Only natural ingredients are allowed in these wonderful skincare products from Skin Concept, a winner of the Spinneys Local Business Incubator Programme
“I’ve always been into natural skincare,” says Aisha Chishti, the founder of The Skin Concept, a skincare company that handcrafts bath and beauty products including soaps, face masks, body scrubs, bath soaks and lip balms.
“I grew up with the philosophy that only edible products should be applied to one’s skin. There would always be rose petals and orange peel drying in my mother’s house,” recalls Aisha.
Her mother would make a face cleanser out of oats, rose petals, orange peel and sandalwood, a recipe that was the inspiration behind The Skin Concept’s highly successful face mask and scrub called The Royal One.
Before starting her own business, Aisha spent eight years running a franchise of Shahnaz Husain, an international herbal beauty salon chain, in Dubai. During that period she did a six-month course in skincare and natural therapies. However, running someone else’s business came with restrictions. Once she sold the franchise, she decided to set up her own business. She also delved into the art of making soaps from scratch and learnt a lot through trial and error.
“I knew that I wanted to create products that were not only good for the skin but also aesthetically pleasing, for which I’d need the best raw materials,” Aisha explains.
The Skin Concept sources ingredients from around the world. The salt comes from Pakistan, its fragrances are imported from the UK, US and France, and several others are bought from select suppliers in India.
Aisha’s beautiful handmade products are available at Spinneys’ stores.
“We obviously knew that customers like to touch and feel products but we’d planned on developing the brand’s online presence the first three to four years before venturing into supermarkets. The incubator programme has accelerated our growth tremendously,” says Aisha.
