Attainable Self Care

One of the newest businesses to open its doors in Wilmington is Unwind, a soap-making business curated by Creatively Covered Co.

The shop, which is owned and operated by DAWN MCDOWELL, got its start during the COVID-19 pandemic. McDowell was working as a licensed real estate agent at the time and found herself unemployed once the lockdowns started. To keep herself occupied, McDowell started making masks for her family, which blossomed into a full business selling masks.

“I knew that was going to be short-lived,” she says. “I tried to think,’“What can I do to add onto that?’”

A common complaint McDowell heard from her clients was that their faces and lips were dry from the masks. So, for her new business venture, she came up with the idea of making beauty products. McDowell has a cosmetology license, so she knew the science behind skincare. To learn more about soap making, McDowell took online classes to learn the process. To her delight, her friends loved the products she made.

In May 2021, she launched her business. She describes feeling anxious and “a lot of trepidations,” unsure because a lot of people still didn’t know about her and her business.

“We’re going to see what happens,” she says. “The rest is history. People started purchasing and they started enjoying the products, so I ended up creating a website on Shopify and selling my products that way.”

As for her product lineup, McDowell currently offers all-natural soaps, body butters, sugar scrubs, body oil, and milk baths. One thing she made sure of when crafting her products is making sure they don’t dry out the skin. One way she’s able to do just that is by using all-natural and organic butters and oils, including mango butter, shea butter, kokum butter, babassu oil, grapeseed, and jojoba.

One of McDowell’s most recent changes is her new storefront, which is located on Cardinal Drive. After realizing working out of her home wasn’t going to be feasible in the long run, she moved into a bigger space where she can make the products and ship out online orders, as well as have a place where people can come by and shop in-store or do mobile pick-up.

“It just turns out, the space where I am, affords me to be able to have an area where people can come by and take a look and pick up if they order online,” she says.

Looking ahead to the future, McDowell hopes to expand her shop and interact with the community through her own version of local paint and sips. Instead of sipping on wine and painting a new piece of artwork, she hopes to afford her clientele the opportunity to do a whip and sip, where they can make body butter on-site with their girlfriends or for date night.

“I think in today’s world, self-care has become a thing that many individuals think is just a luxury, and that only certain people get to do that,” McDowell says. “I’m hopeful that with my products, it gives them a luxurious spa feel at home while also being able to help them with any concerns they may have with their skin.”

To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.

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