Meet Sarah
Hello, thank you for taking the time to learn about me and my journey to becoming a proud Founder and Formulator at Pure•ly Mei Botanical Skincare.
I was raised in Downey, California by my father, a hardworking wonderful man, and was the first in my family to graduate college. I received my Bachelors Degree from CSUN in Screenwriting. I wanted to be a filmmaker. I did end up working in the Entertainment Industry, but as an Assistant. It wasn't exactly as easy as I thought it would be coming out of college, to pursue a career as a working female Director.
My skincare journey began seven years ago when I decided to take a leap of faith and said goodbye to the corporate world as an Executive Assistant and began a career of service in the healing world as an Esthetician. The stress of a fast paced, sometimes walking on egg shells, kind of job no longer served me and my spirit. I had always wanted to be an Esthetician, but was scared to give up the safety of a cushy job with great benefits.
Esthetician is born
When I was younger I was always self conscious of my skin. I wasn't able to afford to get facials and drugstore products were worsening the problem. I knew early on that one day I would become an Esthetician so I could help people. So when that opportunity came to give birth to a new career, I was more then anxious to put my knowledge and passion to use. But just after completing my studies through Santa Monica College and getting my License at 40 yrs old, I gave birth to my daughter Meisha.
My first year as an Esthetician I had relocated to Henderson, Nevada and rented a studio in a salon in Boulder City. All while raising a six month old. Women are amazing multi-taskers. In the year that I was there, I was fortunate to build a diverse cliental and work with different skin types. It really gave me an appreciation for the uniqueness of each person's skin and how to treat various conditions. It also made me realize how limiting the products on the market were, especially for Estheticians. I wanted cleaner alternatives.
Mentors along way
I began to dissect ingredients on the back of bottles to get a better understanding of what might be causing a common concern I was seeing in my clients, a compromised skin barrier. I was shocked how much fragrance and sensitizing, comedogenic ingredients were out there. I decided I wanted to take my new found obsession further and decided to continue my education and signed up for some classes at UCLA Extension.
I was fortunate to have studied Cosmetic Chemistry at UCLA with Rebecca Gadberry, a one of a kind educator and leader in product development in the skin care industry. It was there that I realized I didn't want to just hire a Chemist to formulate, I wanted to do the formulating and research the ingredients myself. Call it serendipity, but once that became clear, I met a girl from my class who was standing behind me at Starbucks on our break talking about doing just that. I asked her where she studied and she told me about Formula Botanica. The universe heard me and led me to continuing my education at Formula Botanica where I later received a Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation along with several other certificates. It gave me a great foundation and a desire to keep learning and grow as a formulator.
From Esti to Founder
This photo is special to me because it was taken from my first job out of school at a Med Spa, and I was five months pregnant.
I've been an Esthetician for six years now and continue to work with clients. I specialize in treating acne, hyperpigmentaion and restoring compromised skin back to homeostasis. I feel blessed to be doing something I love and proud of the company I am growing. My passion is to produce and bring you true pure beauty products that are clean and derived from nature. I take pride in researching the right ingredients to bring effective results for every skin type and tone.
For any questions you may have about your skin or our products, email me. I'm happy to help.
Love,
Sarah
