Urban Nature Not Washed Out by Hurricane Katrina

(PRLEAP.COM) There’s nothing like a hurricane for product testing, especially when your products promise to restore spirits. Apparently ruined by Hurricane Katrina and the devastating floods, Urban Nature of New Orleans, an online bath-and body shop, simply practiced its own philosophy and a mere seven months later, is back in business.

Seven months ago, Whi’Sheika Chissell, a New Orleans bath-and body entrepreneur, developing her business by the conventional book, would never have guessed she’d soon be leading by example. With a complete line of luxurious skin care products, an internet presence, and robust marketing practices, her company Urban Nature was beginning to flourish.

And then Hurricane Katrina hit. Urban Nature lost 90% of its supplies, products and stock and suffered substantial damage to the home office. It was a story shared by multitudes of New Orleans small business owners.

Urban Nature’s owner, Whi’Sheika Chissell, never considered closing shop an option, despite the nearly total loss. She states "To just give up because of a hurricane, was a thought that never occurred to me. I love my business and I love what I do. Nothing can keep me from it. I’m just stubborn and determined like that".

While the job of rebuilding the city’s economy has naturally earned national attention, Chissell’s business was one of those that were obliged to work to rebuild the city spirit. The opening of Urban Nature’s website represents another piece of life being put back in place. "We are showing the rest of the world what we are made of. We are bouncing back no matter what." says the owner. The process, for both city and business, is a slow one.

For Urban Nature, rebuilding meant replacing ingredients, containers and equipment before even beginning to replace inventory. Slow mail delivery and city services delayed every step. Painstaking work at the best of times, Chissell did it in a difficult climate, both financially and physically. The work being done on the city created a huge and inescapable amount of dust, dirt and grime.

“My bath time was my one chance to not think about everything. It was the time I could, literally, cleanse my mind of all the thoughts of what needed to be done next, and after that, and after that, and so on.”

It’s common knowledge that a good bath can transport us to a whole other state of mind, but Chissell wanted to transport to a whole other state of spirit, the one that helped her and her neighbors return to their businesses and city.

She set about capturing aromas such as magnolia, lavender, rose, oak and café au lait in her products.
With renewed passion and invigorated creativity, she concocted lotions and potions, such as “Wicked” Whipped Shea Buttercream, she knew could feed that someone’s memory of the city. “New Orleans is known for its fine cuisine. Well, if we can get the spirit in a bottle or jar, it will be famous for its fine skincare recipes, too.” Urban Nature follows the lead of some of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans, by utilizing the best ingredients and expertise in their skincare recipes.

Urban Nature resumes online business on www.urban-nature.com, with a series of new skincare collections:

In celebration of the grand re-opening of the online store, Urban Nature is proud to announce their signature series of collections: The "Wicked" Whipped Shea Collection consisting of Body Buttercream, "Butter"Milk Lotion and Body Polish. The "Luv My Body" Collection contains Glistening Cocoa Cream, Glistening Cocoa Lotion and Mocha Body Scrub. The "Going Back to Bali" collection consists of Foaming Coconut Milk Bath, Coconut Body Cream and Coconut Milk Lotion.