Heaven Scent Brings a New Meaning of Sustainability to Grand Junction

TATIANA EGGERS – SUSTAINABILITY EDITOR

An Introduction

Hidden amongst the various shops and restaurants on Grand Junction’s bustling Main Street lies Heaven Scent, an all-organic, natural bath and body shop run by Jeanie Armstrong.

Heaven Scent sells a multitude of body-related products, from shampoo, conditioner and other natural scented soap bars, to bug spray, beard oil, baby products and a dog soap bar.

As the owner and soul operator of Heaven Scent, Armstrong continues to explore and create sustainable, organic products for all people in the Grand Junction community. Armstrong spends one day a week formulating items, and the other days of the week she works evenings, on top of her day job.

Before Armstrong made the shift to buying organic in both her personal life and business practices, she suffered effects from Lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease, and Fibromyalgia, widespread muscle pain and tenderness. Armstrong examined how and what she was eating, then she started buying organic for her diet and skin. Today, she takes no medicine and manages her conditions through her daily practices.

Armstrong prides herself in creating an obtainable price point for all products.

Three years ago, Armstrong moved from her home in Denver to the Western Slope and started selling another company’s bath and body products, while also building her own formulas. During the beginning stages of developing the Heaven Scent brand, Jeanie ran into two key issues while shopping organic: it was expensive and the term organic meant something different to everyone.

Eventually, Armstrong decided that she could only truly support and stand behind her own products. Since then, Heaven Scent has continued to pay a premium for natural ingredients like fragrance oils, “so what you get is a very nutrient-dense final product—meaning a little bit goes a long way,” she said.

“We feel like there just isn’t anybody doing what we’re doing who can say it is all natural, it is organic, and there aren’t any synthetic or petroleum-derived products in anything we do. We’re very specific about what we make, why we make it, and how much of it we make,” Armstrong said.

How Organic Sourcing Works

“Before we launch a new product, we make sure that we follow really sustainable guidelines. We order what we need, we make what we need, all of our packaging comes from recycled material, that’s one key thing that is really important for us when we work with our vendors is that sustainability, and what sustainability means to us, is that they’re not over-producing, over-manufacturing, they’re using their communities instead of outsourcing to another country.”

Armstrong highlighted key differences in the oil bases that Heaven Scent uses for their products, compared to the 98% of bath products on the average store’s shelves that are petroleum based. At Heaven Scent, all the oils used in the formulation process are unrefined and unprocessed.

According to Armstrong, a favorite oil to use within Heaven Scent body butters and hand lotions is hemp nut seed because it is the “most nutrient dense oil of all of them.” Also, the vendor that supplies Heaven Scent’s sources of palm oil are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which is a global, multi-stakeholder initiative on sustainable palm oil.

At Heaven Scent, Armstrong makes sure that the products they use and sell can either be reused, repurposed and/ or recycled. Whether it be a bath bomb display made from donated kitchen tables, or a donated KitchenAid turned solution mixing bowl, Armstrong is a fair opponent of wastefulness.

All of Heaven Scent’s packaging can be repurposed, or brought back to the store, for 50 cents off per container. Since no boxes or special tape are used to further brand Heaven Scent, the packaging can be recycled without issue.

The Newest Product

From a thought-up concept to being a stocked item on display at Heaven Scent, Armstrong stated it usually takes six to nine months to launch a new product.

Heaven Scent recently launched their CBD line of solid lotion bars and massage creams. These products are two ounces in size, they hold 2,000 milligrams of CBD, and they run for 45 dollars. As someone who has dealt with chronic pain, Armstrong is eager to share these natural remedies with her customers.

“The milligrams that we use per ounce is significantly higher than anything in Grand Junction and on the market today, without spending $200 or more,” Armstrong said in regards to the culture of CBD products within the Grand Valley. “We do make custom amounts for some of our seniors who have had long-term pain, and it works really well.”

Community Involvement

Armstrong is working with businesses in Downtown Grand Junction to think about their sustainable practices and help align them with the mindset of ‘repurpose, recycle, reuse.” Armstrong hopes this impact will outreach past the shops in Downtown and bring awareness to the Grand Junction community as a whole.

She posts Heaven Scent updates to Facebook @Heaven Scent and Instagram @heavenscentorganic, or you can stop by the Heaven Scent shop in Downtown Grand Junction to see what her version of organic is all about.