Nature’s call for your skin

CHENNAI: Sharon Sabina Natarajan has spent her life finding answers to her problems based on a trilogy — heart, mind and hands. She is passionate about green beauty, is a super-woman entrepreneur and a safe beauty maven. Having studied engineering and fine arts, she has also dabbled in advertising, dove head-first into the design industry and education. Her all-natural skincare line, Astrea, focusses on sensitive skin solutions.

Sharon has created a line that was driven by science and research, which makes nature work harder and more efficiently! How does this work, you ask? “This is where my degree in engineering helped! I did a lot of research on skin, molecular structure and various chemical reactions. I also started experimenting with different formulae of my own and eventually created a brand,” she informs, while talking about how lack of research in the field poses a problem as well. “We don’t have a regulating agency! You can pack your products with chemicals and still call it natural. You only have to write the ingredients, don’t have to mention the percentage, so a lot of us never know what we are applying on our faces. There are so many loopholes!”

All ingredients are sourced from suppliers mostly in the north, based on the quality and concentration levels of the active compounds present. They have concerns about the purity of ingredients, and also preservation is an issue. “It is definitely a challenge. Products with all natural ingredients have a shelf life of six months only. They cannot be produced in large batches if you want to preserve their freshness,” Sharon explains.

This also means that the price of production is higher and consistency can be an issue. “The colour and aroma of our products can vary as well. On the flip side, what you get is a unique, custom-made product that has never been part of a mass-production process!”

Sharon also elaborates on how all our medicines and food come from plants. “If I can eat it, I should be able to put it on my skin!” So what is the major difference between at-home DIY’s and doing this on a professional level? “You generally don’t care much for temperature when you do something at home for yourself. We pay a lot of attention to temperature conditions, proportions, and how to extract the right compound from a plant. We also make sure nothing is contaminated in the process.”

She loves improving and correcting skin that is behaving badly and watching the transformation of a person who goes from lacking confidence to really seeing themselves as a beautiful person. She also does skin consulting. “Bring your skin issues to me, and I will brief you on what to eat, how and what products to apply, and how to take better care of yourself holistically,” she smiles.

Not only are the ingredients good for your skin, the brand is good to the environment too! Reduce, reuse and recycle. Astrea follows a zero waste policy, and since the unit is out of Sharon’s home — she has complete control over it. The products come in cute glass jars, which are completely reusable and also don’t react with the component of the product.

Astrea is out with a line of seasonal products, which include really fun edible lip scrubs, bath and shower jelly, etc. Next in the pipeline is a range for oily, dry and normal skin.

Astrea products start at `200 and is available at Maalgadi and Chamiers

Oil & moisturisers

Oil and oil-based cleansers work great on acne prone skin. Water will not help your situation, as it only dries your skin further. Also, not moisturising means you are depriving your skin of nutrition, so your epidermal secretes more oil — thus making you break out more. So don’t be afraid of moisturisers and oil!

SHARON LOVES...

To wear sunscreen all the time!
Her mantra is to cleanse, exfoliate, and protect
Always remember to moisturise daily
The Youth Elixir Face Mist & Plump Blush Exfoliating Mask