Goal of opening boutique store now a reality for local business owner

Rustic Beauty owner Christie Pescini is thrilled to have realised her dream of opening a retail store to sell her home-made soaps and candles. Photo / Nikki Carroll

Christie Pescini's interest in essential oils led to making soaps and candles for friends and family, then to market stalls, an online business, and now an actual store on State Highway 57, Levin.

"When I first started making the soaps, it took a lot of practice and experimenting as I made them all from scratch," said Pescini, "and my family ended up with an abundance of them."

Pescini began sharing her products with friends and work colleagues, who absolutely loved them, so after about a year of perfecting the art of making soap, she attended her first farmers market in Sanson in September 2019.

"At the time I had a fulltime job, but I really wanted to make this [passion] work as a career," Pescini said, "then in December 2019, my mum was diagnosed with cancer."

Good enough to eat with fragrances to match - some of Rustic Beauty's scented soy candles. Photo / Nikki Carroll

Pescini decided to become her mum's primary caregiver while still making her products in the kitchen of the family home.

When Covid lockdown hit last year, Pescini had a heap of stock ready for the Easter markets so quickly set up Rustic Beauty Boutique website as an alternative for selling her goodies.

By this time she had also extended her product range to include shampoo bars, candles, bath bombs and much more.

During the rest of last year, Pescini used any downtime from caring for Mum to start gutting one of the outbuildings on her parents' property with the vision of creating a retail shop.

So many delicious fragrances and products - perfect for Christmas gifts. Photo / Nikki Carroll

"Mum helped me with the demolition when she could, but [progress] had to stop when she needed fulltime care," Pescini said.

Sadly, Mum died in November last year, and that made Pescini even more determined to make her dream of having her own shop a reality.

Rustic Beauty Boutique finally opened its doors last month, on Wednesday, November 17 -a year and a day after Pescini's mum died.

"Mum was 100 per cent supportive of my goal ... she'd be so stoked and proud that [the shop] is now open."

A beautiful rustic location for Rustic Beauty Boutique on State Highway 57, Levin. Photo / Nikki Carroll

You can find Rustic Beauty Boutique at 650 State Highway 57, Levin - open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 3pm - or check out the website www.rusticbeauty.co.nz