The Origin of Hamper My Style

How did Hamper my Style begin? And Why?

My Problem

What to buy someone for their birthday when they have everything? What’s a great gift for her? Gifts for him?

You have a birthday present to get for someone but you’ve left it to the last minute. You are interstate and need to get a gift for them that they will love. You want to spoil someone special but not sure how. You want to thank someone for being there for you. Someone you know is going through a hard time and you want to let them know you’re thinking of them. You just absolutely love someone and want them to know it. Hamper My Style can solve these problems for you. How, you ask?

Do you rush around trying to get some great gift ideas then frantically try to throw them in a gift bag with a card from the local supermarket? Do you walk around the shopping centre aimlessly looking for that perfect gift? Do you know someone interstate and think that you need to buy them a gift but then you have to post it and make sure it gets there on time or in one piece? Buying gifts can be time consuming, challenging and sometimes so hard that you feel like giving up and just sending a gift voucher. 

I know, I have been there. I empathise with you. I had 3 big birthday gifts to buy and absolutely no idea what to buy. The worst part was that two of them were interstate and one was local to my area, Wollongong. So not only did I have to buy two major birthday gifts, but I needed to get a local friend something that was unique. And of course, flowers were out of the question. Flowers are expensive and they do not last. 

That’s when I thought to myself, I need to do something else here. I need to make this an easy process and I want to share this with you. 

I shopped online for Gift Hampers

When I did this, I found that so many gift hampers were so expensive and when I looked at each of the products included, the prices for the actual products didn’t add up. Yes, their images were great. Many images of an empty box with the product on the outside just made it look so full, but in actual fact, there wasn’t a lot added to the box. So, back to the drawing board!

My creation worked and looked amazing

I decided to create a box with incredible products that I knew my friend would like. As one of them was vegan, I looked all over the place for beautiful, natural products. I went to health shops, boutique shops and I even drove 40 minutes out of town to a little store that I knew had some handmade products. 

I popped all of them in a box with some filler. Overall, the process took me hours to collect everything and products were expensive but the box looked AMAZING. While I was taking this to the post office, I decided to make a similar box for my local friend (who also turned 50 that year). This time, I added the same handmade products and a lovely candle, soap and some pamper products; bath salts, lip balm, satin eye masks and skin care products. The box looked fantastic! And I knew that all the products were locally made and that she would love it. Guess what? She did! She loved it so much that she asked me where I got the hamper from. I was so impressed that she asked me and when I told her I made it myself (sourcing local products) she asked me to make one for her to send to a friend. So I did, and her friend loved it! That’s when Hamper my Style was born.

What’s different about Hamper My Style?

Handmade Candles

While I had many friends ask me to make hampers for them, I kept sourcing locally made products. I found that many of the products were out of stock easily and I needed to re-source them. I then decided to learn how to make some of them myself! I found wholesalers who were able to help me buy candle supplies that were natural soy, fragrances made locally and naturally and natural wicks. I learned from trial and error how to make the most incredible homemade candles that not only looked great in any home, smelled absolutely divine when lit and when not lit! 

Body Products

After I mastered how to make candles for my hampers, I wanted to branch out into body products. My son often gets eczema and dry skin. I was buying so many off the shelf products that were expensive and just didn’t work too well. I didn’t actually know what I was putting on his skin. I decided to go back to my research and see if I could make some body butter myself. As I live near the ocean, I really love the smell of coconut. It makes me feel that every day is summer. I called my wholesaler who makes the candle fragrances and asked her if she could make me a coconut fragrance that is natural and that can be used on the body. ‘No problem’ she said. After many smells, and turn downs, I fell in love with the tropical scent that she made me.

Right, I had my fragrance, now I needed to find the right ingredients and the right recipe. Shea butter, which I knew had many benefits. Boosts moisture, is anti-inflammatory, has many antioxidants and helps breakouts (my son is 17). Coconut oil. I literally live on this stuff. I cook with it, I bake with it and I wanted to use it on my body too. I know the amazing benefits of eating coconut oil but did you know, it helps heal wounds? I didn’t know until I did my research too. And last but not least, Sweet almond oil. I love this stuff - it’s fabulous at protecting skin from sun damage and just makes your skin shiny and smooth. The vitamin A in sweet almond oil helps reduce acne as well. So that was it! I had my ingredients, now I just needed to get them all right.

After many attempts of making body butter, I finally found the right formula. I add a little bit of tapioca flour after I whip this amazing stuff and this makes the butter glide on your skin so luxuriously, making your skin so soft that you’ll just want to hug yourself. You really have to try it to believe it. My whole family smells so tropical all year round. Just read my reviews on it. I have to say, I am extremely proud of it!

" smells amazing, high quality. highly recommend "

" Amazing product arrived on time. The aroma is absolutely divine. I will be buying again for sure. So lovely on my skin just love it gotta try it beautiful soft my skin loves it "

" Excellent, very well packaged, arrived in perfect condition, very happy thank you!! "

" Wow, truly wow, Tropical Island body butter smells good enough to eat, lightly fragranced, but the fragrance actually lasts. Beautiful packaging, arrived a week early too, thanks so much"

Lip Balm

I absolutely love lip balm. Lip balm, lip stick, lip shades. Everything. But I also know how pricey they are and I don’t even know what’s in them. So guess what? Yep, you guessed it! I started to research what constitutes a great, nourishing lip balm. I already knew about the amazing benefits of coconut oil, so I definitely wanted to add that to my list of ingredients. I wanted this balm to be vegan, so I didn't want to use beeswax. What other ingredients could I use instead? Research, research, research. Bam! Candelilla Wax. So hydrating and helps chapped skin (perfect!) and it also helps bind the other ingredients together. So, again, with trial and error with the right, natural ingredients, my lovely lip balms were born. AND, they come in large 30g pots, so they’ll last ages!

Everything Balm

After I had made my candles, body butter and lip balm to add to my hampers, my daughter called me from Brisbane and asked me to help her. She wanted a balm that she could use all over her body for dry skin, cuts, bruises, tired eyes. Right! I was up for the challenge! I knew I could definitely make a winning formula for this. It was just about testing and making mistakes to get it right. And, I had a perfect person to tell me the absolute truth.

So I got to thinking and researching natural healing ingredients that I could add to my Everything Balm. The three ingredients that really set this balm apart from everything else is Jojoba Oil, Candelilla Wax and Hemp Seed Oil. The Jojoba Oil helps reduce redness of the skin and eases the effects of eczema and rosacea. The Candelilla Wax has so many healing properties on the skin and will bind all my other ingredients nicely and the Hemp Seed Oil nourishes tight skin, prevents itchiness and controls oil on the skin to prevent breakouts. 

So, after testing it with my daughter, she now has 3 jars of it and gives them to all of her friends as gifts!

Handmade Soap

Who doesn’t love soap in a gift hamper? Especially when it’s natural, handmade soap. All of my soaps are all natural ingredients that are so good for you and so good for the planet. And each bar comes with a bamboo soap holder so your soap won’t dry out and will last even longer. I now have 4 different varieties of soap. I know you will love them!

Not to mention so many other incredible body products

My inventory now just keeps growing. I have the most incredible, luxurious body oil. Smells amazing and is just so much more affordable than anywhere else you’ve seen.

The most beautiful shaving cream. They are in my men’s range but women can definitely use it too. All organic ingredients and locally made in Australia. The smell of eucalyptus just hits you when you open the jar.

My bath salts. All natural pink himalayan sea salt and epsom salts. So relaxing, nourishing and the smell of lavender will waft through your senses as soon as it touches the hot water in the bath. I package this in a bamboo lid canister so you can keep other stuff in there when you finish your salts.

Bamboo body brush with natural bristles and massage nodules. Great for massaging your skin, removing dead cells and reducing cellulite. Perfectly fits in the palm of your hand.

And not to mention the yummy treats

Being a natural, handmade provider of gift hampers, I wanted to make sure that the sweets that I add to the hampers are good for you and support small, local businesses. But oh so indulgent. Check out the incredible Peruvian Hot Chocolate, Vegan Chocolate Slabs and Exquisite Marshmallows. And if you love tea, you will love the all natural Tea Tonic Tea. I am a very proud stockist of Tea Tonic Tea as I totally believe in their mission of producing teas with Australian Organic ingredients right out of Melbourne.

Creating luxury gift hampers

Who doesn’t love receiving a little luxury? I carefully source all of my products so you know that they are unique. You really can’t find them in any other shop. Many of the products I make myself to make them even more unique, and the other products are locally sourced and designed by me. Each product is tested and when added to our gift hampers, make them oh, so special to send. Every time I deliver a gift hamper, the smile on their face says it all. I sometimes wait for them to open it so that I can hear the ‘Oh wow’ when they open them.

Adding the items to make gift hampers

So, now I have a warehouse of beautiful products and a kitchen that constantly makes gorgeous, handmade gifts, each gift hamper is carefully curated by me. I make sure that every product is placed perfectly, that every candle is straight, that every lip balm has the label the right way. 

I used to be a teacher so I will even write on our gorgeous handmade cards (that I outsource by a lovely small business in Melbourne) in my ‘teacher’ writing for you.

Now you can get an amazing, unique gift hamper delivered!

Hamper My Style can help you! What if all you had to do was go to one website, choose a gift that you like the look of and the rest is done? The gifts inside are unique. Things that the person wouldn’t buy for themselves. Gifts that are handmade. Gifts that are beautifully packaged already. Gifts that are then delivered directly to your recipient, with nothing more for you to do but be totally thanked by them for the wonderful gift they received. 

I have 5 star reviews on my service. Just call me, speak to me and I will bend over backwards to accommodate you. When you call me, you speak directly to me! The owner of the store. The person who makes the gift hampers. The person who makes the candles. The person who makes the body products. And, the person who will deliver it to your recipient personally (if they are in Wollongong or Kiama) or to the Post Office carefully packaged.

Trust me, you will love my service. Your recipient will love their gift hamper. And you will know that you are supporting small businesses at the same time and not the big giants!

So, sign up now to receive $10 off your first purchase.

Shop now to find your perfect gift hamper.

Call me to chat about a gift for someone that you need help with - just leave the rest to me.

Email me to design perfectly curated corporate hampers for your staff who need a little (or a lot) of pampering.

You’ll be so glad you did!

Glory

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