A Generous Love of Nature

One woman's love for dolphins is the driving force behind her business.

Merriam Webster defines it as “a usually commercial or mercantile activity engaged in as a means of livelihood”. The Macquarie Dictionary says it is “one’s occupation, profession, or trade”.

It is also “that with which one is principally and seriously concerned”, and it is this third definition of business that applies most aptly to Inelda Lovi’s manufacturing company in Canberra.

Lovi, a qualified nurse who arrived in Australia more than 30 years ago as a medical student, began making her eponymous moisturising cream for friends.

Lovi readily, and comfortably, admits she does not view herself as a businessperson, and in fact, her unusual commercial arrangement demonstrates this.

The profits made from selling Inelda’s Moisturising Cream are donated to the World Wide Fund (WWF) for nature.

"I want to know in my heart that I’ve helped to save one whale,” Lovi said.

More than one whale and a few dolphins can be grateful for Lovi’s generous nature, and this natural generosity is a factor in the success of her products, she said.

"I’m generous in the ingredients, generosity is the key.”

Lovi began making her cream in a commercial capacity in 1999, using products sourced from her own garden, and funding of only $50.

Refusing to take on a loan of any kind, Lovi simply made $50 worth of the product, sold to friends, and reinvested the profit.

"I started with less than $50, I don’t owe a cent to anybody. I just bought some product, made it, and the profits went back in.”

She is proud to say her product, growing in recognition in the Canberra natural health industry, is a local product, using all natural ingredients.

Despite losing motivation at times, including when obnoxious suppliers refused to deal with her, Lovi has battled on.

"Every call that I made was painful, people would say ‘what do you want, what are you talking about’, people said, ‘I wouldn’t sell it to you’ (referring to the emulsifying wax she needed.)

"That’s the answer I was getting every time, and with containers, and labels.

"And (a doctor friend), she took the phone and did the calls, and straight away, ‘oh doctor of course’.

"When I bought the containers, my friend made the calls and they didn’t give her any problems. To me, when I went to the phone, it was a hassle.

"I did have the knowledge, I had my studies, my biology science, my medical school background, I did have a lot of background, but what it was, was my accent.”

Lovi’s accent, while strong, does not hide her depth of knowledge of the natural health industry, her medical experience, and more than competent English vocabulary.

Born in Chile, Lovi’s language capabilities include fluent English and Spanish, and a bit of French.

Using a recipe passed on from her grandmother, Lovi creates her cream with a combination of the following:

• almond oil
• aloe vera
• chlorocresol
• citrus extracts
• emulsifying wax
• essential oils
• glycerol
• purified water
• vitamins A, C, D and E

She now sources from a range of suppliers to ensure fresh, organically grown products are used.

Additionally, sourcing from other companies created jobs, she said.

Available in about 20 stores across the Australian Capital Territory (including the shop at the National Capital Exhibition building), and four in New South Wales and Victoria, demand for the cream has grown rapidly.

Lovi takes phone and Internet orders from all over Australia and overseas.

She said the markup recommended to retailers made it an attractive product.

"It’s very profitable for the retailers. Every retailer is happy about it.”

For added value, Lovi provides a range of colourful eye masks that are given away with the jars of cream.

"My intention wasn’t to start a business, so this is what I give, a gift, this is what I did with my own hands.

"Because, you see, people buy a lot of things from another country (as free gifts).”

Lovi makes the eye masks using a type of rice, avoiding the possible allergic reactions some people get to wheat.

"At Christmas I got very sensitive about the blue whales, there’s not many left, and I said there’s something I can do about it, and I made the eye masks.

"I made all these colours, and when people purchase one jar, they can think of me. And I also did it with my heart.”

The product is marketed as a moisturiser only, and Lovi is careful not to make claims about it, instead passing on testimonials from hundreds of satisfied customers.

Along with the folder filled with hundreds of personal thank you letters, Lovi has collected an impressive range of gifts from people. It is these unexpected results – a thank you from a pregnant woman, similar from a man suffering from sun over-exposure in his youth, a handmade ornament from a pleased customer – that clearly are Lovi’s reward for her work.

This article was published in the May/June 2002 issue of the Natural Health Review.