ABOUT US
We aim to have a complete transparency policy about our products and ingredients so if there's anything we've forgotten to include please call or email and we'll put it right.
WHO WE ARE
We got interested in skin care when we started doing our own research into what we were putting on our skin and frankly, got a bit frightened (around about the same time as we started becoming more aware of what chemicals were being put into our food, strangely). Years of kitchen experimenting and sharing the results with friends led to the confidence to create a web site and that in turn led to the opening of our shop in Penzance. All of our products are certified for safety by an independant laboratory (in accoradance with UK and EU regulations) however, so you can be every bit as confident in them as we are.
Our grandmothers used to make all thier own skin products before the big names that still dominate the industry came along and started to mass-produce. All we've done is taken that knowledge and built on it using a working knowledge of aromatherapy and sensible approach to the ethics of how the ingredients are harvested.
WHAT WE DO
We are committed to bringing you some of the most natural cosmetics and skincare around and at a price that means you can use them every day rather than as a special treat. We lovingly hand make every Pure Nuff product in small batches, ensuring that it's all lovely and fresh and you can enjoy the full 12 months shelf-life. Much of the new product development is customer-led and we take note of all feedback and desires of our customers. Each product is developed to deal with specific areas of the body and the daily stresses they undergo. Because of our production methods, we can also offer customers a bespoke service and alter the essential oil blends if they'd prefer something else – check out the Custom Made section, we're the only company in the country that offers this service so take advantage of it!
WHAT WE WON'T DO
We absolutely promise (cross our hearts) that we won't use SLS, parabens, urea, synthetic fragrance or colour and any other of the 2000 nasty chemicals allowed in everyday cosmetics. They're just not necessary.
We don't make any claims that our products will make you more beautiful, thinner, younger, stronger or taller. You're already lovely and our stuff just helps to show that.
We also won't make products that we think are just a gimmick and completely unnecessary. No lie, we spotted a product somewhere called 'Face Conforming Oil'!! What's that mean then? Being non-conformists we don't understand. And it was £400 to boot – for 15mls! The words rip and off spring to mind.
We won't ever, ever test our products on animals and we have a fixed cut-off date of 1996 for animal testing on our raw materials. It's stupid anyway, animals have completely different skin to us. All our products are tested on our families and friends for 6 months prior to launch. And we now have BUAV certification to prove that, you'll see the "Bunny and Stars" logo on all our new product labels.
WHAT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ABOUT US
Every single batch of Pure Nuff Stuff is handmade by a person, right from measuring out the ingredients to bottling and putting the labels on. While each batch is up to our own exacting standards, they may differ slightly from one to the next. If for any reason you find that something didn't suit you then we'll replace it, free of charge, no questions asked, as long as it's within our sell-by date.
OUR INGREDIENTS - WHAT IS NATURAL?
All our ingredients come from natural sources and through their life cycle do not hurt the environment. The word 'natural' is a slippery one as one person's understanding of it isn't the same as someone else's – so here's our definition. By natural sources we mean everything we use comes from vegetable, mineral or plant sources and not the petrochemical industry. We put the word 'sources' in because obviously most ingredients aren't just found in hedgerows; they have to undergo some form of process to extract the bits we want. Does that mean they're still natural? Well we think so. Cocoa Butter doesn't exactly grow in convenient 1kg lumps but it's still very natural and essential oils don't drip off plants of their own accord, they need extracting, but they're still very natural. See where we're coming from?
We're working at the moment on updating our ingredients listings for each product to give you the full provenance of each item (where it comes from in the world, why it's in the product and whether or not it's sourced organically and if so, why not) so please bear with us while we finish this mammoth task. If you have any queries in the meantime though - please drop us a line and we'll answer any questions you've got.
OUR ETHICAL POLICY
We would never test our products on animals and insist that all our raw materials have a fixed animal testing cut-off date of 1996. As stated elsewhere on the site, we only ever test our products on family and friends. To prove that we mean what we say, we've been granted the use of the BUAVs "bunny and stars" logo which means that an independant organisation audits both us and our supply chain to make sure we're not hiding anything in this respect.We've searched high and low for suppliers that support the same policies we do in terms of sustainability and fair-trade and we ensure that our own production is as environmentally sound as possible. You should see our recycling runs... but it's worth it in our eyes.
Our packaging is kept to an absolute minimum. We use glass jars and HDPE plastic bottles (the most recyclable plastic available) and we urge all our customers to recycle all their packaging.
OUR SHOP
We love our shop and so do our customers. Even the postman likes calling in because he says it “smells fab”. We were very lucky and managed to lease the whole of the ground floor here, our shop is on the right and our workshops (laboratoire Pure 'Nuff) on the left. You can now come and see us making everything in the workshops here, it's a great opportunity to see how things are made and really get a feel for what we do, so if you're in the area, do pop in.
We are in the most amazing building, owned by the Landmark Trust, which is a tourist attraction in itself. The Egyptian House on historic Chapel Street is pretty much the only one left in the country (OK, we know there's a sort of one in Devonport, but it's nowhere near as grand as ours) and it's high on the list of of "must-see" things here in Penzance.
If you're on holiday in Cornwall, Penwith is one of the prettiest areas so come visit us. We've got dozens of gorgeous beaches within minutes of Penzance (we might even let you in on some of the secret ones!) and Land's End is only eight miles away.
WHERE ELSE CAN I BUY PNS PRODUCTS?
Animal Defenders International (through the Christmas Catalogue)
The Big Splash Company - 14 Ship Quay Street, Derry, Northern Ireland, BT48 6DW (Tel 02871 360 088)
The Bristol Green Store - The Old Post Office, 109-111 Chessel Street, Bristol, BS3 3DQ (Tel 0117 953 082)
Café Rico - 1 Hortons Yard, Pawn Shop Passage, Louth, Lincolnshire, LN11 9JQ
Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) - Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 9AZ, Wales (Tel 01654 705950)
The Essential Oil Co Ltd - Little Barn, Scrapps Hill Farm, Worting Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG23 8PU (Tel 01256 332737)
Harvest Natural Foods - 37 Walcott Street, Bath, BA1 5BN (Tel 01225 465 519)
Heelnatuurlich - Achillesstraat 58-1, 1067RE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Natural Possibilities - High Street East, Uppingham, Rutland, LE15 9PZ (Tel 01572 822 424)
Naturally Gifted - 51a Upper Tything, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR3 8QT (Tel 01905 731 381)
The Little Green Bag - 7 King Street, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 4HP (Tel 01748 826 699)
The Organic Bodycare Shop - The Studio, Gas Lane, Kirkudbright, Dumfries & Galoloway, DG6 4HX (Tel 01557 332 473)
The Natural Shop - 16 Wooten St Lawrence, Baswingstoke, Hants, RG23 8PE (Tel 0845 652 2654)
Passionately Pure - 34 College Street, Cleethorpes, DN35 8BW (Tel 01472 604 855)
Seasalt - shops throughout Cornwall
Sussed (Sustainable Wales) - 41 John Street, Porthcawl, CF36 3AP
Totally Serene - 8 Fosse Cottage, Fosse Way, Leamington Spa, CV31 1XQ (Tel 01926 612 647)
Waterloo Body Station - 103 Lower Marsh, London, SE1 7AB (Tel 020 7202 9000)
Yvette's Beauty Rooms - The Poplars, Quoit, St Columb, TR9 6HX (Tel 01637 880 271)
