Opening this month at 311 8
th Street NE: a boutique stocked with natural, preservative-free skincare items made by D.C. mom Leigh Byers.
A Kansas City, Mo. native now residing in Congress Heights, Byers is the owner of Hunnybunny,
an online store now adding a brick-and-mortar version in the heart of Capitol Hill.
In terms of when the shop’s doors will open, “we are in the last leg of the journey,” she says, noting that shelving and other displays are still going up inside the bright-blue rowhouse. She refrained from offering a specific opening day.
Byers began making her own soap and lotions after her second child, Zuri, 1, was born. Scanning the ingredients on a bottle of laundry detergent, she started to wonder about what exactly she was washing her family’s clothes in (Byers is married and her elder daughter, Nya, is 6) and what chemicals were touching their skin.
Byers started developing soaps and lip balms at home, later adding bars of solid lotion and shampoo and body butters. She also makes a clay facial mask aimed at adults, not children. The products are made with Shea butter, honey, olive oil and other natural ingredients.
She took her soaps and balms to Northwest. “We set up a booth at the Columbia Heights community market” and were pleasantly surprised by the response to the items, she says.
“Every soap I make, every lip balm, I would put on my kids,” Byers adds, answering questions from a reporter while cuddling baby Zuri, who was in no mood for a nap.
Byers says she is deliberately starting with a small selection of products in the store, including 100-percent certified organic Egyptian cotton towels and soft toys. She hopes to solicit feedback from customers about what they hope to purchase – natural household cleaners, for example. All-natural teething beads for infants will also be offered.
“The inspiration for everything I do is my girls,” she adds.