W EL L N ESS
a CLE A N SLATE One local entrepreneur’s skin care journey inspired her to design an allergy-friendly line By I s ab e lla Re illy | P h o to by Jo h n M ic h ael S im pson
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umpster diving to make ends meet was the reality for 19-year-old Judith Jones. While struggling to complete a degree in nursing, she was diagnosed with highly reactive skin, joining her existing woes of lifelong eczema. “I was on my own and trying to figure out what was going on with my skin,” Judith says. “Basically, I was like, ‘I have no money.’” Her reactive skin stemmed from allergies to 17 common chemicals, such as sulfates and fragrant oils, found in bath and body care products. No longer able to use familiar skin care items – including what she once used to treat her eczema – Judith began developing her own formulas. “I would just take a little bit of money at a time and kind of piece together a little recipe here and there to try and figure it out,” she says. Her father, Joey Jones, also helped put her through soap-making and skin care classes at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College to aid her experimentation. Unable to afford holiday presents, she began gifting her handmade product to friends and family members. “People were like, ‘I love this soap. Can we get more?’” Judith says. “So that is sort of how it started.” In 2013, Judith listed her first products on Etsy and left nursing school to pursue
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I think something I’ve really valued is that I’ve just followed my own instinct. I really believe in what we do.
her new venture full time. “When the business started taking off, I never looked back,” she says. Today, Judith operates Good Juju Herbal, an allergy-friendly skin care line named after her lifelong nickname, “Juju.” Her team of six makes 13 products ranging from bar soaps to clay masks. “The thing that really makes us stand out is that we make a high-quality product for an affordable price and try to make that as accessible as possible,” Judith says. Good Juju’s 2,100-square-foot warehouse in Raleigh operates as a zero waste facility with a 100% biodegradable product line. Packaging-free options are available to customers, along with a 50-cent incentive to return bottle containers to Good Juju Herbal. “[Sustainability practices] have always been important to me and my family, and I think to our customers as well,” Judith says. The company is slated to begin construction on a slightly larger Jones Ferry Road facility in January. Judith says the new location will operate on solar power, have a rainwater collection system and also be zero waste. One passion project that emerged was The Happy Skin Project, which provides free and discounted bars of soap to cancer treatment patients. “My mom has terminal cancer,” Judith says. “Seeing how thin and fragile your skin can get from different medications and radiation and [chemotherapy], there’s not a lot of education around skin care in that community.” Another favorite part of the job is having customers believe in her product so much they then return to purchase it for friends and family. “I think that’s a true testament to the products,” she says. For first-time customers, she suggests trying out the sensitive skin starter kit or the mini skin care set, though her personal favorites include Good Juju’s bar soap, essential salve and the herbal skin food moisturizer. Though the products are mainly available online, the company does offer in-person warehouse pickup. Judith hopes to continue to grow nationally through wholesale partnerships with West Elm, Madewell and most recently, Magnolia, based in Waco, Texas. She is proud that a product she began creating for herself has grown into a staple for others. “I think something I’ve really valued is that I’ve just followed my own instinct,” she says. “I really believe in what we do.” CHM