Long live the beard.
That's a motto that Steph and Monique Paquin, co-owners of Nickel City Beard Blends, swear by. After all, beards are their business — well, at least making sure beards look good, anyway.
Nickel City Beard Blends has been open for a few months now and growing every day, said Steph. They launched Nickel City Beard Blends with the intention of helping their fellow beardsmen protect their most important asset — their beard.
Loaded with vitamins, rich nutrients and a variety of scents, Nickel City Beard Blends' natural beard-care products are specially formulated to moisturize not only the beard, but the skin underneath it, as well, said Steph.
Steph said he owes his business to another business' mistake.
“Upon receiving numerous rancid batches of my favourite beard-care products, I was ordering from southern Ontario, and I was horrified because these types of products are not easily found, especially here in Northern Ontario,” he said.
So he and his wife came up with the idea to start making their own beard blends for fun.
“I was working full-time and my wife was on maternity leave, so once they kids were in bed, we began experimenting with different formulas and scents for countless months until we were confident enough that we had finally created the right blends,” he said.
Then they had some of friends and family try some of the samples, and they couldn’t believe that the couple had made them.
“More and more people fell in love with our blends, especially knowing that these were locally made and 100-per-cent natural,” he said.
The suggestion was made to start selling the oils locally, and before the couple knew it, they had sold out of their first batch.
“We knew that we were onto something because the demand grew significantly in a matter of weeks, and from that point on, we knew that there was no going back,” Steph said.
That's when Nickel City Beard Blends was created, and it currently offers four different beard oils, one beard balm, sandalwood combs and as of recently, beard-themed vinyl window decals.
“We’ve been open for only a few months now and our demand just keeps mounting, Steph said. “Beards are in. Everywhere you go, there are some majestic beards to be seen. It would be safe to assume that there are many men who regularly maintain their beards, including myself.”
What makes beards so tantalizing?
“That’s easy,” said Steph. “Beards. Face foliage. A place for birds to nest ... whatever you want to call them. Today, they’re still something to rave about. Most of our history’s biggest names sported incredible beards. They make us warmer, protect our skin and most importantly, make us even more irresistible than we already are.”
Their vision is as obvious as the beard on Steph's face: to make sure that everyone in Greater Sudbury and beyond has access to natural and quality beard-care products. Nickel City Beard Blends is already in four local shops, and the plan is to expand into many more, Steph said.
“Here at Nickel City Beard Blends, we strive in ensuring that your beard's needs are well taken care of, because beards have feelings too, you know.”
For more information, visit NickelCityBeardBlends.com.
