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Making scents: Peters Township business specializes in skin-care products

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 4 min read
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A stroll into the Bombash & Earley boutique in Peters Township will produce a treat for the olfactory system because of the pleasant aromas.

A discussion with owners Tim and Danielle Bombash might be equally as appealing.

“I’ve found out that I’m fairly good at taking complicated matters and simplifying them. I feel that people leave with a very, very good understanding of what they’re getting into, or subjects that they just need to know about,” Tim said.

Harry Funk/The Almanac

Harry Funk/The Almanac

Bombash & Earley cleansing bars

At Bombash & Earley, the primary subject to know about is skin care, from basic cleanliness to the likes of moisturizers, exfoliants and essential oils.

“Anything that goes onto your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream at some point, very quickly,” Tim said. “We like to exercise. We like to eat right. But a lot of people don’t consider their skin care at the end of the day.”

A fairly recent entry into the related market is cannabidiol, a substance derived from cannabis plants. Bombash & Earley carries its own brands of CBD products. To acquaint people who are interested in the potential benefits, Tim is hosting an informational “Demystifying CBD” talk from 5 to 7 p.m. July 27.

“I’m going to educate on what CBD is and what it is not. I’m also going to tell people where it comes from, so they can actually tell the difference between marijuana and hemp,” he said. “And then I’ll go through the different uses and what science has uncovered so far.”

Tim doesn’t consider himself an expert on the topic, “that’s a term other people coin for you,” he said.

No one else really is at this point, either, Tim said.

“I feel like there’s still a lot to be uncovered,” he said.

He started making his own cleansing bars of various scents as a measure against the high prices of the items he prefers, those made without any animal byproducts. When the inventory started to pile up, he started selling at the Original Farmers Market in South Fayette Township.

“I opened up the tailgate to my truck, set up a table and the rest was history,” he recalled. “It went gangbusters from the get-go. I couldn’t believe there was such a demand for that. And I said, ‘well, this doesn’t stop here. I know how to formulate a tremendous amount of different things.'”

Harry Funk/The Almanac

Harry Funk/The Almanac

Bombash & Earley’s CBD-AID brand

The Bombashes then opened their first retail space – they refer to it as a cubbyhole – on Valley Brook Road in Peters before moving in August to larger quarters on East McMurray Road. The new location offers plenty of space for formulating products and hosting events, plus a massage therapist’s room and Danielle’s office for her work as a licensed esthetician.

“She takes whatever their issues may be and she corrects them, sometimes over the course of a treatment program and sometimes immediately, depending on the situation,” Tim said.

As for Danielle, she joined Bombash & Earley full-time in November after working 13 years in finance in the corporate sector. She had encouraged Tim to pursue his own business after they became parents, so as to have more time to be a father.

“I looked at him and saw how much was in our bank account,” she recalled. “And I said, ‘OK, quit your job. Let’s see if it works.’ He was the moneymaker in the family, so it was a scary thing for me.”

The move seems to have paid off, as the Bombashes enjoy a high return rate among customers. And their spouses, apparently, as one gentleman who entered the boutique explained to Danielle and Tim.

“I haven’t, but my wife has,” the man said. “And she said anything you get from here is great.”

Harry Funk/The Almanac

The Bombash & Earley garden: “It contains 31 different herbs and florals, all that I’ll be drying and extracting the chemicals come fall, and we’ll be using that in our house-made organic skin care products,” Tim Bombash says.

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