Oliviea Beauty Products are Natural and Locally Crafted

Bradenton boasts a unique boutique salon that is part hair studio, part nail spa and part beauty product apothecary.

Located a few blocks east of the Manatee Memorial Hospital at 506 Manatee Avenue East, Olive Branch Hair Studio is not only a hair and nail care oasis, but also the workshop where Joshua Dunsmore crafts skin products, colognes, perfumes and candles from recognizable, all-natural ingredients such as olive oil, fragrant essential oils and kosher salts. His products are available in spas and shopsnthroughout Sarasota and Bradenton.

Brother and sister team, Joshua and Sage Dunmore, co-owners of downtown Bradenton’s Olive Branch Hair Studio, believe that beauty and luxury can be achieved without the assistance of the harsh chemicals found on the ingredients lists of most commercial hair products.

Joshua Dunsmore launched his Oliviea Beauty Products line in 2010, the same year that he and his sister purchased and remodeled the historic 1927 bungalow that houses Olive Branch Hair Studio, so the pair decided to take the opportunity to team up. 

When Dunsmore isn’t crafting up skincare products and perfumes in his workshop, he provides the manicures and pedicures at the salon, while his sister handles the hair styling.

“I’ve always wanted to make beauty products, so a few years ago I began making perfumes in my home kitchen that were based on the scents that my mother and grandmother enjoyed," Joshua Dunsmore said. "At the time, I had nothing to my name, so I was using my tips to buy one or two bottles of salt at a time so that I could make small amounts.”

“I started sharing them with friends and clients, and it kind of just took off from there," he added. "People were always commenting on the way the products made their skin glow and the advertising was all word of mouth. What started out as a project in my kitchen has grown into an entire company.”

Dunsmore noted that all Oliviea Beauty Products are dye and alcohol free, and are created from all-natural ingredients made in the USA — including the recycled plastic containers in which they are bottled.

“My mother died young from cancer, and that’s something I carry with me. It’s a big part of why my products are chemical-free,” Dunsmore said.

“Most skin and hair care products are loaded with harsh chemicals — most of which my mother couldn’t use. It inspired me to seek a better product for my customers.”

The Oliviea Beauty Products line includes olive oil-based hair products, body lotions, foot scrubs, lip butters, perfumes for women and scented aftershaves for men. Oliviea also includes a line of scented candles.

The foot scrubs, Dunsmore said, are some of the most popular Oliviea items.

“I have a saying that goes ‘Rub-a-dub-dub, keep using that scrub,’” Dunsmore said. “I’ve been doing pedicures for ten years and wouldn’t use any products on my clients that I wouldn’t use on myself. This stuff really does work wonders.”

Oliviea Beauty Products are available in the Olive Branch Hair Studio, as well as a dozen other locations throughout Bradenton and Sarasota such as Mixon’s Fruit Farm, Miller’s Dutch Kitchen, Cutting Loose Salon, Salon Salon, Blue Door Spa, John Thomas Studio of Hair Design and Pro Aesthetic Center.

For more information about Oliviea Beauty Products, visit the official website or contact Olive Branch Hair Studio at 941-746-4247.