Farmbody Skin Care A Tattoo Art Aftercare Startup

 

Tattoo art grows in popularity as do related startup businesses

Strip malls vacancies filled by Tatoo parlors

The world is awash in ink.

In the U.S. the tattoo industry is projected to surpass a billion a year in revenue in 2017.

Tats, Ink, Tac, whatever you wish to call tattoos, the fact is tattoo art is wildly popular!

Now, its growth is spawning a variety of cottage businesses as entrepreneurs eagerly embrace the trend of tattoo body art.

Retail strip malls are losing tenants because of Amazon, and boutique tattoo parlors have stepped in filling retail storefronts all across the nation to meet customer demand in the growing industry.,

A growing acceptance of tatoos

Statistics, courtesy of Tattoo Filter  and Harris Poll , suggest tattoos are not only popular, but have gained widespread acceptance:

•  In 2016, there were about 38,879 tattoo businesses registered in the U.S., where the market grew 13 percent between 2011 and 2016.
• According to the Harris Poll published in 2016 which surveyed thousands of U.S. adults, almost half of all American millennials have a tattoo
• Majorities of Americans would be comfortable seeing a person with visible tattoos serve in roles across a diverse range of industries and professions.

As a flurry of businesses lining up to take advantage of the tattoo boom, including ink artists, ink salons, and even ink removal specialists, one revenue avenue is not immediately thought of, except perhaps if you just got a tattoo: skin care products.

Soothing after care lotions and skin products for tattoo art.

Cindy Allyn spotted an opportunity niche in the aftercare product market, and acted on it.

Cindy is the owner of Farmbody Skin Care, and while she is not a tattoo artist, she is a former nail artist and current New York State massage therapist.

Just about six years ago Cindy developed allergies to the skin care she was using on her clients.

She suddenly found herself unable to use nut-oil based products without acquiring contact dermatitis.

In a quest to continue her successful business, Mother Earth’s Bath and Body Spa, (where she offers over 23 different products and services) Cindy did research in order to become a product formulator of lotions suitable for both her and her clients.

Her research led her to the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetics Guild, which offers business guidance, classes, and mentoring for crafters interested in creating their own product.

“I did a combination of everything, taking classes in person and online, reading books, you name it. I had to learn about FDA regulations, and how to be in compliance with accurate labeling, correct processes, etc.,” Cindy noted during a recent interview.

Cindy credits entrepreneur Lela Barker as a guiding light showing her the way of entering the product formulation and soap and lotion crafting business.

“The new products I created allowed me to stay in my profession, doing what I love, but an even better thing happened.  My customers fell in love with all of my creations and they started taking products home at every nail and massage session.” She noted.

But what happened after her one of her clients began using her products gave Cindy pause.

The client was a cancer patient dealing with chemo, and Cindy had developed a product designed to help prevent rashes and skin split. The product was popular.

Tattoo aftercare use uncovered!

Then in 2016, something happened!

“One of my employees got a new tattoo.  She didn’t want to put Aquaphor or any other chemicals on her tattoo, so she decided to use a special cream I make for people going through chemotherapy.

It keeps them from getting rashes and split skin.  Well, it worked fantastically on healing her new tattoo!”

At that point, Cindy considered the growth the tattoo industry was undergoing, the success her employee had using her product, and she took a hard look at the industry.

She wanted to to see what was available for healing new tattoos and restoring the vibrance of the colors of older tattoos. “I saw there was definitely a need for something that healed and restored organically.”

Tattoo Art Aftercare Startup is born

Working with the Orange County Accelerator, at a startup space on the Orange County Accelerator’s campus in New Windsor, N.Y., Cindy was applied to secure space.

Once approved, Cindy  set up shop and began to grow her business.

She works there with employees Courtney Keys and Belinda Lanphear, where all aspects of the business, from testing, to marketing and packaging occurs. In fact, Courtney Keys helped create the adorable, hand-drawn original hog artwork seen on certain of Cindy’s products.

 

Farmbody crew from left to right: Belinda Lanphear, Cindy Allyn (owner), and Courtney Keys

 

As we have detailed here, and here, the Orange County Accelerator is a certified New York State Incubator  
that works with startups and larger concerns with a focus on bringing back manufacturing to the region.

 

Belinda Lanphear works on product packaging

If you are a tattoo salon, or a tattoo artist and you would like to carry Farmbody Skincare products in your shop, visit Cindy’s website where you can fill out a contact form.

This startup’s products are sourced from sustainable farms; the products use amaranth, quinoa, milk, and other products to lock in moisture, protect, and soothe!*

Some of Farmbody’s soothing Tattoo Art Aftercare Products

Check her great products out!

*Farmbody’s products use no nut oils, but do contain coconut oil. The products are hypoallergenic.