POTTSTOWN — You never know where an idea might take you.
For Donna Tomlin, her idea to craft hair care products for her family has taken her on a journey. It has led her from social media posts to launching a company and online store with her husband, Shakeem.
And on June 30, the couple will open its first brick and mortar store, PS It’s Natural, 311 E. High St. in Pottstown. The couple will host a grand opening and ribbon cutting at the store from noon to 5 p.m. that will include special promotions and product demonstrations. Regular business hours begin July 12.
PS It’s Natural is a line of hair care, beard and baby essentials formulated by Donna Tomlin and featuring natural ingredients. The products are made in the couple’s Gilbertsville home.
Focused on affordable luxury, the product line includes shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, and a hair butter that doubles as a body butter, according to Donna Tomlin. They are available in a variety of scents or unscented. A hair oil is also available. There is also a men’s collection that is specific to beards, as well as a baby collection.
The products are meant for all hair types and styles, Tomlin added.
PS It’s Natural grew from a need Tomlin had when her now teenage daughters were toddlers: finding hair products to help her achieve desired hair styles without breaking the bank.
When she found herself spending way too much money at the beauty supply on products for her little ones, she began creating her own.
“I needed something with a bit more versatility that was going to give me the desired style, so I began formulating,” she said, adding the line grew as the family grew.
When her daughters were younger, Tomlin would post on her social media how she was styling their hair and using her products as she did.
People, she said, wanted the products.
“They would say, ‘Whatever’s left in that bottle when you’re done, can I have it?’” she said, adding that as she continued to develop products, she gained confidence along the way.
“A lot of people would ask on social media, ‘When are you going to come out with your own line?’” she said, adding that her husband was always supportive if she wanted to start selling the products.
In 2020 the couple took the plunge. PS It’s Natural launched its online store and sold out within a few hours.
“We started with three products,” Tomlin said. “We had one oil and two butters — one that was non-scented, the other one our ravender fragrance, our rosemary-lavender blend.”
In the four years since PS It’s Natural launched online, the brand has grown.
“We have 50 products, including the bundles and fragrance options. If you count single products, we have about 15 single products,” Shakeem Tomlin said.
The Products
PS It’s Natural’s Signature Collections include shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner and hair butter. The products are available in several fragrances: ravender (lavender-rosemary blend); tropical passion fruit; and honey oat; as well as unscented.
There is also a hair oil available that isn’t scented.
A new collection will be launching at the grand opening — Citrus Bloom, which will only be available in the store.
Each fragrance has its own packaging color. The products are available individually or as part of a bundle.
The men’s collection includes two fragrances: sandalwood and oak moss; and sandalwood and tea tree. The baby’s collection includes two fragrances — Fairy Tale and Prince Charming.
Tomlin said she wanted her products to be lightweight.
“I want you to be able to use these products for different styles and different hair types. It can’t be weighing hair down,” she said.
Among the products’ ingredients are murumuru butter, tukuma butter and oils like maracuja oil — which is passion fruit oil — grapeseed oil, argan oil and jojoba oil.
“We are providing affordable luxury products. We’re using exclusive, exotic great ingredients and not charging as much as one would think,” Tomlin added.
The Store
Shakeem Tomlin said the time seemed right to have a community hub where people can see and feel the products.
“We do a lot of trade shows, and the reaction we get when we’re face to face with a customer is unmatched. It’s different than an online purchase. We wanted to capitalize on that,” he said.
“When we do trade shows, we would watch people fall in love with our product. It’s an exciting feeling every single time. It’s never going to get old,” Donna Tomlin said, adding that one of the highlights at the trade shows is that people get to sample the products. “In the store we’re going to do that as well.”
The couple wanted to be in Pottstown, according to Shakeem Tomlin, because they feel a connection, adding that they have gotten a lot of support and see the market potential.
“We love the sense of community in Pottstown,” Donna Tomlin added.
The couple began the build out of the retail space in January, doing much of the work themselves to bring the vision to life.
“We were very particular and very intentional on what we were doing because affordable luxury — that is our brand,’ she said.
The store’s aesthetic is very sleek and clean, with white fixtures with silver accents. There is a little seating, and a grass and lavender wall-hanging that will act as a social media friendly back drop for photos, according to Shakeem Tomlin.
The Name
The name — PS It’s Natural — has a very specific meaning for Donna Tomlin.
The PS stands for all the couple’s children’s names.
“It stands for their initials. I’ve been calling them that since 2010 — that is my thing for them,” she said. “When the brand happened and I wanted a name, I wanted it to reflect them because that’s where it came from.”
The couple’s children are Sy’onna, 16; Paige, 14; Saige, 2; and Shakeem Jr., 1.
Beyond the children’s initials, Tomlin said she and Shakeem believe in simplicity — that less is more.
“We don’t have fillers in our products, so that’s another reason our products are natural — you’re getting what you are paying for,” she said.
The Future
The entire journey has been a learning experience for the Tomlins — for Donna as she learned about formulating products and for both of them as they launched a business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donna Tomlin said the pair works extremely well as a team. She has a vision for the products and shares that vision in detail with Shakeem, who gets started on graphics.
“We have our specific roles, and when we have our meeting for a new roll out or marketing we know our roles, do what we need to do and we bring our piece to the table and it always works out,” she said.
Expansion of PS It’s Natural is absolutely in the future, according to Shakeem Tomlin.
“We see plans to open more stores, not just on the East Coast, but across the country and maybe internationally,” he said.
Starting July 12, PS It’s Natural will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday.
