Once upon a time there was a woman who stood by the stove in the middle of the night and cooked. No food, but sustainable deodorants with no added water and unnecessary ingredients. Nicole Blum of Küttingen AG describes her self-made deodorants as “No Bullshit” and has had fairytale success with it.
“It was never planned that way,” Nicole Blum (43) says with a laugh, in her new office mini-laboratory in the middle of Aarau’s old town. Today she sells deodorant creams, solid shampoos, lip care and other self-developed products in her online store and makes a modest living from them.
50 orders on the first day
“Being self-employed was a big step for me,” says Blum, who describes himself as a security guard. In January 2019, the first order came from a fitness trainer friend of mine. On April 8, 2019, Blum tweeted that he is now officially selling deodorants online.
“50 orders arrived in 24 hours,” Blum happily says. It is heard that he still cannot believe his success. This was followed by many nights spent in the kitchen: After dinner, while the two girls were in bed, he cleaned and disinfected everything and mixed his deodorant.
no additions
The end of 2019 was the end of making your own deodorant: After all, online retailers Brack and Alnatura had deodorants in their assortment and could be purchased at sustainable stores in the region. “A company here in Aargau now manufactures my products,” Blum says. In 2020, he will set up his own business as the general manager of “No Bullshit”.
A native of Aargau is interested in the idea of other products without water because he only wants ingredients that are really necessary in his products. «Absolutely no nonsense, but with high-quality ingredients. So without alcohol, artificial colors and fragrances or preservatives. It’s also important to me that they’re vegan and we don’t test them on animals,” she explains.
“The longer I mess with cosmetics, the more appealing I find water-free products,” says the self-taught person. Because water is actually not needed anywhere and its solid state offers numerous advantages. “When traveling for example: no spills, no issues flying, and the products are much more affordable, so there’s less drag around for a family,” he lists. In addition, the products are more environmentally friendly because stabilizers and emulsifiers are often required to protect and bind water in a germ-free manner.
Not every idea worked
“I’ve had to reconsider my claims a few times, like sustainable, vegan, and natural raw materials, but I haven’t thrown them away even if it’s easier,” she says. So he had tried it with beeswax first but this is not vegan.
Then came the idea of aluminum cans. “I had an idea that they could be returned later and refilled them,” he says, nodding. “That was a little naive.” Because there are high requirements for cosmetics.
However, Blum opted for lightweight packaging that can be recycled. Customers, 40 percent of whom are men, can still return empty boxes: Blum uses them to make scented candles, which can also be found in its online store.
dark perfume
“Less is more,” Blum says with conviction. Not only when water is neglected in their products and in the bathroom cabinet in general. However, he has ideas for other products: “I want to present a basic range: everything for body care, but only essential products”.
In his small lab in Aarau, he has been working on a solid perfume that can be applied in stick form, like lipstick, for the past few weeks. This will be available shortly. Nicole Blum doesn’t seem to have run out of ideas: if she’s not dead, she’s still fiddling with it.