Jim is a food technologist by profession, he is the creator and maker of the Bricks. We met in London, moved to Bristol and now, for the last 4.5 years, live on the edge of the Cotswolds in beautiful Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
MY MORNING ROUTINE
Mornings are crazy busy in the Hamman household, as with most families with young children it is a bit of a scramble to get out the door on time after a quick breakfast of porridge for us (toast and fruit for the kids usually). Both of us use the Bricks in the shower and we also use these on the children at bath time. Jim tries to do a few yoga stretches for a sore back. Once a week he will cycle to work (a 65km round trip). We are fortunate to live within walking distance of school and pre-school so Anna gets some lovely daily exercise in that way, sometimes running after our little boy as he cycles. Otherwise exercise happens in the evenings and weekends - running, cycling, exercise classes. For Anna, skincare has to be quick and easy. She has recently changed moisturiser to Upcircle and both of us have been trialling new eco deodorants. The current one for Anna, which she likes, is Salt of the Earth. We have also been using a new eco toothpaste, Ben and Anna, which is easy to use and is lasting for ages in its glass pot. We get as many of our skincare/toiletries from our local refill shop as we can - they also stock our Bricks.
MY FUTURE PLANS
Grow, grow, grow! We are a new business – we started selling in November 2020. The Bricks have proved to be amazingly popular and we are gaining many fans in our social media communities. We’ve just launched a new Shampoo Brick scent - Cypress and Pine. Jim is busy working on lots of new product ideas in terms of scents and different products such as a shaving bar. We are hoping to have a special limited edition Brick ready for Christmas. Slightly longer term, we would love to expand into other men’s grooming products, we will only sell ethically and sustainably sourced products so that may take a little more time to achieve. And we are actively looking for a suitable tin or other travel holder which meets our high sourcing standards - we do already have a Brick Tray which is made for us locally using FSC Beech wood.
3 THINGS ABOUT JIM’S BRICKS
- The idea for the Bricks literally came to Jim in the shower. When he was looking to make the change to solid bars a couple of years ago, he could not find one that he liked. He wanted a natural bar, a UK made product and to avoid palm oil. Those that he found had floral fragrances which he did not want to use. As a (food) scientist, he decided to try making his own using essential oils to produce a bold scent that he liked. As he enjoyed using them so much, he thought that other men would appreciate them too – and he was right!
- The Bricks are made using traditional soap making methods updated by Jim through trial and error to produce a bar of the right consistency as a shampoo and for the shower. They are plastic free, all natural, vegan, do not contain palm oil and Jim only uses essential oils, no parfums or synthetic fragrances.
- Jim’s Bricks has offered a subscription service right from the start. Knowing how busy our own lives are, this was something we were really keen to offer to customers. This provides a discounted price (up to 20%) for a repeat delivery service on a schedule chosen by the customer. The business is only just over 6 months old and we already have over 50 subscribers.
FIND THE RANGE www.jimsbricks.co.uk
