Welcome to the next instalment of the #beautyinsider Q&As, where you can find out who is behind some of your favourite beauty brands, what they are working on and how they got there. This month’s guest is Alexandra Paulino, Founder of Alexa Sky Botanicals, a natural skincare brand featuring handmade products packed with organic oils, aromatic waters and active botanical extracts. I discovered a selection of the range whilst browsing Rare Beauty, an online destination championing women-led and British-made natural skincare brands (read my #insider Q&A with its founder Corinne Thomas here). Find out the inspiration behind the brand name and the natural innovative ingredients Alexandra and her team like to work with.

1. Hi Alexandra, thank you for being my Insider Q&A guest this month. Let’s start from the beginning: every beauty brand has a story, how did Alexa Sky Botanicals come about?

Hi Julia thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to be your guest for the Insider Q&A. Initially I started to blend oils and butters to create a salve when I was diagnosed with psoriasis in 2000 after suffering with this skin condition since 1994. I was lathering my skin with petroleum and steroid based creams until I got to the point my skin was no longer healing and I started to experience allergic reactions to the steroid creams. At this moment I decided to change my lifestyle, my diet, all those creams and other synthetic filled skincare for face and body were slowly switched by natural skincare made by me. After this, an amazing shift happen and three months later my skin was healed and never felt so good. In the last four years I have gained several diplomas as a Natural skincare Formulator and joined my daughter to create the Alexa Sky Botanicals Team. I want other people to experience the kind of wholesome feeling of being in tune with their body and nature too.

2. I love the brand name, what was the inspiration and what would you like your consumers to take from it?

Choosing the name for a beauty brand can be one of the hardest things you will ever do for your business. I spent months coming up with names and the more creative I got the more exasperated I became to find that when I searched a similar name was already taken. I needed a name for my business that made me feel connected to the source of all things and from there create amazing skincare. So Alexa derives from my name Alexandra; Sky as I have blue eyes and have always loved the colour blue; Botanicals as I am very passionate about plants not just in skincare but as a main source of a healthy diet.

Image courtesy of Alexa Sky Botanicals (all rights reserved)

3. The natural beauty market is steadily growing with more product choice than ever. What trends should we look out for?

Trends are often set by influencers and the big companies who sell skincare ingredients. One of the reasons I started my beauty brand was that I wanted to be different, to be able to work with my heart and soul and not to be dictated by what I should or shouldn’t be working with. Quite often I feel drawn to certain ingredients so I pick up that thought and start to research those particular ingredients.

4. As founder of a natural British brand offering handmade products, what does a typical day look like for you?

There are never two days alike. Each day brings its own set of challenges. I need always to be at my best to perform at my peak so I get up early and start my morning meditation, after I take breakfast and get ready to start the day. I get to my office and begin to deal with the day’s priorities. I tend to go with the flow, some days I finish early some days I work until late so it depends. There’s a lot of hard work involved in this profession with little or no glamour at all LOL

5. Insider news please! Can you share with us some of the star ingredients in your products and their benefits?

The greatest thing about being a Natural skincare Formulator is that you get to research and work with great innovative ingredients and turn them into amazing products. Our top ingredients are:

• Spinach Seed Oil featured in the Phyto Power Complex Face Oil is a rare, unique and extremely nutrient dense oil; loaded with minerals, vitamins, chlorophyll and amino acids such as arginine and lysine. This makes an essential oil for skin’s optimal health.
• Pearls extract featured in the Moroccan Rose Clay Mask it’s the key to help diminish skin inflammation, accelerate skin healing, promote elasticity, growth of new skin cells, protect the skin against age spots and sun spots. It adds vitality, radiance and a youthful glow to the complexion.
• Prickly Pear Cactus Seed Oil featured in the Cactus Fruit Eye Serum, it’s a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory oil. Containing amino acids that stimulate collagen production and skin-softening vitamin K which brightens under-eye circles, it improves the appearance of dark spots and uneven skin pigmentation. It moisturises and nourishes deeply and boosts skin rejuvenation.
• 24K gold featured in the Skin Metamorphosis Elixir, not only does it give a beautiful, glowing and youthful skin but it’s also beneficial in many ways. It slows down the collagen depletion, increases skin’s elasticity, lightens the skin’s complexion, stimulates new skin cells making the skin look firmer and toned, improves blood circulation and prevents premature ageing.

6. And finally – what exciting new products are you currently working on?

LOL that would be telling! In the middle of August we launched Skin Metamorphosis Face Elixir and now we are about to add a new beauty treat to our online store. We are not able to reveal what it is but what we can say is watch this space and expect great things from us.

If you have any burning questions you’d like to ask Alexandra why not leave a comment below? Or you can get in touch with her directly on Instagram and Twitter.