Coraline - Organic SPF, candles and treatment room

by Kevin Troy in Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom

Total raised £680

£20,000 target 37 days left
3% 19 supporters
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 28th May 2025 at 11:33am

Join our vision for a Greener Future. Let's shine brighter, together 🕯️

by Kevin Troy in Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom

Thank you for visiting our Crowdfunder! 

As we mention in our video above, our daughter Coraline inspired us to found Coraline Skincare. She was diagnosed at birth with Down's syndrome and a heart condition. Most recently, at age seven, she has been referred for a suspected Autism Spectrum Condition diagnosis. It is her sensitive skin which propelled me to formulate and handcraft our current selection of skincare products.

We’re aiming to raise £20,000 to develop and launch three exciting and impactful projects to add to our range. 

This Crowdfunder might feel a little different for some folks. It’s become a beautiful way for passionate communities to come together, share in a vision, and help small independent businesses like ours blossom and thrive. Your support could be the turning point in Coraline Skincare’s journey - helping us grow, reach more people, and keep creating skincare that truly makes a difference.

In return for your pledge, we offer lovely rewards as a thank you. Or you can choose to donate, without receiving a reward. We accept donations and reward pledges from anywhere in the world (you may receive a small charge from your bank if it's not a U.K. bank) and we can ship rewards globally.

We’re feeling the excitement from our Coraline Skincare community about this and we’d love for you to be part of our next chapter.

What we're crowdfunding for:

🌞 Organic, vegan, natural mineral facial sunscreen - SPF 30

Be among the first to experience our groundbreaking SPF 30 sunscreen.

Incredibly there’s currently no sunscreen on the market that ticks all these boxes ✅

🌱 Fully vegan

🌊 Reef-safe

🌿 Uses only certified organic ingredients and zinc oxide

🙋‍♀️ Actually feels silky and dreamy on the skin

Our reef-safe, fully organic and vegan mineral sunscreen is kind to sensitive skin, leaves no white cast, and feels silky-smooth to apply.

Created to protect your skin and the planet — without compromise.

Approximate cost to develop and launch:  £8,500

Research and development, regulatory approval, packaging, design and printing, website design and imagery, ingredients, equipment and marketing.

🕯️ Organic/wild harvested botanical skin treatment candles 

Be the first to experience our truly unique, sustainable skin treatment candles — handmade using only organic and wild-harvested ingredients.

I thought there would be a fully organic/wild vegan candle on the market but I have been unable to find one, and believe me I have tried. Often you cannot trust what is in the supposedly natural ones. 

Again, we see this as not only a huge gap in the market, but something crucial to help the planet and wildlife - especially the deforestation resulting from soy wax candles. Not only are ours kind to the planet, but your skin too - our multi-purpose aromatherapy candles melt into a warm, nourishing balm for your skin.

A candle. A treatment. A ritual.

Approximate cost to develop and launch: £6,500 

Regulatory approval, packaging, design and printing, website design and imagery, ingredients, equipment and marketing.

💆‍♀️ Holistic massage and skin treatment room  

Embrace the Glow: Topsham’s Retreat for Healthier Skin

Topsham is a vibrant town, full of energy, charm, and busy high street footfall — but there's currently nowhere offering professional facials using handmade, truly natural and organic products, with a real focus on sensitive skin and common concerns like dryness, rosacea, and breakouts.

That’s exactly why we started Coraline Skincare — to help people facing these exact challenges. And now, we're filling this gap in the local market with something truly special.

Using our multi-award-winning Coraline Skincare range, every treatment is thoughtfully designed to nourish your skin, calm your mind, and leave you glowing. Expect expert care, natural ingredients, and deep relaxation.

Come in for a restorative treatment at our Topsham shop and walk out refreshed, radiant — and noticeably revived. (Your friends will definitely ask what your secret is).

Approximate cost to soundproof and kit out: £5,000

Building works, equipment/furniture, website and booking system and marketing.

If you'd like more info. on our three exciting projects, you can scroll a little further down to explore the full story behind each of them 👇

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💬 Why We Need Your Help

We’ve self-funded Coraline Skincare since day one. Liz invested her inheritance from her aunt. I’ve juggled consulting jobs to grow the business.

Developing new products takes time, care — and a fair bit of money.
Every step matters, from formulating the perfect prototype to sourcing ingredients, packaging, testing, and getting the products approved by our cosmetic chemist. 

Getting a product to the “we love it” stage is just the beginning — the real journey starts when we prepare to share it with you.

By Crowdfunding we can remain in charge of our own destiny, our values, and not compromise on any quality of any ingredient. No outside forces will drive it; only our integrity.

We’ve already grown Coraline Skincare by over 700% since 2021 — and we know this Crowdfunder will be a quantum leap.

There are three simple ways to support us:

🎁 Treat yourself or a loved one to a Reward

Each reward is something special — from early access to our SPF and our candles to holistic treatments and more. It’s our way of saying thank you for believing in us.

🙏 Make a donation

You can also simply donate without selecting a reward. Every donation, big or small, moves us closer to our dream. Thank you so much in advance.

Please note: Crowdfunder adds a tip by default — but you can change it to any amount you like.

Select “custom amount” to give what feels right; even £0 is totally fine.

💕 Share the love

Your share could spark something big. Tell a friend, tag someone, or forward our Crowdfunder; every little ripple helps us reach our goal.

At Coraline Skincare we, our team, our customers and our community are all about helping each other. We are so grateful for your help.

📈 Our Track Record

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8 skincare products + 4 soap formats

Box sets for skincare routines

24 awards including:

🥇 Back-to-back Gold Medals at the Free From Skincare Awards (2022/23) for best facial oil for You Must Be Sisters.  The first and only brand to do this for Facial Oil. Below you can read what one of the judges said about You Must Be Sisters. 

This is also our Number one selling product with over 160 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 reviews.

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🏆 Back-to-Back Gold Medals at the Green Parent 'Natural Beauty Awards' (2022/23) for best body oil for Soothe and Smooth.

🏆 Back-to-Back Gold Medals at the Beauty Shortlist 'Mama and Baby' Awards 2023/24) for best facial tonic for Botanical Balance.

👋 We are proud to have:

✅ 1000+ verified 5-star reviews
✅ 3000+ loyal customers
✅ A 75% return customer rate
✅ A small and mighty team of 9

To read more about our story, you can visit our website.

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💡 Below is a little more about the three exciting projects your support will bring to life:

We’re crowdfunding to help take Coraline Skincare to the next level — and every pledge will go directly towards one of these three passion-fuelled, planet-friendly projects.

Whether you’re passionate about conscious sun protection, crave a cleaner candle experience, or love the idea of holistic treatments using truly pure skincare — there’s something here for you to get behind.

1. 🌞 Organic, Vegan, Reef-Safe Mineral Facial Sunscreen (SPF 30)

The picture below shows Coraline’s reaction to a supposedly natural mineral kids sunscreen we bought for her on a trip to Australia in 2019.

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We were shocked to find that many 'natural' sunscreens are packed with hidden chemicals that can be terrible for the skin.

Surprisingly, we cannot find a sunscreen on the market that is vegan, reef-safe and totally organic, but which also feels really nice on the skin. We see this as not only a huge gap in the market, but something crucial to help the health of the planet.

That’s why we're developing our own — and we’re nearly there. We’ve come so close to perfecting the formula.

Currently on the market there is a choice between chemical sunscreens or mineral sunscreens.

A typical chemical sunscreen:

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A typical, 'natural' mineral sunscreen:

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Risks and Challenges

Can I develop my formula where I can achieve SPF 30 whilst keeping the formula waterless and free from anything synthetic? 

So far I have managed to keep Coraline Skincare's range entirely waterless (great because no preservatives, emulsifiers or fillers are needed when no water is in a product, and you are not paying for water as a customer).

Below is a graphic about our new organic sunscreen, currently in development, "Protect the asset":

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If you’d like to read more, we expand on this in our Coraline Skincare SPF blog.

2. 🕯️ Natural Vegan Skin Treatment Candles

Almost every vegan candle sold is marketed as “eco” or “sustainable” but sadly isn't.  In my view, it isn't the fault of the brands selling the candles; the industry is to blame for making these claims on the waxes.  You really have to dig deep to find out what is really happening! Luckily that is my department!

I have created a new wax blend myself using only wild-harvested and organic ingredients — because there simply wasn’t a fully organic vegan option anywhere.  My kitchen background helps me to look at a challenge and find a solution.  It has taken a lot of time and testing to get it right, but I am delighted with the results.

See our graphic below to read about the processes involved in making other candle waxes on the market today.

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Not interested in wax geekery? 

Even if you’re not fussed about candle ingredients, you’ll still love how these fill the room with light, the air with a beautiful natural scent , and make your skin feel amazing.

Why ours are different

Aromatherapy, skincare, and comfort — all in one

Ours are no ordinary candles — they are aromatherapy-infused, organic, natural vegan skincare in a comforting flame.  Even the wick is organic and incredibly clean-burning.

Crafted from mythical wild-harvested myrica wax from the Andes, organic oils, and essential oils.

Just dip your finger into the warm wax to moisturise your skin and enjoy the beautiful natural scent 🌟.

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Choose from:

Balancing – Rose Geranium, Bergamot, Cedarwood, Black Pepper

Calming – Lavender & Chamomile

Refreshing – Basil, Rosemary & Lemon

Uplifting – Peppermint, Spearmint & Green Mandarin

Risks and Challenges

We are ready to go; they just need to be certified by our cosmetic chemist but I am confident they will be.

Check out our graphic below for more info on our unique organic/wild-harvested candles ☝️.

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If you’d like to read more, we expand on this in our Coraline Skincare Candle blog.

3. 🧖‍♀️ Soundproofing and kitting out a Holistic Treatment Room at Our Shop

We’ve converted the back of our Topsham shop into a treatment space. We now need to fully soundproof it, purchase a wide range of equipment such as a massage chair, and kit it out with lots of other elements to get the ambience just right before we begin our treatments.

The space is for:

💆 Organic facials

❤️‍🩹  Reiki & holistic therapies

👧🏻 Future workshops for adults, and also for kids and parents

🧘‍♀️ We also plan to introduce at-home mobile treatments so that parents and carers of children with additional needs can book one for themselves, and for their child (e.g. a foot or hand massage or reiki). 

We have a practitioner ready to start who has over 25 years experience in delivering treatments, including 17 years training others at Exeter College.

Risks and Challenges

Can we make it fully soundproofed so treatments can be held at the same time as the shop is open?

Here is a video of the open-plan room at the back of our shop that we have now converted.

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🛠️ What We’ll Use the Funds For

Expense Estimated Costs

£2,000 - Research and Development of new products (including for treatments)

£1,000 - Development time & formulating

£3,000 - Regulatory testing and approval (candles + SPF)

£2,000 - Equipment including wax melter (candles + SPF)

£2,000 - Packaging design and development

£2,500 - Ingredients & bulk packaging

£3,500 - Treatment room fit out, including equipment

£2,000 - Website imagery and developer costs 

£2,000 - Marketing and promotion

If we exceed our goal, we’ll develop even more clean, natural skincare:

Tinted SPF

Face masks

Mineral makeup

Bath salts

Natural deodorant

We can invest in further Marketing to spread our reach, and perhaps even appear on TikTok!

🧡 Our Values

Mission: To restore your confidence with the purest organic products which heal and nourish sensitive skin of all ages; products that are so good you have to share. 

Vision: Help everyone live happily in their own skin

Purpose: Be a source of pure love — for people, planet, and skin

What sets us apart:

Waterless = No preservatives

Compostable or biodegradable packaging (Sulapac wood chip pots) - zero microplastics

Biophotonic glass bottles (Miron glass enhances products and extends shelf-life naturally)

Sustainable shop interior throughout using wood from Fingle Woods, Dartmoor

Organic, wild-harvested ingredients - spot the difference in the two labels below

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In the beauty industry a product can claim it is organic even if it has only 1 organic ingredient. This typical handwash:

- At a glance appears (and claims) to be a certified-organic cosmetic product.  It even has independent certification.

- Yet only 2 of its 18 ingredients are organic (10%).

- Many of the ingredients are synthetic chemicals.

- Main ingredient is water (legally a formulation has to be listed in the order of its concentration).

We know how important trust is in a brand. On our labels what you see is what you get:

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Below is a video we made to explain why what you put on your skin matters:

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🌱 Our long-term dream

With your support, we’ll build the foundation to one day open a retreat centre for children with additional needs and their families — a peaceful, nurturing place to connect and rebalance.

🔁 Regular Updates

We’ll post behind-the-scenes updates throughout our campaign — so you can follow our journey as we make it all happen.

🚀 Let’s Make History Together

Thank you for believing in us.
We’re so excited to do this with you.

And remember you can buy our full range of organic serums and beauty products at coralineskincare.com

🛍️ Notes on rewards:

UK postage included in all rewards

International postage costs shown on each reward tier

One reward per transaction (repeat if selecting multiple rewards)

Delivery by estimated date listed

No refunds/exchanges after selection

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Or enter custom amount

Rewards

This project offers rewards in return for your donation. Please select a reward below.

£25 or more

Organic Skin treatment candle - 80ml

Organic Skin treatment and Aromatherapy Candle plus a Coraline Skincare Mini Chamomile soap bar 25g. *** Includes free UK Delivery. Please add £10.00 to your donation for international delivery. See details in the Crowdfunder candle section for the four different 'scent' options. We will get in touch with you once the candles are ready to ask which candle 'scent' you'd like.

£10 or more

Botanical Card - thank you note

A beautiful limited edition printed card. From an original hand-painted watercolour by Louise Kelly, Royal Academy artist, and member of our Coraline Skincare team. Depicting botanicals used in our products. A handwritten note inside to say thank you for your kind donation. ***Includes free UK delivery. Please add £2.00 to your donation for international delivery

£35 or more

Organic Facial Suncreen SPF 30 - 60ml Bottle

Our brand new organic 'Protect the Asset' SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen plus a Coraline Skincare Mini Chamomile Soap Bar 25g ***Includes free UK Delivery. Please add £10.00 to your donation for international delivery.

£35 or more

Facial Massage Masterclass + Facial Oil Serum 10ml

Join our facial massage and wellness therapist Amanda at our shop in Topsham to learn your own relaxing 3-step facial cleansing, toning and moisturising routine. Plus learn to introduce and perfect your own regenerating facial massage at home in this 60-minute class. 8 people per class, daytime, Date TBC (we will set it with participants).

£45 or more

Candle-making workshop + take your candle home

60 Minutes - candle-making experience at our shop in Topsham with where you will make your very own skin-treatment candle. Choose your own scent, and learn more about our truly unique, sustainable, organic and wild-harvested wax blend. Take your candle home with you. Meet new people or book 8 people for your own private experience. Daytime, Date TBC (we will set it with participants).

£50 or more

Business Backer - recognition on website & candle

We will feature your business name, logo and a short bio about your business on our Business Backers page on our website. You will also receive an organic, wild harvested skin treatment candle of your choice. See Candles section of main Crowdfunder for candle choices. We will get in touch with you after you checkout to ask which candle 'scent' you'd like.

£50 or more

2 x Organic Skin treatment candles - 80ml

2 x Organic Skin treatment and Aromatherapy Candles plus 2 x Coraline Skincare Mini soap bars 25g. *** Includes free UK Delivery. Please add £10.00 to your donation for international delivery. See details in the Crowdfunder candle section for the four different 'scent' options. We will get in touch with you once the candles are ready to ask which candle 'scents' you'd like.

£55 or more

The Healing Hour - Reiki Energy Treatment -60 Mins

A bespoke holistic reiki energy treatment with our facial massage and wellness therapist Amanda at our Topsham shop. Step into a space of deep rest and energetic renewal. This 60-minute Reiki session is a gentle, hands-on energy healing treatment designed to calm the nervous system, balance the chakras, and promote emotional clarity.

£55 or more

Organic Facial SPF 30 and Organic/Wild Candle 80ml

Our brand new organic 'Protect the Asset' SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen 60ml plus an Organic Skin treatment and Aromatherapy Candle 80ml. Also include a mini chamomile soap bar 25g. See details in the Crowdfunder candle section for the different 'scent' options. We will get in touch with you once the candles are ready to ask which candle 'scent' you'd like. ***Includes free UK Delivery. Please add £10.00 to your donation for international delivery.

£70 or more

3 x Organic Skin treatment candles - 80ml

3 x Organic Skin treatment and Aromatherapy Candles plus 3 x Coraline Skincare Mini soap bars 25g.*** Includes free UK Delivery. Please add £10.00 to your donation for international delivery. See details in the Crowdfunder candle section for the four different 'scent' options. We will get in touch with you once the candles are ready to ask which candle 'scents' you'd like.

£75 or more

Coraline Calm and Radiant Facial Massage - 60 mins

Join our facial massage and wellness therapist Amanda for a holistic facial treatment using Coraline Skincare products at our shop in Topsham, Devon. A gentle and grounding facial, designed for every skin type. We will create a bespoke treatment based on the uniqueness of you.

£75 or more

The Soothe Ritual-Thai Stamp Back Massage -60 mins

Indulge in our Coraline luxury back treatment that will leave you feeling totally relaxed. The skin will be cleansed and exfoliated before we apply the Thermal stamp massage, this will be followed by a back massage and finished with a face mask. A deeply restorative treatment combining traditional Thai massage techniques with warm herbal compresses, using different oils and essential oils.

£90 or more

4 x Organic Skin treatment candles - 80ml

4 x Organic Skin treatment and Aromatherapy Candles plus 4 x Coraline Skincare Mini soap bars 25g. *** Includes free UK Delivery. Please add £10.00 to your donation for international delivery. See details in the Crowdfunder candle section for the four different 'scent' options. We will get in touch with you once the candles are ready to ask which candle 'scents' you'd like.

£95 or more

Coraline Ultimate Glow - Holistic Facial - 90 mins

Our most luxurious and transformative facial experience. Combining deep cleansing, targeted treatment masks, holistic facial massage, and nourishing rituals for face, neck, scalp and décolleté. Also includes a hand and foot massage. This ritual brings deep relaxation, boosts skin vitality and supports long-term skin health.

£105 or more

The Coraline Glow and Reiki Flow - 105 minutes

Holistic Facial Massage and Reiki Energy Treatment - 45 Minute Facial Treatment and 1 hour Reiki treatment at our shop in Topsham, Devon. Join our facial massage and wellness therapist Amanda for a bespoke holistic facial treatment using Coraline Skincare products, followed by a grounding and rejuvenating Reiki session.

£500 or more

Candlemaking and Mini Facial Therapy Evening

Attend an organic skincare treatment candle making and luxury bath salts workshop with Kevin, together with 7 of your friends, plus take your candles and bath salts home. 15 minute mini holistic facial treatment per person with our wellness therapist, Amanda. Organic Vegan Nibbles from Envie Catering. Organic Bubbles and Non Alcoholic drinks from Topsham Wines. Date to be decided with you.

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