Let me ask you a question – would you go to any dentist in any town for your routine check-up? Are you happy to go to any hairdresser who has an appointment? The answer will be no! – we do business with those we like know and trust!

As customers we want to know if we can ‘like know and trust’ the companies we buy from so in this series we ask the person behind some of my favourite natural and organic companies to step out into the spotlight

It’s the turn of Dr Pauline Hili of Nourish

Tell us about yourself and your company? How did you get started?

Having been one of the original scientists formulating organic skincare products, it is wonderful to see how this sector has flourished with many customers now realising the importance of looking carefully at what they put onto their skin. However, aside from branding, there is little differentiation between many of these organic products and I felt that the time was right to move organic skincare on to the next level to give customers more effective skincare options.

Innovation underpins all I do and I look for new, beneficial natural ingredients to improve the effectiveness of our products. Our organic Kale range is an example of this; Kale applied topically has recently been shown to play a key role in helping to reduce air borne pollutants causing ageing of the skin – a real issue for urban living. I make the kale extract to ensure it has the exact qualities I need for optimum effectiveness.

 What were you doing in a previous life?

I was Technical Director for Neal’s Yard Remedies for a number of years. Alongside this role I was running research programmes looking into how organic and natural extracts can be used to improve the overall health of skin. I wanted to take this knowledge and use it to develop a brand of my own. Nourish formulations are a distillation of this research and of the 30 years spent observing how products can impact on a person’s life.

Why natural / organic / sustainable?

Looking after our health is a fundamental driver but, as important for me, is maintaining the health of the earth. For me the soil is the skin of the earth. It protects humanity and it allows human beings to evolve. Protecting this precious asset supports all species for future generations and is fundamental to life.

What’s your USP? What sets you apart from your competitors?

Harnessing the powers of superfoods and plant extracts to deliver essential nutrition directly to the skin.

What kind of feedback you have received from clients?

It is important to listen to customers and we feed their responses back into our formulation process. We love to hear what they have to say.

“It works almost immediately. I knew after 2 days that this was special. It is like a reverse time machine”

“I’ve seen a vast improvement in my skin, no more sensitivities, no more breakouts, and no more dullness, just skin that over time is becoming healthier, brighter, clearer and suppler”

“Amazing product! Such a beautiful natural highlighting effect”

What’s the next big launch / project coming up for you?

My next big challenge is air pollution: skin damage from small particle damage arising in air pollution is known to be a factor in ageing of skin and I am looking at skincare solutions to tackle this. I believe this is an area of research we are going to be hearing more about in the next couple of years. Some of my formulations are tackling this now, but I believe that, as science moves forwards, I can go even further with my formulations.

What’s your big dream?

To have my own skin research centre and a factory for teaching people all about the joys of formulating and making products. Training new scientists and being reverse mentored by them about new technologies is extremely fulfilling and gives me a sense of purpose and fulfilment.

Where can we find your products ?

Nourish is stocked in the UK by over 50 shops and online retailers including Whole Foods Markets, Naturisimo and many independent retailers

Website:
www.nourishskinrange.com