Where It All Began: The GinGingers Story

A Calm, Family-Led, Award-Winning Skincare Brand from Yorkshire

Hi, I’m Tina, founder of GinGingers.

GinGingers is a small, independent and family-led natural skincare brand from Yorkshire.

This is the story of how curiosity, my little “GinGinger” and an idea around our kitchen table eventually became a professionally manufactured, independently tested and certified skincare product.

How It All Began – Real Life, Real Skin, Real Curiosity

Back in 2020, like many people, life slowed down.

Between home-schooling, keeping everything together and trying to stay sane, I found myself going back to something I’d always been interested in—natural skincare.

Not the complicated kind.
Just simple, natural skincare ingredients that actually do something.

I started experimenting with making gels—no heat, no unnecessary ingredients, just cold-processed skincare using ingredients I trusted.

At first, it was simply curiosity and something I enjoyed exploring.

But the more I learned, the more I wanted to learn—and the more passionate (or perhaps slightly obsessed!) I became.

What started as a lockdown experiment around our kitchen table was slowly becoming something much bigger.

It was becoming GinGingers.

Why “GinGingers”?
(Why It Means So Much to Me)

My daughter didn’t just inspire the name.

She has been there through all of it.

She drew the very first version of the logo when she was just four years old, and she still helps me pack orders and take photos for our social media.

More than anything, she keeps me grounded. She reminds me why GinGingers began—and why doing things properly will always matter to me.

That stays at the heart of everything I create.

So yes, GinGingers is a family-led natural skincare brand from Yorkshire. But to me, it will always be something far more personal than that.

From the Kitchen Table to Something I Could Stand Behind

As the idea became more serious, I began researching how to turn it into a professionally manufactured skincare product.

I chose some of my favourite natural ingredients, including real Apple Cider Vinegar with “The Mother,” witch hazel, liquorice root extract, meadowfoam seed oil and tea tree oil—each selected for a clear purpose within the formulation.

The finished gel is cold-processed here in Yorkshire, using a manufacturing method designed to minimise heat and keep the process simple.

I also accepted something from the very beginning: it was going to smell of vinegar for a couple of minutes! After all, it contains real Apple Cider Vinegar, and I never wanted to cover that up with heavy fragrances.

What began six years ago as a lockdown activity around our kitchen table has grown into an award-winning, family-led British skincare brand, with a growing network of customers and retailers across the UK.

Looking back, every challenge, setback and small success has helped shape GinGingers into the brand it is today—and into something I can genuinely stand behind.

Where GinGingers Stands Today

Today, GinGingers is still a small, independent and family-led business—but we have come a very long way from those early experiments around our kitchen table.

Our Apple Cider Vinegar Gel is now professionally manufactured here in Yorkshire, COSMOS Natural certified, Leaping Bunny approved and independently laboratory tested. It has been recognised through national beauty awards and is now reaching customers and retailers across the UK.

We are also working with universities and innovation partners to explore the next generation of GinGingers—from reducing the natural vinegar aroma to developing future microbiome-conscious formulations and other purposeful skincare products.

There is still so much I want to do and learn, but I don’t want to grow for the sake of filling a range. Every product has to have a genuine purpose and be something I can truly stand behind.

GinGingers may have grown, but the heart of it hasn’t changed.

It is still independent. Still family-led. Still proudly Yorkshire—and still inspired by my little GinGinger.

Award-Winning Natural Skincare You Can Trust

Every award tells a story of passion, innovation and purpose.

GinGingers has been recognised by respected beauty organisations through the Free From Skincare Awards Silver 2025, Free From Skincare Awards Innovation Silver 2025, Universal Beauty Awards Bronze 2025, Vegan Beauty Awards and the Pure Beauty Global Awards 2024, where we were proud to be named a finalist.

For a small, independent skincare brand from Yorkshire, every bit of recognition means so much. These awards reflect the care behind our formulation and our commitment to creating purposeful, natural Apple Cider Vinegar skincare while staying true to our values of simplicity, sustainability and transparency.

GinGingers Apple Cider Vinegar Gel Free From Skincare Silver Award Winner

GinGingers Apple Cider Vinegar Gel Free From Skincare Silver Award Winner for Innovation

GinGingers Apple Cider Vinegar Gel Universal Beauty Award Winner - Bronze

GinGingers Apple Cider Vinegar Gel Vegan Beauty Award Winner

GinGingers Apple Cider Vinegar Gel Pure Beauty Awards Finalist 2024

Let Me Be Honest About the Smell (Because You’ll Notice It)

Yes... it smells like vinegar.

I’d be more worried if it didn’t!

That’s because we use real, raw Apple Cider Vinegar with “The Mother”—not a fragrance designed to smell like it. We don’t cover it up with heavy perfumes because we believe honest ingredients should stay just that... honest.

The natural tea tree aroma soon comes through, and the vinegar scent fades within a couple of minutes.

Real Apple Cider Vinegar. Real ingredients. Nothing to hide.

My Approach to Skincare (Simple, Honest, No Nonsense)

I never wanted GinGingers to become a brand with shelves full of products telling you what was wrong with your skin.

I wanted to create honest, natural skincare that fits into real life.

That’s why our Apple Cider Vinegar Gel is built around a few simple principles:

✔ A carefully balanced formulation
✔ Real Apple Cider Vinegar with “The Mother”
✔ Cold-processed here in Yorkshire
✔ Minimal, purpose-led ingredients

Because skincare shouldn’t feel complicated.

It should feel honest, thoughtfully made and easy to trust as part of your everyday routine.

Simple. Honest. No nonsense. Just skincare made with purpose.

A Note From Our Founder

This brand started with my daughter, a kitchen table and a bit of curiosity.

It has grown slowly, properly and with a lot of care.

And if you’re here reading this—thank you for being part of it.

“GinGingers was created with one goal: to make skincare that feels honest and simple. Products that people understand and trust.” — Tina

Meet the People Behind GinGingers

A family-led story, supported by people who have helped GinGingers learn, develop and grow.

Tina Harris

Founder • Researcher • The Heart Behind GinGingers

The dreamer, researcher and creator behind GinGingers. Tina spent three years developing and refining the Apple Cider Vinegar Gel before taking it into professional manufacture.

She continues to work with laboratories, researchers, universities and innovation partners to test, improve and explore what could come next—while keeping GinGingers independent, family-led and proudly Yorkshire.

GinGinger

Chief Inspiration Officer
(and Official Product Cheerleader!)

The little redhead who inspired our name and drew the very first GinGingers face logo when she was just four years old.

She still helps pack orders, takes photographs for our social media and reminds us that curiosity really can grow into something extraordinary.

Marian Balavendran

Digital Marketing and Website Support

Marian worked with GinGingers through a university-supported digital internship, helping to develop our online presence and tell our story more clearly.

His work included supporting improvements to the website, wholesale page, SEO, content, imagery, user experience and digital marketing. His creativity and digital knowledge made a valuable contribution to the continued growth of GinGingers.

Why Customers Trust GinGingers

GinGingers has grown by listening, learning and working with people who bring valuable knowledge and experience.

Our journey has been shaped through conversations and collaborations with scientists, formulators, universities, innovation centres and retailers—and, most importantly, by listening to the customers who use our gel.

We listen, we learn and we continue to refine our approach. That’s how we believe a skincare brand should grow.

Our Apple Cider Vinegar Gel is proudly made in Yorkshire, independently laboratory tested, COSMOS Natural certified and Leaping Bunny approved.

Our continued research, innovation and digital development have been supported through projects and collaborations with the University of Bradford, University of Huddersfield, Sheffield Hallam University, Coventry University and the Biorenewables Development Centre at the University of York.

We’re not trying to create the most products. We’re focused on making one genuinely multi-purpose gel that people remember.

Research & Innovation

Powered by Collaboration. Driven by Discovery.

For a small independent brand, GinGingers has built a strong network of academic, research and innovation collaborations, working with the University of Bradford, University of Huddersfield, Sheffield Hallam University, Coventry University, Biorenewables Development Centre / University of York and CPI Newcastle to explore formulation development, ingredient performance and future innovation.

Current research includes reducing the natural vinegar aroma of Apple Cider Vinegar and exploring future microbiome-conscious formulations—while protecting the distinctive ingredients and principles at the heart of GinGingers.

This work is helping to shape the next generation of our brand.

Got a Question?

We’re always happy to help wherever we can.