About Us

A Nurses passion for health and wellness. 

Hello, I’m Candice Bauer, the founder of BARE by Bauer. I started studying nursing in 2009 to follow my two passions - health and helping others. In 2011, I graduated as a Registered Nurse and have been lucky enough to witness more miracles than most see over a lifetime; but I also have a backstage ticket to the worst days of their lives (please excuse the unsavoury pun). I love working as a nurse, with the highs, lows, wins and losses, it keeps me grounded and forever grateful.

My passions for health and helping others has transformed as my knowledge of holistic health and wellbeing grows. Rewind 10 years when, at the beginning of my career I was primarily focused on conventional medicine, my definition of health would have been something like… ”Health is about being a certain weight, being able to exercise and having a glowing tan”. Superficial hey? But not uncommon. It’s hard not to have these beliefs when we are surrounded by magazines, advertisements and mainstream social media accounts all flaunting “beautiful” photo-shopped people with flawless skin and a size 6 body... all of which is very destructive to our self love and self worth (but that deserves a whole other blog post).

Today, my understanding of health is much more holistic. Health is not only achieved through the food we eat, but also the air we breathe, the thoughts we think, the friends we surround ourselves with, our environment, the stresses we carry and the products we paint our skin with each day.

I used to fight my body (without even knowing it) by eating (or not eating in a bid to stay skinny) foods filled with preservatives and pesticides, applying chemically laden cosmetics to my precious skin to attain that "natural glow", and cleaning my home with toxic products that got washed down the drain to feed our marine life. I never really thought about it as it is what I grew up with (Ignorance is bliss) and I believed I could trust a product if it was sold in Australia.

However, despite various symptoms over the past decade, which I now realise was my bodie's cry for help, it wasn't until I ended up with cystic acne after stopping "the pill", that I realised I needed to get down and treat the root cause of my symptoms rather then take a "band-aid" approach. This meant truly nourishing my body from both from the inside out, and the outside in. This lead me to dive deeper into chemical and toxin exposure, and find ways to reduce my toxic load.

Once I started reading what was in conventional products I was shocked, and this triggered an urge to learn more about these nasties; and more importantly, how to avoid them (again, this deserves a whole other blog post). It’s no wonder I have always fought with my body… because it was constantly under attack! The good news is that now I have discovered the biggest secret that most companies don’t want you to know… read the ingredients!

In a bid to begin improving my overall health and wellbeing, I looked at what I was “nourishing” my body with and started sourcing spray-fee and organic produce from local farmers, markets and butchers where possible (I am a big believer in supporting local economy). I started talking to suppliers to gain as much information as possible, so that I could choose the most nourishing and ethical produce. I also began reading product labels. By simply reading the ingredients on each product in the shopping aisle, I soon found which brands share my ethos. So little by little, I began making changes in my own time, and it felt great to know what I was putting into my body.

While changing food habits was coming along nicely, sorting through my skin care and cosmetics was a bit of a different story. I found that I no longer wanted to use my favourite moisturiser or deodorant, but the alternative products that I did want to use were generally a bit more than I was comfortable to spend. I began experimenting with beautiful blends of essential oils, organic whole food ingredients, shea butters and clays… I was like a mad scientist, minus the lab coat and frizzy hair. That’s when BARE by Bauer was starting to take shape (though I didn’t know it yet). 

As my mixes became better, my personal range was growing. Before long I was making all sorts of products, from deodorant, to body scrubs and face serums. My husband has a disease in both hips which can cause excruciating pain, leaving him no choice but to turn to Panadol and Nurofen. This got us experimenting with essential oils in a new way for non-pharmacological pain relief. After numerous trials with different ingredients, ratios and a whole lot of research, we had created a mix that helps to ease Matt’s discomfort, minimising medications to almost nothing now (disclaimer: We are always working on additional ways to help him, such as stretching, exercise and diet). Matthew does not solely rely on one remedy to ease his pain).

Fast forward to today, and BARE by Bauer is a brand that reflects both Matt's and my core beliefs - It is very much a team effort. Matt is typically in charge of web & social development; while I am typically more involved in the product research & development. We are proud of our ingredients label, so proud that we wish there was more room on the front of our packaging so that we didn’t need to place ingredients on the back! Our journey to optimising health and wellness has been exactly that, a journey. One that is constantly evolving as we learn new things that I hope to share with you all. Please contact us with any questions you may have, or even just to say hi. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely,

Candice & Matt Bauer.