DISCOVERY
Humans are exposed daily by toxic chemicals in personal care products without knowing it. Personal care product chemicals can enter a person's body by air, food, and water. Personal care products are bought everyday without people knowing the harmful effects to the body and the environment. Personal care product chemicals are hardly regulated. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Arc includes 112 of standards for food and drugs, but only two pages for cosmetic safety. Most of us assume that our beauty and personal care products are tested for safety before they are on store shelves. Truth is, a shocking number of dangerous chemicals hide in our products. These products can cause harm to our bodies including: allergic reactions, affects during puberty and pregnancy, and even cancer. Chemicals and packaging from our personal care products is also polluting and destroying our planet. In my studies I learned about the benefits of natural personal care products, and how they can stop toxic chemicals from causing physical and environmental impacts.
PROBLEM
Humans are exposed to toxic chemicals through their everyday use of personal care products. Personal care product chemicals enter our bodies through use, air, water, and food. Personal care products also harm the environment from the use of chemicals and packaging waste. To stop the harm done on our bodies and the environment we can learn to make our own natural personal care products.
Problem statement: People need to know the benefits of natural personal care products, but lack the education, resources, and motivation.
IDEATION
Before my research I assumed that people would be not aware of what was in their products, did not use natural products, and did not know of the physical and environmental impacts. On campus I did individual interviews with students on campus. I also did a group interview with students on campus. I then sent out surveys about awareness of chemicals in personal care products. I learned that my hypotheses were correct. During my research I diagramed my findings. One fact that I learned was that people believed what they bought in the store was safe to put on their body. Secondly, I learned that most people did not look at their products labels. Lastly, I learned that 30 % of the 60 total people I surveyed had some sort of allergic reaction to a personal care product.
I then moved on to solving my problem statement. During my process I made 30 sketches of ideas to solve the problem. I limited it down to four possible solutions. My first solution was a bus that would travel and educate about natural personal care products. My second solution was an app that scans personal care products in the store, and then gives the user a natural product to make. My third option was an app that would allow a user to gain knowledge about natural personal care products, and be able to subscribe to a subscription box. My last idea was to have workshops where people would come and gain knowledge about natural personal care products while also being able to make the products themselves.
From my ideas I took my favorite two, the app with the subscription box and the bus. I took these two ideas, and made prototypes for them. The app included multiple pages: recipes, articles, and the subscription. I also included a sample of what I thought the box would look like. The box included materials and a recipe guide. For the bus prototype I made a paper bus that included what would be inside the bus. The bus included materials to make the products, guides to make the products, and it would include people to educate and help make the products. Finally, I choose the app and the subscription box as my final solution and made one last prototype although the final product changed later in my process.
MOOD BOARDS
My three moods for this project were clean, natural, and enjoyable. I took parts of each one of these feelings to create my project.
FINAL DESIGN
WEBSITE
Pure Personal Care Products website could be used on all devices. The website main pages would include a home page, subscription page, about page, and an account page. When clicking on links on the main pages other pages would include areas such as: social media, partner organizations, and more about the subscription box. For my project I did an example of how the main pages would appear on a phone.
BOX
Once a user subscribes, the box would be sent to the user in a refrigerated box. A box them would come to the users house once a month with a new personal care product. The March Box includes: the insert: recipe instructions, recycle card, 3 bottles with measured ingredients, final product jar, and a mixing stick. Each box would contain a free return label for users to send back to the company letting the company recycle the package.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Pure Personal Care Products would have social media accounts to advertise and reach out to people to let them become aware of natural personal care products and all the benefits. I included an example of the instagram page. The page would include images and videos that show the mission of the company.
