K line to products, seeks to expand
antioxidants [and] paired with Vitamin C, strengthens the skin. It takes care of the age spots, collagen loss, cheek sagging. It is an awesome, awesome product.”
Brown said she decided to add donkey milk to her range of products after coming across the product during the course of her work.
“I’m always on the look out for natural stuff — skin food,” she explained, adding that all her soaps contain milk “because milk calms the skin. I’ve used goat milk, coconut milk, butter milk and I came across donkey milk and I’m like, hmmm”.
Brown said she did further research and found that ancient Egyptian ruler Cleopatra had 700 donkeys from which she got milk for her baths.
“The Egyptians, to this day, still use it because of the amazing benefits. It has retinol which actually plumps the skin. Everybody wants to have their skin firm, they want to have the fine lines and wrinkles stay at bay. So using donkey milk in my products, it’s like another anti-ageing holy grail. It gently exfoliates, it moisturises, it smooths and calms the skin and it promotes collagen development, and it has vitamins, so it’s really a nutrient-dense product that’s really healthful for the skin,” Brown told the Business Observer.
Her donkey milk line includes a face soap, soufflé and micellar water.
At the moment Brown sources the milk, in powder form, from Greece at a cost of US$80 per ounce. However, she’s trying to get it from a US supplier who could deliver it more quickly and at a lower price.
Her venture into the line, she said, is justified by demand for it here in Jamaica, despite the fact that donkey milk products are generally pricey.
Brown’s efforts to expand her business have seen her contact a few local entities regarding grant funding available to small business owners which, she said, she’ll “be pursuing vigorously”.
She has also spoken to the Development Bank of Jamaica on the phone and is encouraged by the response she has received. However, Brown admits that she’s afraid of loans.
“What I’ve been doing is reinvesting money into the business, and I shop sales so I really get good value for my money,” she said. “But I know in business you’re going to have to make some bold moves... so as I grow I am learning, and my husband is a business savvy person, plus the owners of Lily’s Beauty Barn have really given me some very constructive guidance and so I am getting there.”