Food for the skin too good to eat

By Lauren Ferrone

It may look and smell like your favourite desserts, but it’s probably best if you don’t eat these vegan bath products.

As co-owner of Regent Arcade’s ‘non-edible bakery’ Oh Deer Sugar, Sharni Rosser and girlfriend Nikki Merritt came up with the idea to replicate people’s favourite desserts in the form of bath and body products more than a couple of years ago.

Grinch Lemongrass Waffle Bath Bomb with Bubble Bath Ice Cream on Oh Deer Sugar Bath Caddy

“It was actually around Christmas time in 2013 when I made a body scrub for Nikki because I was a bit tight on money after just returning to Adelaide from travelling,” Sharni says.

“I uploaded a photo on Facebook and all of my friends started asking if I could make them bath products too,” she laughs.

It wasn’t long before Sharni – a cook by trade – began baking her vegan bath products, moulding them to represent amazingly detailed (and yummy looking) desserts.

From replica waffles, ice cream and cupcakes, Sharni and Nikki’s creativity is limitless.

“I used to work as a chef on The Ghan in the Indian Pacific for a couple of years and also ran a few kitchens at Glenelg. It was always my dream to be a patisserie chef… I kind of fell into this and adopted my own style,” she says.

Both vegans, Sharni and Nikki make products with “animals and the environment” at the front of their minds.

Oh Deer Sugar products, and its ingredients, are not tested on animals. All ingredients are ethically sourced, with the packaging also recyclable.

“As we are both full blown crazy vegans, we make sure our ingredients and suppliers are completely ethical and nothing is tested on animals whatsoever,” Sharni says.

“It’s such an important principle to have in the cosmetic industry, and I do believe we’re the first to actually have a vegan bath body product range,” she adds.

Sharni and Nikki handmake their Oh Deer Sugar products at their Adelaide warehouse which is set up similar to a kitchen.

“We use a lot of cake and muffin tins, as well as hand-shape products. It’s kind of like working with clay to sculpt the product into specific food shapes, and then allowing it to dry,” Sharni says.

Oh Deer Sugar co-owner, Sharni Rosser, is a cook by trade

The warehouse’s ‘drying room’ is set to a temperature of 26 degrees, 24 hours a day. The prep room is where most of the sculpting is done.

“Everyday there’s a different step in order to finish just one product. It can take up to three days of moulding, drying and icing,” she adds.

The girls opened their first city store with the help of Renew Adelaide last August.

“A year later we were asked if we’d like to start paying rent. We were interested and requested being closer to the mall. Just a couple of months ago, we signed our full commercial lease which is amazing,” she says.

Since 2013, Oh Deer Sugar has increased its range to include more than 80 individual products.

“We make sure all of our suppliers are from Australia; we never go overseas to get anything,” Sharni says.

The girls opened their first store with the help of Renew Adelaide last August

Oh Deer Sugar also works closely with South Australian businesses and suppliers.

“For the body scrubs, we use almond milk and flour from a local supplier called Sage. We try to work with as many local people as we can, including unique gift store supporting independent artists Have You Met Charlie? We love supporting other locals,” she says.

The girls plan to hire more retail workers next year as they launch a number of new initiatives to the Oh Deer Sugar range; including an ice cream parlour where shoppers can visit the store and hand scoop bubble bath ‘ice cream flavours’ such as Pavlova and Lamington in the lead up to Australia Day.

They also hope to launch face and hair products early next year, as well as a second Oh Deer Sugar shop in Melbourne.

“Our plan is to go Australia-wide in the next five years, so we’re aiming high and will be working our butts off to make that happen,” Sharni laughs.