Do not go into Tval on Water Street if you are feeling hungry.
The skin care company is filled with delicious scents and small extremely realistic cupcakes sit on a stand, tantalizing all your taste buds. Soaps, cleansers, creams and more are all prepared fresh at the store.
Tval opened in February of 2004 and was started by Anna Hellqvist, a Swedish biologist and chemist and her husband Jason Bailey, a Newfoundland biologist.
The two met in Sweden when they were completing their PhD’s. They moved to the rock where Anna started Tval as a hobby shop on Duckworth Street at the time.
“Anna had been making products on her own since childhood. She had always been interested in skincare and cosmetics,” said no co-owner and director Bobby Bailey, Jason’s brother.
With that little shop in the corner came a ton of popularity. All through word of mouth and a bit of press, Tval’s soaps made to look like cupcakes and cake were in high demand.
All the products are high quality and appealing to everyone, including those with sensitivities. The smells alone will leave anyone wanting more and the prices for decent skin care are extremely reasonable.
It’s such a different atmosphere, to walk into a store that hits you with a smell of comfort the minute you step in. People smiling and waving at you and willing to help. One worker stands in an apron cooking up some desirable cleansers.
Bobby became a full partner in 2006. He has along history in cosmetics including makeup artistry and management experience at Mac Cosmetics.
“I fell in love with Tval’s quality immediately. I quit my job and moved back home from Toronto to dive in head first,” recalled the director. “I love my job. Some of my favourite aspects of being with Tval are our ethics . We are cruelty free, we have fair pricing and environmental responsibility, our luxury high quality commitment, and, mostly, the creativity I get to employ every day,” said Bailey.
Some of the new products Tval is launching this year include facial cleansing grains, glitter gel and pressed cream-to powder eye shadows.
“We always have new flavours and scents, in many of our products. We make everything right in the shop, so we often get creative, and just whip up a new scent or product. Ideas flow at Tval,” said the co-owner.
The company had its busiest season yet this past Christmas and looks forward to serving more customers throughout the year.
“I love our customers, and I am rewarded daily by accolades, positive feedback, enthusiasm, and a level of pure passion that I have rarely seen in the cosmetics industry. With so much on the market, it’s an amazing testament that our customers return again and again. Many of them have been using Tval since day one,” said Bobby enthusiastically.
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