PRECIOUS HAND BLOWN GLASS BOTTLES MADE BY ARTISANS IN NORTH AMERICA. A PIECE OF ART FOR THE VANITY, EACH HEIRLOOM VESSEL IS BLOWN INDIVIDUALLY AND CREATED TO BE USED AND REFILLED AGAIN AND AGAIN.
OUR BOTTLES
The collection was intentionally designed unbranded, just beautifully colored hand blown glass bottles in an array of wonderful designs, shades, and shapes. We envision the beauty routine as a simple and private daily ritual and our skincare and cosmetics as an aid to that intentional quiet time. The artists that hand make our bottles are mostly in the United States but we also have one person in Canada and work with a revolutionary studio in Mexico that uses bottles and glass that they collect from restaurants and neighbors for their craft. Because there is an individual artist painstakingly making each bottle, nothing is mass produced and each glass piece is slightly unique to any other.
A PIECE UNLIKE ANY OTHER
The process of making our bottles is incredible and unlike any other company in the beauty space. Each piece is painstakingly heated, shaped, and blown by a glass artisan that uses their hands, mouth, and simple metal tools to mold molten hot glass into the unique work of art that arrives with our small batch beauty and cosmetics.
HAND BLOWN GLASS
The use of glass bottles and vessels dates to approximately 1500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia and the craft of glassblowing is believed to have begun during the 1st century BC. The Ancient Romans established larger scale glass blowing workshops and it is around this time that glass began to be used as art and decoration. Inspired by ancient bottles and unguentaria, when we conceived of a line of plastic-free beauty, we also looked to the ancients for a way to seal the bottles for transit. The ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks used various substances such as resins and wax to seal containers of oil, wine, and precious salves and perfumes. Our small batch beauty is contained in artisan hand blown vessels and bottles that are made in small workshops and we cork and wax seal each piece for shipping.
THE ARTISTS
We’re continually asked how we “scale” our business. The short answer is, we don’t. We work with individual glass artists that we pay a fair wage, that they set, for each piece. Instead of trying to turn our glass artists into factories, we lean into their work as art. Our bottles are often so varied because each craftsperson has different strengths and a unique aesthetic. While we design each bottle, the final product is always a collaboration. Most of our artisans have been with us since we launched Slow Beauty. For seven of our ten years we’ve worked closely with Ignite Studios in Chicago and Studio Xaquixe in Oaxaca Mexico, as well as with individual artists in Colorado, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New York State, and Calgary, Canada.
LIMITED EDITIONS
We want our packaging to be as precious and special as what is contained inside. We often do very limited editions of bottles inspired by our curio and specimen collections. Bottles wrapped in a serpent, an incredibly detailed ammonite fossil, custom crafted sterling silver bottle toppers shaped as talismans from the natural world – whimsical and wonderful ideas that we produce in extremely limited quantities and in only one edition.
MADE IN NORTH AMERICA
More than ever, championing the arts and handmade craft feels important. It can often feel like we live in a society where efficiency and soulless consumerism are what is rewarded but in small pockets, the American glass making community is thriving, exploring, pushing for expanded collaboration and opportunity. We’re privileged to work with some of these fine artists to create the most unique beauty packaging on the market today.
CREATED FOR FOREVER
Museums are filled with small vessels and bottles that were made thousands of years ago for primitive medicine, aromatherapy, and beauty products. Everything we make is done with an eye to this “made for forever” mentality. Beyond beauty, pieces that you’ll want to use, refill, and repurpose again and again.