Business comes naturally to 12-year-old entrepreneur

Mixing together things she found around the garden into pastes and slurries was something that Beulah Nawn loved to do from a very young age.

Her mother Yoekie, a science teacher, says while the result of this experimentation was “a kitchen filled with containers of weird concoctions”, she has always encouraged and supported Beulah’s curiosity.

Now an Ōrewa College student, 12-year-old Beulah combined aloe, coconut oil and hibiscus flowers (for natural colour) to see what happened. The result was a product that melted quickly when out of the fridge, so further work was needed.

“She and her dad made loads of samples, and I made suggestions along the way,” Yoekie says.

That was at the start of this year. The resulting balm was hydrating, and Beulah had her first product.

She went on to research New Zealand companies that could supply her with natural ingredients – keeping it local, natural and hand-made is important to her.

The first time she shared her lip, hand and foot balms, at the Kids’ Market in Stanmore Bay, they almost totally sold out. More markets, including the Ōrewa Twilight Market, followed.

Beulah used the money to buy more ingredients and has expanded her range with bath and shower bombs and bath salts.

Yoekie says her daughter’s fascination with creating natural products shows no sign of slowing down.

“She prefers it to schoolwork for sure,” Yoekie says.

Look for B’s Balm on Facebook.