The founders of Organic Monkey share their top tips for juggling work and parenthood, their best beauty buys and a few of their favourite family friendly hotspots. 

Where did the idea come from for Organic Monkey?

Heidi: We set up Organic Monkey after identifying a gap in the market for a truly organic range of baby skin care products. As mums you want the best for your baby and so we started looking at the ingredients being used by some of the big brands and didn’t like what we found so decided to produce an effective range using natural and organic ingredients that would only have beneficial qualities. All of our products are made from food grade, organic and Fairtrade ingredients with no nasties like parabens, sulphates, petrochemicals, artificial colours or fragrance.

Claudine: When Dylan was born he had bad eczema, so finding a baby skincare product that didn’t irritate his skin was very important right from the beginning. After reading many of the labels on the everyday brands on the high street I was both worried and disappointed at how hard it was to find both organic and ‘free from’ products for babies. Surely it should be easier to look after your baby’s skin? So together with Heidi we have created a very special range of products for babies with sensitive skin like Dylan’s.

How did you manage setting up a business and being new mums? 

Heidi: Starting a business with small children is tough, I was 7 months pregnant with my second child when we launched last June and with 3 small boys between us the main issue is trying to fit a full working week into 3 days and evenings. We constantly  juggle childcare with company deadlines and have to plan our diaries weeks ahead whilst also running a home. Sleep is a luxury at the moment and we definitely don’t get the recommended 8 hours anymore but all the hard work is starting to pay off and being your own boss and working from home is very liberating.

Which beauty products are your favourite and do you swear by? 

Heidi: We both use Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser to clean our faces and love that they use organically certified ingredients wherever possible.

Claudine: I also use the REN Rose Otto Bath oil to soak in whenever I get a chance as it helps to relax and moisturises the skin beautifully.

Are there any mums out there who really inspire you? 

Jo Malone is a big inspiration to us. We were lucky enough to meet her when we were shortlisted as a finalist in the Metro’s new business competition. She was the head judge on our interview panel and was so encouraging and excited about our range. We came away full of new ideas and brimming with confidence. She has also recently started a new venture, ‘Jo Loves’ and manages to balance the demands of a full work schedule with helping mentor other small business and also being a great mum.

What could you never travel without?

It would definitely be our Bumfluff nappy balm, even if the kids weren’t with us. We use our nappy balm as a skin balm for us too for dry bits, sore bits, as a lip balm and even as an alternative to our face cream. A handbag essential for us mums.

Any plans to release an organic skin care range for mums as well as babies?

We have lots of great formulations up our sleeve for a mum range and are both looking forward to starting this but at present we are concentrating on our baby range and looking to expand into the toddler skincare market first. We will be launching our organic, essential mum products within the next two years.

What’s your moto/philosophy in life? 

To believe in yourself. We both have come from different backgrounds and different work experiences but when we came together to create Organic Monkey we both knew in our hearts that there was a market for a truly organic baby skincare range and we could make it work. That belief in ourselves and our products really made it all happen and we haven’t looked back. As Anatole France said; “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe”.

We are always looking for new recipes on stylenest do you have a failsafe family dish you swear by?

Heidi makes great flapjacks:

What you’ll need:

• 100g margarine
• 1tbsp golden syrup
• 100g sugar
• 50g oats
• 50g self raising flour – works well with wheat free flour too.
• 75g crushed cornflakes

What to do:

• Heat oven to 190 degrees. Grease baking tray
• Melt margarine and syrup
• Mix in a bowl the sugar, oats, flour and cornflakes
• Pour margarine mixture onto dry ingredients and mix thoroughly
• Place on the tray and bake for 15-20 mins until just firm
• Cut into fingers whilst still hot.

When you’re not at work what do you enjoy doing with the kids? Are there any local parks / attraction museums they particularly love? 

We both live in Brighton which is very family orientated and a fantastic place to bring up children with lots of things to do. We are lucky to have the beach on our doorstep and the boys love nothing more than spending hours pretending to be pirates looking for treasure or throwing stones in the sea. The fresh air always wears them out too. Paradise Park in Newhaven is also a favourite at the moment, especially the roaring dinosaurs.

Did your skin and beauty regime change after being pregnant? Which product did you swear buy during pregnancy and then which after? 

Heidi: We formulated a great stretch mark oil last year using a blend of beautiful oils and butters which is incredibly rich and velvety. I massaged it onto my bump religiously throughout my pregnancy with Cassius and am pleased so say not a stretch mark in sight.

Claudine: Since having our children and launching the business there is a lot less time for ourselves so a skin and beauty regime is more of a quick shower and occasional moisturise now. We need to both make time for more baths and pampering.