about us

What's So Special About Herban Crafts Kits?

Herban Crafts kits are good for the community, good for you, and good for the planet. 

  • Socially Responsible: Herban Crafts will be run as a for-profit social enterprise. The manufacturing of organic herbal bath and body product kits will be conducted in part by unemployed women living in transitional housing. The women will work in the context of a job skills training program in collaboration with a DC-area social services non-profit. Masters level counselors will oversee the training and coaching of the trainees. 
  • Truly Natural: The kits contain the highest quality USDA Certified Organic, Fair Trade certified, ethically wild-harvested ingredients, which makes them unique. Many bath and body crafting kits are laden with artificial colorants and fragrances, preservatives, and other substances associated with chronic health issues. The ingredients in Herban Crafts kits have been carefully chosen to minimize the chances that you’ll have an allergic reaction. And the essential oils are safe for use by pregnant women and children.
  • Environmentally Responsible: In addition to the organic, pesticide-free and planet-friendly ingredients, all packaging is made of recycled, recyclable and/or biodegradable materials. See our Mission and Green Company, below, for more ways that our kits are environmentally responsible.

make your own sugar scrub kit

What Do You Get With An Herban Crafts Kit?

The secrets of how to make your own non-toxic bath and body products! And if you want, you can share those secrets (and products) with friends and family. 

You also get:

  • An attractive, eco-friendly, reusable tote box 
  • Recipes and ingredients that let you create a variety of organic herbal bath and body products at home
  • Information on the properties of the herbs and other ingredients
  • Ideas for adapting the recipes to create a variety of additional items. 

Each kit retails for $39.50, equal to the retail cost of the finished products if purchased from an organic bath and body product artisan. In addition, you’ll know how to make more for yourself!

What Kinds Of Kits Does Herban Crafts Offer?

Herban Crafts currently offers 4 kits:

  • Body Scrub
  • Fizzing Bath Salts
  • Mint Cocoa Lip Balm
  • Herbal Soap

What Is Herban Crafts' Mission?

Our mission is multi-fold: to promote beauty and self-care while supporting the health and wellbeing of people and the planet; and to help address the problem of unemployment, a contributing factor to homelessness, by offering a hands-on job and social skills training program for unemployed women living in transitional housing. For more information, please see our presentation from the 2012 Global Health and Innovation Conference.

What Are The Benefits For The Jobs Skills Trainees?

Not only will the trainees' involvement in a structured program help them to build their resumes, develop basic job skills, and benefit from a structured social skills program, the process of compiling the kits, which contain only truly natural ingredients, will offer an opportunity for them to learn about health and wellness. In addition, the process of working with one’s hand lends itself to free flowing conversation. The counselors will use these opportunities to encourage open dialogue about the trainees’ personal challenges and help them develop strategies for dealing with them.

      

The Counseling Team

How Else Is Herban Crafts a Green Company?

Being sustainable also means that Herban Crafts considers how every aspect of the day-to-day operations are run, including these: 

  • Driving fuel-efficient vehicles.
  • Shipping via the US Postal Service, which holds “Cradle to Cradle” Certification at the Silver level for human and environmental health.
  • Offsetting our carbon footprint with the purchase of RECs
  • Using compact florescent bulbs, compostable bubble wrap, and vegetable cellulose bags
  • Reusing, recycling, and composting everything we can, from paper, ink cartridges, and packing peanuts to herbal waste and compostable trash bags
  • Sourcing our ingredients and packaging to make sure the people who produced them were paid fairly and that they have minimal impact on the environment.

Herban Crafts sources all ingredients and components from suppliers who are documented as following fair labor practices, practicing environmental responsibility and not conducting any testing on animals.

Who Is Behind Herban Crafts Kits?

Herban Crafts kits are brought to you by Mary Kearns, co-founder and creative mind behind Herban Lifestyle, and Karen Lee, co-founder and advisor to Herban Crafts.