Conscious Beauty And Beautiful Minds: Interview w/ Sara Corleison of Tailor Skin
Suffering with acne as a teen, Sara Corleison was prescribed acne medication which destroyed her gut.
She was never warned about the dangers of long term antibiotic use, the detrimental impact it has on your gut microbiome and ultimately the health of your entire body. Plus her skin wasn’t fixed (sigh). So in the years following, she’d spend countless sums of money on skincare hoping for glowing clear skin but nothing worked.
Fast forward to 2011, she took her (what she describes as a) dull, pimply face and unhealthy gut to California and joined a biotech start-up in Grass Valley. She began to question how products are made and the safety of many chemicals used. She was already obsessed with skincare so she took a deep dive into what makes a great skincare product, how each ingredient functions in a formula, and how to formulate clean, natural, and effective skincare.
She moved back to New Zealand, invested her savings, purchased a cake mixer, a second-hand laptop, and started a business making safe, effective, natural skincare all from her kitchen counter. She was obsessed with myth-busting, discovering the latest results, based on natural ingredients, and sharing this knowledge with her growing social media following. 8 beauty awards later, Tailor Skincare has earned its name as an authority on natural skincare, bringing transparency to a secretive industry.
What was the first beauty routine you adopted as a child or teenager? Which emotions do you connect with this memory?
Using harsh acne products which gave my skin a horrible rash. Plus it left it feeling super sensitive and raw. I was so embarrassed of my skin and felt very low in confidence.
CONSCIOUS BEAUTY — What meaning do you give this term?
Conscious beauty means making safe and effective skincare with ingredients that are cultivated without harm to the planet, our people and animals. Plus responsible packaging which is at the forefront of green technologies (compostable or recyclable and responsible)
Which aspects of sustainability in beauty are especially important to you?
The sustainable cultivation of ingredients and using what’s local to you. For years we’ve worked with NZ farmers and suppliers of oils and clay for Tailor Skincare. Packaging is also of critical importance. As packaging technologies change it’s important to review, adapt and improve your packaging offering.
When do you consciously feel beautiful?
When I’m with my daughter. She’s 1 year old and gives the sweetest hugs that make you feel so special, so loved and so beautiful.
Did your approach to beauty change within the last 1–2 years?
Honestly, it hasn’t changed in 10 years. I just think packaging technology has caught up. Two years ago we launched out compostable skincare refills. But this has always been a business focus for us. We’ve always been focused on natural, cruelty free products that work.
How would you like to see the image of beauty change within the next 5 years?
I’d like to see more customer education focused towards the green / clean beauty space. Clean does not mean natural, natural does not mean gentle and vegan does not be clean. But I think the customer assumes if it’s vegan, it’s natural and clean. I want customers to truly understand what they’re purchasing and applying to their skin the bodies largest organ.
What or who inspires your beauty routine?
Mother nature — sounds cheesy but it’s true/ Natural ingredients are some complex by design and have so many benefits to your skin and overall health that we just can’t replicate in a lab.
What is your best beauty advice to others?
You can put the best quality natural products onto your skin but what matters most is how you look at yourself in the mirror. Be kind to yourself — beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
THANK YOU!
Follow Tailor Skincare on Instagram.
Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on CONSCIOUS BEAUTY:
Hello! I am a serial entrepreneur with more than 2 decades of experience in the health & beauty industry. This interview series is intended to create awareness about the movement of Conscious Beauty.
We are in a beautiful time of Conscious Beauty — you may have heard of this term, but what does Conscious Beauty mean, and why does it matter?
For us, beauty is a way to love — it is about self-care, art, nutrition, exercise, life, self-love. I invite you to become part of a movement that re-defines beauty. Let’s empower beautiful minds.
Thank you for being the change. I’m looking forward to learn from you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
