Essentialle
Today our guest is Karina the founder of Essentialle. She is originally from Russia, but has been living in London for over 10 years. Her interest in healthy living have pushed her to start her own company “Essentialle”. They specialise in 100% pure and natural skincare blends formulated with rare extracts and essential oils. We have conducted an interview with her.
Why are you into skincare products?
I have always been interested in various aspects of healthy living. I experimented a lot with various diets and ways of life trying to work out a perfect match for myself. One thing that has truly struck me during one of my quests is that whatever we put into our bodies affects us either in a positive or in a negative way. Changes happen on a genetic level, which is as deep as you can go really. Applying cosmetics on our skin is similar to eating them, as skin absorbs the ingredients of those cosmetic products and in a matter of minutes they are in our blood stream. That’s where my interest in cosmetics started. Since then I’ve decided to create a range of products that contain the highest quality, purest natural ingredients and still deliver incredible results.
Who influences you the most in your research and development work around Essentialle?
I have been doing a course in Nutritional Therapy for a while now and a lot of knowledge on how various things affect our body came from there. I have also been reading a lot of books on plant extracts and essential oils to be able to create the most potent blends of ingredients. My favourite book on the subject is “Fragrant Pharmacy” by Valerie Ann Worwood. It is very informative without being to too technical and boring. All our products are created in a skincare manufacturing laboratory in London and although I come up with the recipe and control everything to do with manufacture, the chemists who I am working with have been very helpful and influential in many ways.
What are the next 5 years plan for Essentialle?
In the next 6 months we will officially launch our new look and 3 more products. Our first product Plantago Oil is already available to buy online. These four products will be the initial range which we will be perfecting and expanding over the coming years. We take the process of creating a product very seriously, so it does take time, as all good things in life do.
How did you begin the formulation of Plantago Oil?
I can actually remember the day when I thought of the idea very clearly. I was in the late stages of pregnancy with my daughter. My husband and I liked to go for walks in a local park from time to time. On one of those walks I saw a plant that reminded me of my childhood in the north of Russia and of my grandma and her magic potion for any skin ailment. My grandmother made a special healing oil from the extract of the plant and she would use it to cure anything from scratches to mosquito bites and burns. Plantago Major turned out to be that miracle childhood plant. After some research I realised that the benefits of this wonderful weed have been largely forgotten and it is not widely used in the UK at the moment. So Plantago Oil was born. Shortly after my daughter, by the way.
What are the benefits of this oil?
Plantago Oil is a unique skincare blend for damaged and irritated skin. It has been formulated with Plantago Major extract in synergy with other carefully chosen potent ingredients, such as Manuka oil, Coconut Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil, Calendula, Chamomile, etc. The oil is super lightweight and easily absorbed and has been found to have powerful wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antioxidant properties. Like all of our products, Plantago oil is free of chemicals, preservatives and artificial fragrances. We ran a series of trials and have received really great feedback with Plantago Oil performing really well with a whole range of skin issues, such as rashes and irritations, dermatitis, mosquito bites and minor burns. It was also reported to have balancing effect on the overproduction of skin sebum and thus helping to prevent and heal spots and acne. You can read more about Plantago Oil on www.essentialle.com.
