Spotlight: Oil in Kind

Oil in Kind is a start-up that is revolutionising the way people shop for essential oils. With an emphasis on kindness and giving back, every purchase contributes to projects that make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged girls and women. The first of its kind, Oil in Kind is an online retail store that filters out the jargon, brand bias, and hidden agendas that can often lace the purchase of essential oils. A trusted place for aromatherapy lovers to discover, explore and shop the world’s most credible essential oil brands all in one place. We chat to founders Phoebe and Stephanie.

Tell us about Oil in Kind and how it all started.

Our vision for Oil in Kind started with a passion and love for essential oils. We had both previously worked in the industry and it was only until we moved into other jobs that we started exploring and using a variety of different essential oil brands. Because of our previous experience, we had a enough knowledge to identify the quality markers of a pure essential oil. But we realised it wasn’t as easy for the everyday person to do the same and that’s how the idea came to us! There was a clear opportunity to bring all the best brands together in one place, giving people the choice to shop hundreds of credible and trusted essential oil products without having to do hours of research, only to end up more confused than when they began. We couldn’t believe nobody had done it before. So we just knew we had to!

What are the benefits of using essential oils in our beauty and wellness regimes?

There are so many benefits of using essential oils. We like to think of them as mother nature’s medicine cabinet, that happen to smell absolutely divine! Each essential oil has its own unique complex chemical make up, which means they have different therapeutic properties and aromas. Because they are extracted from plants, they can be up to 100 times more concentrated than the plant itself. That means essential oils can have a powerful impact on our health and wellbeing but also need to be treated with the same respect and care as traditional medicine. We find that taking a holistic approach and integrating essential oils into your everyday routine to complement other practices is the most effective and safe way to realise their benefits. For example, over the last 6 months in particular, we’ve really seen an increase in people seeking to use essential oils to help with stress and sleep. We always recommend teaming

essential oils for stress relief with a soothing bath, or meditation to maximise their benefits.

What are the biggest misconceptions about essential oils?

There is so much incorrect information about essential oils out there! Much of the confusion is created by multi-level marketing companies who have an army of people selling their essential oils based on very little training. That doesn’t mean everything they say is untrue, but ultimately people need to be aware that they are not qualified health care practitioners, they are sales representatives. As the platform that brings all the credible brands together, we see it as our role to cut through that bias and misinformation! One of the most concerning misconceptions we’ve come across is that if an essential oil is natural that means it is safe to use any way and in any quantity. That’s simply not true. Mother Nature is incredibly powerful and essential oils should only be used as directed on the label of a credible brand. This is why safety is a key criteria for products being listed on Oil in Kind.

Can you please tell us a bit more about Oil in Kind’s kindness philosophy and its importance in your business?

We had both previously worked in corporate jobs and were tired of compromising our own personal values for profit. So as soon as the idea of Oil in Kind was born, we knew that giving back had to be fundamentally embedded into our business model. We believe that doing good should come first and everything around that will naturally follow. We’re both so passionate about empowering women, so with every purchase a customer makes on Oil in Kind. com we donate $1 to their selected charity to empower girls and women around the globe. We’ve partner with an amazing business called i Equals Change who connects brands with charities to do this.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who might be interested in starting their own businesses?

Be patient! We’re both notoriously impatient people and want to see instant results. Being an ecommerce business and relying on the fast pace of digital marketing really feeds into this even more. As much as we’re proud of the business we’ve created in just over a year, we sometimes forget to celebrate the wins because we’re looking at the next mountain to climb. Entrepreneurship is a long game, and we constantly need to remind ourselves that even those that inspire us the most were a ’10 year overnight success’

Lastly, what can we expect next from Oil in Kind?

A larger range of essential products! We’re committed to creating the ultimate one stop shop for everything aromatherapy. We’re looking at adding new and exciting categories to oilinkind.com this year giving people more choices and more reasons to love essential oils. But it’s not as simple as just uploading some new products to our site. We spend hours researching and validating every product we stock to make sure it meets our independent quality and safety standards. We’ve got a busy year ahead! oilinkind.com @oilinkind