Rachael Chester started out producing rustic-looking soaps in her kitchen, but she’s come a long way since then. Her business Bee Kind is now based at Opotiki, and many riders will have a tin of her wonderfully nourishing Bee Kind leather wax in their tack room, or have discovered her cleansing Naturally White soap for horses and dogs.
With winter here, there’s been an onslaught of interest in her latest clever invention, a beeswax waterproofing bar which makes covers, boots and clothing water-tight. However, Rachael remains committed to making her products by hand. “I don’t want to cheapen my ingredients or sacrifice the products,” she explains. “My business is based on reputation and word-of-mouth, and my ingredients are really expensive. I use top quality organic coconut oils and premium essential oils, which I couldn’t do if I was contract manufacturing, as there would be no profit margin.”
Originally a graphic and web designer, Rachael has always had a passion for plants and animals: she is a long-time vegetarian, proud owner of two SPCA rescue dogs and readily donates Bee Kind gift packs to animal welfare causes.
In 2010, she decided to leave corporate life behind and follow her heart, enrolling in a diploma of herbal medicine. Her study of botany and biochemistry, combined with her design background, led to the birth of Bee Kind years ago – although a major catalyst was actually her own troublesome skin.
Rachael is a long-timer sufferer of the chronic inflammatory skin condition psoriasis and one day she was polishing her wooden table with a chemical spray when her skin and her asthma suddenly flared. The reaction prompted her to research which common household ingredients were problematic and, as a result, she began to make her own soaps, washing powder and furniture polish.
She put her products on a website she’d designed, and they immediately started to sell. “Bee Kind started because I decided to go back to the way our great-grandparents did things,” she explains. “You need a chemistry degree to decipher the label on a lot of products – we’re too complacent in New Zealand.”
The key ingredient in many of Rachael’s products is raw, pure beeswax. “I always try to shop locally and support New Zealand made. I’ve had cheaper quotes from overseas, but my main ingredients are beeswax and manuka honey, so I want the best of the best; that’s why the products work.”
When Rachael noticed her bridle hanging in the tack-room was covered with mould, she was prompted to develop a leather wax containing ti-tree and eucalyptus, which are both anti-microbial and help stave off the dreaded white residue. The range has since grown to include a saddle soap and oil.
Rachael’s psoriasis and eczema also inspired her to produce a gentle skincare range, Honey BeeKind, which is free from harsh chemicals. The key ingredients are Active 15+ manuka honey and manuka oil, which are naturally antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory. The body butters are the biggest sellers, and come in blends such as Honey Summer and Honey, Coconut and Lime. “The skincare was a bit rough at first but I learned about Ph and preservatives. It actually took me a couple of years to learn the chemistry. I originally started it because of my eczema, but now I just really enjoy making it.”
Rachel, who has always had a knack for formulating her own recipes, says her job is a little like being a chef. “You just keep persisting and learn from trial and error, but there is always a science to it,” she explains. “When I try to make products and I’m not really in the mood, it never works. I’ve learned to just walk away, because it shows in the products.”
Of course, with hand-crafting every batch, there is always the odd disaster – in the late summer heat, one batch of soap fell victim and went hard (without using stabilisers, heat changes the composition). “I grated it and used it as washing powder, so at least it didn’t go to waste!”
A best-selling soap
Rachael’s first soap aimed at animals was called ‘Four Legged Friends’. She laughs now at her rustic little bars, which had paper labels and sold for $5. “It was all very raw to begin with.”
The recipe hasn’t changed since those early days, but her packaging certainly has and the soap now comes in a stylish tin. When users started commenting on how white their grey horses were after just one wash, she was inspired to change the name to ‘Naturally White – soap for horses and hounds’.
“I didn’t actually formulate it to whiten horses, but I get comments all the time on my website from people saying they’ve never had a horse this clean before, when they’ve always struggled with purple shampoos – and it’s so natural and good on the hands,” she says. “Through word-of-mouth they are now they are selling like hotcakes. I can sell out of a whole batch of soap in one day – that’s 40 or 50 bars.”
The soap is hand-made from sunflower oil, olive oil and coconut oil, with added finely ground New Zealand organic volcanic pumice and plant oils of citronella, lavender, ti-tree, peppermint, chamomile, neem, eucalyptus and lemongrass.
It’s not just for grey horses, and is also great for dogs, and the anti-septic and anti-fungal properties help with mud fever, rain scald and bacterial skin complaints.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a grey horse, so I can’t test out the whitening properties,” laughs Rachael. “I love greys but I’ve ended up with bays.”
Rachael’s favourite girls
Growing up in Rotorua, horse-loving Rachael started riding at 13, with home-made gear – she sewed her own saddle-blankets and rode bareback for years. She went on to join pony club and got her B Certificate, dabbling in show jumping, showing and eventing. The first horse Rachael ever owned was an Anglo-Arab mare called Odessa. “My mum saved for months to buy her for $400 from a big station in Rotorua. She was very stubborn, but intelligent and bold. I jumped her up to 1.30m but we both hated dressage.”
Rachael currently has three homebred warmblood mares: Enigma (by Washington DC), Ishtar (Never Never) and Anouk (Anamour). Due to time restraints, she says her horses are mainly beloved pets at the moment, although she show jumped Ishtar for a while, and has ‘grand ambitions’ of showing the pretty Anouk in the future.
“I chose Anamour as a stallion because I love Hanoverians and Anamour produced good jumpers as well as dressage horses,” she says. “But I put Enigma, who is 16.3hh, to Anamour and I got Anouk, who is 15.1hh and looks like a show hack! So I’m never breeding again because I don’t get it right, but I love them to bits and I’ll never sell them.”
Rachael’s major passion is animal welfare. “I would love to work in partnership with an animal rescue operation and donate a percentage of profits,” she says. “My biggest dream is to own a large block of land and have rescue horses and dogs.”
No more leaks
Tired of her horse’s covers becoming soaked through, Rachael came up with the Bee Kind Beeswax Waterproofing Wax Bar. It’s designed for use on canvas and synthetic horse covers, as well as other outdoor equipment like tents, float awnings and hiking boots.
“None of the waterproofing sprays I had tried previously worked, plus they used to flare up my asthma and give me skin rashes due to the chemicals and toxicity in the sprays,” says Rachael.
“Once the cover is wet through, it destroys the membranes of the fabric and they become brittle. My horses were constantly ripping them along fencelines, as they would tear really easily. I was so over buying new covers every season. Now I can re-use them every year as they don’t become brittle anymore.”
The wax bar is applied by hand, like a big, soft crayon. It is then melted on to the cover using a heat gun, hair-dryer, iron or a night in front of the fireplace (Rachael cautions the wax must be properly melted and cured into the fabric – otherwise it will leave a sticky white wax residue and won’t work). The effect is a little like an oilskin coat and customers are reporting back that the rain is beading off and their covers are remaining waterproof, even in heavy storms.
- This article was first published in the July 2016 issue of NZ Horse & Pony
