Drawing On Island Inspiration, Bluewave Body Company Makes Natural Beauty Products On Martha’s Vineyard

Not sure about you, but my skin has seen enough of this harsh New England winter, and could use a little TLC. With that in mind, I thought it was a good time to learn about Bluewave Body Company, body products made in Oak Bluffs.

I met with owner and founder, Gwyneth Wallace, on the coldest morning of spring, at Mocha Motts in OB, to learn more about her and her products.  After meeting with Gwyneth, I think I could almost write five stories about her and her work.

I first encountered Bluewave Body Co. in the gift bags for the Martha’s Vineyard Fashion Week, and really enjoyed the lip scrub. Then I learned that there were a lot more other products to choose from when I saw Gwyneth at the Vineyard Artisans Festival.

Bluewave Body Co – A Family Affair

Gwyneth is the mother of five amazing children, ranging in ages from seven to 22. Now with all of her children in school, she has had the time to follow her dreams and create her own line of products for the body using all natural ingredients.

Though dabbling in making products for a bit, three years ago, she decided to turn it into a business. Family is so important to her, and everyone is quite involved with her endeavor.

Why the name? Well, the Wallace family lives on Martha’s Vineyard, so of course there’s a strong relationship with the water, but they also spend a month each year in Hawaii, where there is another relationship and love of water.

The family was sitting around, talking about the business, and her daughter came up with the name Bluewave Body Company, and that was it. A perfect name for this island(s) family.

The logo was created her son who is in the autism spectrum. He was playing on his iPad and traced an image with his finger, with the b and the waves, and Gwyneth knew that this had to be the logo.

In addition to helping with branding, her family is also serves as her guinea pigs so to say.

Gwyneth was rarely satisfied with body products she bought off the shelf, and she has kids with sensitive skin and allergies, so she found it easier to make things for herself and her family. That way, she knew the ingredients, and knew the benefits.

Friends started wanting her homemade body care products too, and before you knew it, she had a number of different products.

Her kids are the first ones to test her creations. All throughout the Wallace shower and bathroom are containers labeled with product and test numbers.  She also has her friends test too, and sends samples to her kids at college to do the same.

Since her line is only made with ingredients that are good for you, there’s no need to worry, and how great to get a to be among the first to try something.

She’s also found that friends have fallen in love with certain products and have incorporated them into their daily routines, which is pretty amazing to Gwyneth.

Bluewave Body Co. Products

At age 48, Gwyneth has found her career, what she is passionate about. It’s never too late to do what you love. While having cared and continuing to care for a large family for a number of years, she says it feels so liberating to have the time to focus on doing something she loves.

Gwyneth has always loved products — body, skin, make-up. Did she ever think she’d be making these things? No, but does she love to? Yes. She has become a sort of cosmetic alchemist. Studying and researching how to create products that enhance your skin and your daily experience.

When she’s not making products in her Oak Bluffs studio, she’s research and seeking inspiration for new items. Because she is so passionate about her creations, she wants to continue to add to her line, and she already has quite the selection.

Let’s talk about a couple of the top sellers. Her top three are her Body Butter Bliss, Exfoliating Sugar Scrub and the Silken Body Oil. Body butters are just plain amazing for us ladies who need a little extra moisture.

Bluewave’s is chocked full of natural butters and oils including chamomile to help with skin regeneration. It really does feel amazing.

For the sugar scrub, we all can use a little exfoliation. However I think I just might have upgraded from a sugar scrub (though fabulous) to the Skin Tight Hawaiian Coffee Body Scrub.

Gwyneth loves this product, which detoxifies, brightens, and smoothes the skin. It contains organic roasted hawaiian kona coffee, rich oils, shea butter, and orange oil. This could become part of my daily routine.

It smells so good, it seems like it should be a coffee treat instead of something that will give you glowing skin.

For the Silken Body Oil, this is an oil for after the shower. Oils are all the rage right now, and this one delivers. It comes in two fragrances, Atlantic and Pacific, since Gwyneth is a Martha’s Vineyard and Hawaiian girl. The scents make sense.

The oil dries quickly and can replace lotions. I think this product will be particularly awesome to use after outdoor showers because it dries so quickly and makes your skin feel so great.

Ok so those are three Bluewave Body Co. products and there are so many more with lots of great custom made scents,  body washes (for guys too now), facial cleansers, eye serum, after sun lotion, lip balm, face masks, shampoo, coconut treatment for hair, loofah scrubs (which I adore), and more. There really is something for everyone.

And if you meet Gwyneth and have an allergy or something didn’t work for you, she tries to either create something for you or reformulate one of her products to fit your needs. How’s that for customer service!

Gwyneth takes the best both of worlds, natural beauty tricks from the Pacific, where they do things quite differently, and the Atlantic, and creates products that are natural and nourishing for your body.

There is so much joy in making beautiful, good things with an affordable price point to help people. It is so rewarding and her business is growing steadily.

New For Summer 2015

Gwyneth will be launching a Bluewave Body Co. mineral make-up line for the Summer. Better ingredients, better make-up. All made locally. I can’t wait to see what her color lines are like. I am yet to try mineral make-up, so this might become the first line I use.

Also, currently you can get Bluewave Body Co. at the Vineyard Artisans Festival and on the Bluewave website, but Gwyneth hopes to have her products in five Island retail outlets for the coming season.  She’s also been known to meet people in town to deliver their order, once again, how about that for customer service! Be on the look-out for pop-up stores as well.

One more thing, well maybe two. Gwyneth can do custom labels (birthdays, showers, wedding, etc.) and even custom scents. She might need to pull an all-nighter or two to get it done, but she will get it done.

Her passion glows bright for her business, making her a pretty remarkable business owner. She loves her line and this community! Another wonderful reason to shop local on Martha’s Vineyard.

Thanks for reading the On Point Blog. You can learn more about Bluewave Body Company on Facebook. And speaking of social media, don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Linked In, Google+, Pinterest and Youtube.

Also, voting has begun for Best of the Vineyard 2015 and will continue until April 5th. We’d love your vote for Best Real Estate Company! We did it last year with your help and we’d be honored if you’d vote for us again. You don’t even have to fill out the survey!