Fais Botanical Beauty is focused on providing a minimal skincare approach harnessing the power of plant oils. It is ideal for those who do not want to compromise on their skincare experience and prefer multitasking ingredients and products.
Created from Marina’s personal understanding of simply not having the time to adhere to a multi step skincare routine, she went about researching and formulating products that would allow one to create a simple but effective skin routine that would cater to all skin types.
Watermelon Seed Oil is at the heart of all of the formulas. Rich in essential fatty acids and antioxidants, it’s not only restorative and nourishing, but will also balance oily skin and protect it from free radical damage caused by environmental factors.
Read on below to discover Marina’s inspiration for starting a skincare brand, the importance of sustainability and the influence that aromatherapy has when it comes to her own wellbeing and the products she has created.
Marina also hints at a new product currently in development....
What was the inspiration behind starting your own botanical skin care brand?
Growing up I was always passionate about plants and botanics. My grandma had a wonderful garden where I spent many happy summers exploring the multitude of plant species. Having spent my childhood in Germany, upon reflection, it made me very passionate about the environment. This transpires through the creation of my products, as I always consider the impact on our planet and continue to find ways to support this.
Previously, I had worked in a high pressured advertising job in the city which made me realise that I needed to take more care of myself in order to make myself happy. But having no time to spare to do so, made me realise that there were only only a handful of brands that offered a simple, minimal but indulgent skincare collection. Also, very few of them offered products made up entirely of natural ingredients.
So I guess my explorative childhood self and my more grown up rational self is what makes up fais.
What steps did you take to formulate your own collection?
In my day job, I am an advertising art director and my clients are often within the beauty and healthcare sector. I guess I was always particularly interested in this field, but working with these brands made me realise flaws in their choice of ingredients as well as production practices. So I became a bit of a skeptic and started to look for ways of how to create skincare I would want to use myself.
I also suffer from hormonal acne at the age of 37, which is no fun. So I started reading books about ingredients and remedies as well as skincare. The Skincare Bible by Anjali Mahto as well as all beauty and wellbeing books by The Neal’s Yard Remedies are wonderful reads.
There is also a local non profit organisation offering skincare and herbal well-being classes called Hackney Herbal This is where I learned how to create basic formulas and to understand which remedies can aid problematic skin and improve mental health.
What did you want the products you created in the collection to focus on?
I am focused on sharing a more “clean” approach to beauty and skincare through offering a line of products that uses only natural ingredients, whilst maintaining a transparent approach to production practices.
All of the products in my range are made of natural ingredients, vegan friendly and cruelty free
My skincare products were developed to help not only busy professionals but anyone that wants to sustain a balanced lifestyle, with simple but indulgent self-care routines that aim to fix everyday problems. Products that help to achieve a healthy balance for the skin and the mind without damaging the environment.
My range also caters for customers with oily/combination skin by using light and non-greasy oils like our star ingredient Watermelon seed oil and other noncomedogenic ingredients.
How important is sustainability and how do you incorporate this within aspects of your business?
Sustainability is at the centre of the business. We try to chose packaging that doesn’t cause strain on biodiversity and try to order packaging straight from manufacturer with no middle men in order to reduce carbon footprint. We use glass and aluminium where possible because it is, unlike plastic, 100% recyclable. We also started offering a Return and Refill service (before lockdown) whereby we up-cycle your fais empties to new products. Hopefully we can bring it back very soon!
We try to use the same ingredients across various formulas which enables us to leave less carbon footprint when ordering them in bulk.
All of our formulas are created in our workshop in Hackney with deliveries being dispatched straight from the workshop, making the delivery process more sustainable and reducing CO2 emissions.
We also try to partner up with brands that share the same ethos, so often cooperate with other sustainable small businesses like Ethical Market and The Natural Wellness box.
I can never be without a lip balm, tell me about your most recent creation Kiss It, your lip and skin balm....
‘Kiss it’ is a multitasking lip & skin balm which nourishes, softens and protect chapped or dry lips as well as other dry skin areas. It’s made with a combination of vegan waxes, coconut, natural oils and shea butter and has a sumptuous, hydrating balm texture that’s long lasting and non-sticky.
I am all for multi-use products because they mean less packaging waste and fuss-free beauty routines
‘Kiss it’ has been developed to be your go-to for chapped lips, dry elbows, to remove cuticles, you name it. It comes in a cute gold aluminium tin and is 100% recyclable. I have one on my desk and in every handbag. My husband already nicked a few for himself, I think he uses it to smoothen his beard and eyebrows. There’s really no limit to what you can do with it and that’s the beauty of it. It comes in two scent directions, a floral Rose Geranium and a more unisex Bergamot & Mint, with new scents to come very soon.
Self care and wellbeing is so important especially during these current times.
What would be your ideal self care ritual to help promote wellness and calm?
As you might have noticed I am all about fuss-free routines, but one thing that makes me very happy are scents. So I always like to infuse my beauty routines with a hint of aromatherapy. All of my products are developed with a great scent experience in mind.
Lately I have started to hand pour aromatherapy candles too to complement my product range (new product alert!) and include in my beauty ritual
At the moment I also love to incorporate beauty tools in my routine, I find nothing more relaxing than working one of my products in with the help of a natural stone facial roller or a scraping tool. It really enhances your blood circulation, allowing the products to distribute better and is just super relaxing!
My new obsession is the Luna mini 3 by the Swedish brand Foreo which is a high tech beauty gadget which helps to clean skin and improves its appearance over time. And the best thing - you only charge it once via USB and it’s enough for an entire year! Super energy saving, I like that!
Visit Fais Botanical Beauty to view Marina’s creations and keep up to date with product formulation and launches @faisbotanicals on Instagram
