Beards and business at Craft Lake City's DIY Festival.

• Author: Sasich, Chris
• Position: Around Utah

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Salt Lake City -- Thousands of attendees were able to sample the wares of local artisans, food vendors and businesses at this year's eighth annual CRAFT LAKE CITY DIY FESTIVAL. For many local companies the DIY Festival provides a platform to get their product in front an audience; more than just advertising and community building for the local product scene, this is essential for healthy growth.

Beard grooming, seen by many as a niche pastime rather than a fundamental practice, is making a push for the mainstream. Two vendors were ambassadors to the crowds at DIY Festival on behalf of the beard-grooming industry.

OLIO SKIN AND BEARD has been around since 2009. Owned and operated by husband and wife Derek and Jennifer Williamson, Olio has been growing steadily for the past seven years, thanks in part to festivals like Craft Lake City's DIY Festival.

"We primarily sell at the farmers' markets, like the Downtown Farmers' Market, Park Silly Sunday Market, and then we do big festivals and shows like this," said Derek.

Olio started with skin products, and branched out to beard care after Derek was hesitant to grow a beard in a dry climate. Olio has a wider focus than just beard-care products, offering a variety of skincare and tattoo-care products.

"Probably what sets us apart the most is that we're local, small batch and everything is completely handmade. We know exactly what's in our items," said Jennifer.

"We source our ingredients. We blend them. What's different with us is we've done a lot of research. For instance, our beard oil--most beard oils out there have a base of coconut oil, a large molecule; [it] makes a guy feel greasy through the day. Ours absorbs fully within four minutes," said Derek.

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