Mail Tribune:
Lauren Padawer’s inspiration for a beauty product made of glacial mud struck during a grungy rafting trip down the Copper River.
After days of paddling in south central Alaska, Padawer and her companions needed to get clean. Washing herself in the river’s glacial pools, Padawer looked down at the mud swirling around her feet and saw opportunity. ‘You would just lather yourself with this stuff,’ she said. ‘It is about as luscious mud bath quality as you can find anywhere in the world.’
The experience of a mud bath in one of the most beautiful, wild spots on the planet was better than any spa, and the mud was better, too, said Padawer, a 28-year-old from Cordova, a fishing town at the southeastern end of Prince William Sound. She got an idea. With more than 20 glaciers depositing 100 million tons of glacial silt a year on the 700,000-acre Copper River delta practically in her back yard, why not market the silky mud?
She was equipped with little more than an idea and big dreams when she began developing the Alaska Glacial Mud Co. 2 years ago. By this Christmas shopping season she hopes to have the company’s signature product - The Glacial Facial - ready for sale.
Julie Keller, editor-in-chief of American Spa magazine, said Padawer’s timing is right. ‘There is an enormous market for beauty products featuring natural and organic ingredients,’ she said. ‘The market is getting increasingly competitive, however, so a product manufacturer with distinctive, quality products and a unique story has a greater probability of finding success.’
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