazing: the skin care brand sticking to its principles

We all fail to practise what we preach at times. Our lives are filled with little contradictions. When it proves counterintuitive to our health and wellbeing however, then it’s time to evaluate what’s working and what’s not.

Elka De Wit, the founder of socially conscious skin care brand B-Amazing, has dedicated her livelihood to ironing out some of these inconsistencies by perfecting a range of organic beauty products that brings into harmonious agreement our need to nourish our skin with living an equally clean and honest lifestyle.

The consistency that spreads across De Wit’s enterprise is evident from the company name to the product range and its vision. B-Amazing’s line of luxury items is branded ‘34.4’, which De Wit explains is the 'optimum temperature for a brood to thrive in the beehive'.

This all starts to make sense when one considers that honey is the key substance sticking the company together. De Wit, who suffers with sensitive skin that reacts to oily ingredients, pioneered the project after being wooed by the mystical properties of honey – a natural antiseptic with a soothing warmth and sweet scent. De Wit combines the honey with the vitamin rich prunus armeniaca (apricot kernel oil) to make her ‘Honey Balm’.

Making the most of this natural goodness, B-Amazing returns the favour by donating 3.44 per cent of its total profits to the Natural Beekeeping Trust, which promotes bee awareness and aims to source honey from people who respect the wellbeing of bees.

This gesture of giving back represents the community spirit that is at the heart of B-Amazing’s business plan, which De Wit likens to the structure of a beehive; benefiting employees and the community alike, with all staff members having equal control and share in the company profit in correspondence with the amount of hours they invest into it. This ethical approach permeates into every aspect of the brand as B-Amazing also promotes environmental sustainabillity by encouraging customers to return the bespoke black and violet jars for resuse. A policy that is incentivised by the opportunity for customers to receive a ‘freebie’ for every six jars that they return and £2 off their next purchase for every single jar returned.

The distinct uniformity of the packaging, with its black and yellow composition, came about through a collaboration between De Wit and designer Jamie Wignall. Aside from the conspicuous bee symbolism, the striking simplicity of the aesthetic also exudes a subtle Asian influence, informed partly through Elka’s multi-cultural roots – she spent some of her childhood growing up in Hong Kong – and also through her and Jamie’s shared love of Japanese design.

The original honey-based formula may form the basis of her brand, but the '34.4' range offers a multitude of skin-enriching solutions, encompassing beard and eye oils, facial tonics, hair conditioners, moisturisers and sumptuous soaps. All made with the understanding that the best results are achieved through a complementary lifestyle.

There is also a sense of gender neutrality to the range, mirrored through the design and multi-purpose nature of the products, that reinforces the cohesiveness that lies at the core of B-Amazing. All of the parts working together – there are no contradictions.

You can explore the '34.4' range and meet De Wit at The Schoolyard Market (at London Fields Primary School) near Broadway Market on Saturdays, and at the 34.4 ShedShop at the Cleve Courtyard on Boundary Street, on Fridays and Sundays.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the B-Amazing website

Photography courtesy Ethan Lee and Noah Goodrich