When it comes to finding your ideal skincare routine, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by a shelf full of moisturizers, toners and cleansers
Somerset Moss is on a mission to help you simplify your skincare routine and provide natural ingredients that are healing for your skin.
The brand offers four products: a facial oil, balm, facial mist and strengthening mask. For founder Samantha Miles-Mackay, the decision to create only four items came from a desire to streamline her daily ritual. “I had a cupboard brimming with skincare, and after trying and testing dozens of them, I wanted to simplify my lifestyle altogether,” she says.
Somerset MossMiles-Mackay grew up on a farm in Somerset, England, where she would collect hedgerow flowers and leaves and mix them together with a splash of water. Her background as an aesthetician and holistic expert was a ‘natural fit’. Moving to Vancouver, Canada ignited her passion for botanicals, and in 2017, Somerset Moss was born.
When selecting skincare, Miles-Mackay advises being mindful of common ingredients like parabens and sulphites, which can be irritants to the skin. “Sodium lauryl sulphate is used to create foam, known to be a hormone disruptor,” she says, “while alcohol strips the barrier nutrients from the skin,”
Although, she notes that certain fatty alcohols like cetyl and stearyl alcohol (used as emollients and thickeners) are good for improving hydration and moisture.
“Many of the skin conditions we see today, especially those related to sensitivity, are a result of the natural lipid barrier being removed,” says Miles-Mackay, “Keeping a healthy barrier allows your skin to be protected and results in healthy, dewy skin.” Using botanical ingredients with healing properties is a great way to care for your skin, and your well-being overall, she adds.
Somerset Moss utilizes natural essential oils from all over the world, and only purchases ingredients from fair trade ethically produced farms. They package their products primarily from glass to encourage repurposing and/or recycling,