Centre County musician combines love of cooking and skincare for pandemic hobby turned business

When the pandemic hit, Christie Clancy, a Penn State employee and member of musical duo Hops & Vines, found herself working at home, with a relatively empty calendar.

“I always like to keep busy, but it’s ... hard to do shows right now and you’re working from home. I started thinking of the things I love to do, and I love to cook and I love skincare. I thought maybe I’ll do something with cooking and I bought all these spices, but the more I was looking at it, the more I thought, a lot of this is really great for your skin, too, so why not start making my own products?” she said.

In November, Clancy soft-launched her new skincare brand, Clancy& Skin Food. Now, customers can find her products locally at Smith and Front in Philipsburg, as well as on Etsy and Facebook Shops. The brand offers a range of skincare items, from lip balms to exfoliating scrubs, natural deodorants to body balms, both pre-made and customizable.

“If I talk to someone, I can get a feel of the scents they like and customize something for them,” Clancy said. “For the things that are pre-made, I’m really looking to find ... those things that are maybe a little quirkier — a little different, but things that will still make you say, ‘oh that sounds really interesting.’ ”

One of her favorite new scents is a fig, banana and lime mix.

“It’s something I don’t think I’ve smelled that much before, but it give you this really fresh, sweet, tropical feeling. (The products are) all-natural and locally made and the types of scents and blends you might not see everywhere,” Clancy said.

Clancy said one of her products that has received the most attention is the all-natural deodorant, made with coconut oil, arrowroot powder, baking soda, cornstarch and essential oil. For those who aren’t a fan of baking soda, a baking soda-free deodorant is also available.

“It’s really moisturizing and I’m selling it with a scrub as a duo now, because for people getting into natural deodorant, it’s good to exfoliate in the shower and then use your natural deodorant. You kind of need to start with a clean slate to feel like it’s working,” she said. Her new scrubs include a line of coffee scrubs made using W.C. Clarke Cheese Shoppe french roast coffee, and miniature natural deodorant and Cheese Shoppe coffee scrub duos are available at Smith and Front.

As for Clancy’s favorite products, though, she looks forward to expanding her line of perfumed oils, travel-sized and ready to take on the go.

While she’s eager for life to get back to “normal” post-pandemic, Clancy also calls the last year a “fertile” time for entrepreneurs to try new things, as well as for anyone at all to try a new hobby.

“This really is the perfect time to just try it. If you want to stay healthy and stay safe and you’re home more often, why not take a detox from your social media and learn to knit or create a face scrub or start to draw? This is a great time for people to try a creative outlet or that side business they’ve always wanted to do,” she said.

Find the full line of Clancy& Skin Food offerings online at www.etsy.com/shop/ClancyAndSkinFood, where you can also reach out to Clancy regarding custom orders.

This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 7:00 AM.