A Workington woman has started a business producing environmentally sound and ethically sourced, plastic free cosmetics.

Victoria McTiernan's range of soaps, lip balms, shampoo and conditioner lotion bars are made from sustainable ingredients and are vegan and cruelty free.

She has developed her range, Victoria March Skincare, around working as a civil servant four days a week and raising a family.

Ms Tiernan said she began making soap about three or four years ago when commercial products were leaving her skin feeling dry, she said: "The first thing I noticed when I started making soap was that I didn’t need to use as much moisturiser."

While researching product label information she found that some companies take glycerine out of their soap and sell it to other companies and then have to add artificial ingredients to make the soap moisturising.

She wanted to make her own products so that she could avoid ingredients that did not need to be there and ensure everything used was kind to the skin.

After testing products on herself and family, she said: "We cut down on all sorts of other products, less handcream, less moisturiser."

She was also alarmed about the amount of plastic the household were getting through, from packaging. She said: "It was a no brainer that I’d make more soap and put them in the bathroom and kitchen and use them in the shower and I started thinking if I can make soap what else can I make so I started to make lip balms, shampoo lotion bars, conditioner bar and it went from there as to how many commercial products I could cut out and make myself."

It has taken Ms Tiernan several years to get everything in place before she could sell her products commercially.

This includes cosmetic safety testing, liaising with the EU portal, identifying allergen information within the oils, paperwork and insurance.

Everything was in place by December, then she had to think about the packaging.

She said: "I didn’t want to do boxes as that’s excess packaging so I did a wrap of cardboard to go around. I didn’t want a massive amount of plastic."

She also has the unique addition of using popcorn as packaging in her display boxes, as it is biodegradable.

Victoria March Skincare has a Facebook page, but Ms Tiernan will also be selling her products at craft fairs.

The first fair will be at Carlisle this weekend (February 23) at the Old Town Hall.

She also hopes to sell at local agricultural shows and has recently approached a local supermarket.

Future products include a range without scent or colour for babies.