above: Co-Founder and Formulator, Kate McLeod.
Create New Self-Care Rituals with Kate McLeod’s Transformative Body Stones
Samantha Yanks: Tell us a bit about developing the Body Stone body moisturizers. You began making them originally in your kitchen, correct?
Kate McLeod: Correct! Nine years ago, my sister in law took a bottle of lotion out of my hands and gave me a chunk of raw cocoa butter. She told me the lotion had ingredients that were bad for my skin. She told me I shouldn’t be buying plastic. And — this went over my head at the time — she told me I needed to spend more time with myself and with my body. She was right about everything. I worked the cocoa butter into my skin and the changes I saw overnight were incredible. A pastry chef at the time, I took the cocoa butter into the kitchen to see if I could work with it — like I knew how to work with chocolate. My hypothesis was that if I could blend in oils, it would make it easier to apply. Iterating on this recipe is how the Body Stone was eventually born.
SY: How does your now award-winning product work?
KM: The Body Stone is a cocoa butter lotion bar chock full of vitamin E and fatty acids to deeply moisturize the skin. It has a concentrated waterless formula: 100 % active, just pure plant based nourishment. No water dilution, alcohol or chemicals. It melts onto warm dry skin, gliding on as a luxurious body oil. A little goes a long way. Use 1 to 2x per week. That’s it.
How to use:
- Start with warm, dry skin (ideally after a shower or bath)Prep the Body Stone for use by warming it between your palms so it begins to soften with your body heat.
- Glide the Body Stone onto your skin (all you need is a few strokes!)
- Gently massage oils into your skin
- Luxuriate in moisturizing results you can see and feel
SY: A little goes a long way. How do your solid moisturizers work in a self-care practice?
KM: The Body Stone cultivates softness from skin to soul. What I learned 9 years ago and why I am here doing this today … is that the more I connected with myself, the more I wanted to connect with others, with the world … My skin glowed, and I felt better in every way. The reason I started sharing my “stones” with family and friends is that I noticed the days I put it on were better days. This is more than a sustainable moisturizer. It’s a self care practice that can lead to a better day. That’s magic. And we need that more than ever.
The application process itself is lovely, like a self massage. The Body Stone fits in the palm of your hand, a grounding object to hold, and while it doesn’t take more time to apply, the experience is completely different than wiping on a lotion.
SY: Your products are vegan and sustainable. Tell us a bit more about why that is important to you?
KM: Sustainability has always been at the forefront of our brand. A traditional body lotion is diluted with up to 90% water. By removing water from our formulas, we are able to create sustainable, plastic-free packaging and avoid some of the biggest culprits of waste in the beauty industry. Transporting that water generates a lot of carbon emissions. Our waterless formulas save 65% of carbon emissions from transportation. By manufacturing at our production facility in the Hudson Valley and working with mostly US suppliers for our packaging, we cut down on carbon emissions from transportation by upwards of 50%.
We also run our own manufacturing operations from our headquarters in Red Hook, NY. We employ local chefs, bakers, and makers to create each product by hand at our workshop. 100% of our packaging is plastic-free and zero waste. Each Stone is available as a Starter Kit, which includes a reusable bamboo storage container, inspired by the bamboo spice container in my kitchen at the time when I was formulating the Body Stone.
SY: What are some of the key ingredients?
KM: Each Body Stone starts with a core formula of cocoa butter and four nourishing base oils: sweet almond, apricot kernel, avocado, and fractionated coconut. From there, we add pure essential oils that provide benefits for both body and mind.
SY: What scents do the Body Stone body moisturizers come in?
KM: We have continued to expand our product offering since we launched the Daily Stone in 2018. We now have over 10 different Body Stone formulas and continue to release limited edition seasonal stones. Our hero product, the Daily Stone, has key scents of rose, frankincense, and neroli. A personal favorite of mine is the Clearing Stone, the palo santo and clary sage cleanse the negative energy, while being deeply nourishing and moisturizing.
SY: Are there products outside of the Body Stone body moisturizer and do you have plans to expand?
KM: Yes! We are extremely proud of our bath and shower, skincare and sexual wellness products. I’m biased but my Bath and Shower Pebbles are an amazing sensory experience that will transform your bathroom into a spa, and they’ll lock in hydration while naturally exfoliating. I love my Face Stone: I’m a big fan of blue tansy so the Balance Face Stone is my favorite. Our Face Stone comes in three variations: Balance, Glow, and Soothe. It is the only product I have used on my face since I formulated it back in 2020. I love to use the Balance Face Stone with one of our Gua Shas to relax and depuff. Late last year we launched our Body Gua Sha, that really takes self-care to the next level.
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