Inside Indie: Bathed & Infused

Welcome to my new weekly feature, Inside Indie. Every week I will bring you an interview with the owner(s) of Indie etailers..but only the ones whose products I have reviewed. My first interview is with Nicole of Bathed & Infused. Bathed & Infused is the very first bath and body etailer I ever bought from. I discovered them via samples in The Little Black Box sampler back in October of 2006 and have been loyal ever since.

Tell me a little bit about the minds behind the magic at Bathed & Infused.

Curtis is the full-time head of Bathed and Infused and he oversees all of our day-to-day operations as well as the production and technical stuff. He used to be an engineer, so this is really his area of expertise and he enjoys it. I take care of the creative side, which includes scents, products, and marketing. I still work a day job, but we're hoping to have me go full time soon. In the meantime, we have 4 awesome girls that work for us.

What made you decide to get into the bath & body business?

I am a total bath and body junkie, and about 3 years ago I used to buy from a place called the Underground Scent Plant. There was a lot of scandal when a lot of her orders didn't get sent out and she listed her scent recipes and remaining inventory on eBay. I was pretty mad because she owed me an order, so I told Curtis about her stuff on eBay. For some unknown reason he said, "Let's buy it!" And the rest is history. I think he might have thought that it would save us money on my bath and body habit, LOL!

What inspires you when you're creating a new scent?

I get inspiration in all different kinds of places. Sometimes I'll see a recipe for a amazing sounding dessert and instead of baking it, I'll mix it as a scent instead. I also get ideas out and about, like our neighbor's gardens or the mall. We also get great requests from our customers that I try to make as often as I can. I also get ideas randomly just from being around all 600-some of our fragrance oils. I just pull them out and see what I come up with. It's a lot of fun.

Ok, you're stuck on a desert island and you can only have one of your products..which one, which scent and why?

I'd say a Fluff in St. Lucia because the Fluff would keep my skin soft and soothe any sun burns from the hot sun and St. Lucia as a scent because it's so fresh and tropical.

What does the future hold for Bathed & Infused?

Now that our baby has arrived, we've got a lot of really great stuff planned for the Fall and the Holidays. We have some new products launching soon and a really fun contest that should debut this month, which we'll announce in our newsletter. More long-term, hopefully we'll continue to grow and spread our Bathed and Infused goodness all over the world

What's your absolutely favorite/gotta have product that you don't make? (does not have to be bath & body)

Curtis and I both love Wen Cleansing Conditioner--it's awesome for our super-curly hair!