A south London couple spent all their savings to launch a natural, refillable deodorant this month after they fell pregnant with their first child and realised the impact of single-use plastic on future generations.
Eddie and Bethany Fisher, who married in 2019, said they couldn’t find a convenient, plastic-free deodorant on the market so created their own called Fussy.
Bethany, 30, started searching for a product without harsh chemicals during her pregnancy with baby Orla, now aged seven months.
Eddie, 36, said: “We basically begged, borrowed and stole from friends and family, and drained our bank accounts dry.
“We put everything we’ve got into this, so there’s a lot riding on it.
“But hopefully it’ll all be worth it for Orla’s future.”
Developing the product during lockdown brought challenges, such as higher ingredient prices and factories pausing production, but the first-time parents said having a baby in the house was the toughest challenge of all.
The entrepreneurs tried 90 different formula variants in their own kitchen and burnt through two cooking pans before eventually seeking help from a leading cosmetic chemist.
They said it was important Fussy performed as well as mainstream deodorants, because natural products often get a bad reputation for being ineffective.
Eddie used his advertising background to develop the deodorant with Bethany, who studied fashion at university in Kingston.
Fussy’s founders suggested consumers are increasingly concerned with sustainability, but want convenient and desirable replacements for traditional toiletries.
Eddie explained: “We wanted to create something for the masses, for the instagram generation.
“We’re trying to make sustainability sexy.”
Fussy refills are made from waste sugarcane, and are 100% biodegradable and compostable.
Working with charity Empower, every deodorant sold funds the collection of 1kg of ocean-bound plastic from beaches around the world.
