MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Kristy Cimesa, 43, founded global skincare and spa brand, elemental Herbology, in 2008. in 2017 she launched the healing Botanico Vida Omega Oil. she lives in London with her husband raul and their children, nine and six.
I STARTED a law degree, but then I got hooked on botanical remedies so I trained as a holistic therapist.
While I was working on a spa project in London, I developed my own range of spa products. I was then invited by Space NK’s Nicky Kinnaird to join the firm in 2004, and four years later launched Elemental Herbology.
I travelled the world, growing the business, but reconciling that with bringing up two small children was a real struggle. Every time I got on a plane, I felt I was abandoning them. So I took time off to hang out with my kids.
I was in the sandpit in Queen’s Park in London when I started chatting to a mum, Hannah. She was coming out of management consultancy and, like me, was looking for a new challenge.
On a trip to New York, I had seen this banner in Walgreens for America’s best-selling body oil, Bio-Oil — but it contains mineral oil, a by-product of petroleum.
I wondered if I could create an all-natural botanical oil. I had already used the sacha inchi seed from Peru for Elemental Herbology. It is sustainable and one of the richest plant sources of omegas 3, 6 and 9.
I’d used it on my son’s skin when he was two months old because he had red scaly eczema patches and within a week they’d healed. So I brainstormed a plan with Hannah. In the lab, we added other oils to the sacha inchi and found this increased skin elasticity.
Hannah and I invested in the business, along with the same investor who provided the startup capital for Elemental Herbology. Then we visited pharmacies and they said: ‘You’ve created a 100 per cent botanical alternative to Bio-Oil? Fantastic!’
One year on, Botanico Vida is sold in Sainsbury’s, Harrods, Next, Boots and leading pharmacies. It’s vegan-certified and 100 per cent free of petrochemicals.
You can use it on stretchmarks and sunburn, and to hydrate ageing or dry skin. I use it daily.
This time I’m growing the business in stages. I do yoga, go running and see my kids every day. And my daughter and Hannah’s daughter are still best friends.