Q&A with "Marina's Ambrosia"

Tell us a bit about your business?

My name is Marina Herlihy and my business is Marina's Ambrosia. Marina's Ambrosia started out in 2002. I had been suffering for a long while with bad skin. Irritation, break outs, blotchy skin and small rashes and burning on the skin and it was very upsetting having to go to different doctors and trying different types of prescription creams. By accident when I was studying my Natural Therapies certificate I realized that it must of been one of the 100 different things i had been trying and using over the past 2 years. I made the primrose moisturizer in my determination to do it myself and create something that was comletely non toxic. Within a year the range grew and the customers came.

Since then the range has expanded to include 100% pure mineral make up and close to 100 eye shadow colours using the purest of mineral powders mined in Europe without titanium dioxide. Raw shampoo, conditioner and body wash are manufacturered by hand and sold in large 1 litre pump packs, 100% herbal hair colours and hair treatments have also been put together and we are now exporting these to the USA and Canada. The Cancer Support Assocation in Cottesloe have since gone through the products and approved them for use on people with Cancer and those whom are chemical sensitive. We also are very proud to have a 24K gold range also which is only avaliable to salons.

What inspires you?
What inspires me are the people that come to me in desperation and as a last resort and follow up with me a week later telling me how grateful they are to have found me. Helping people to get off the chemical roller coaster gives me a tremendous sense of achievement. I have parents whom bring their teenage daughters to me saying “if you want to wear makeup this is the only type of makeup you are allowed to wear” and the teenagers are so grateful that they can safely use the products with mums blessing because it is good for their skin and isn’t going to harm their skin.

As I am also a mum of 4 children and 3 of them happen to be girls, I can relax with the fact that when they are in at the age where they want to wear makeup and are starting to take a little interest in what they put on their faces, I have peace of mind that I have that covered and I am not challenged like a lot of other mothers whom are at their wits ends and cant find what they need unless they research for a long time.

What do you love most about selling at markets?
I am very much a people person and the one on one contact with customers is what I thrive on. Selling at the markets is a real buzz for me because I am taking my products directly to the people and they can get up close and personal with the products and speak directly with the manufacturer (being me) and I can answer all the questions that they have.

What new products are you working on?

I am always working on new product development. For the past 7 years I had been doing private manufacturing for many private labels and people wanting to start their own business label and they have a recipe without the knowhow of product making and I have been responsible for starting up over 20 new brands and many of which are now bigger brands and I have since moved them on.

The new product that I am currently working on is MR. Natural. Which is a mens range of products and I am aiming to make it a 3 step system so that it is quick, no fuss and easy to use.



What is your favourite product and why?

My favourite product has to be the primrose moisturizer because it was the first product in the range. The very first product which still is made using the original recipe from all those years ago. When I first made it and used it, I went to bed that night without the itchy feeling on my cheeks and that was when I knew I was onto a good thing. After a week of using my primrose moisturizer which I also used it as a cleanser too and added walnut shell to it to exfoliate and also used it again as a moisturizer, my skin started clearing up so very quickly that 2 weeks later I had perfect skin and you wouldn’t have thought I had any problems at all with my skin.

So for this reason I love my primrose moisturizer. It’s my baby and my favourite!