Meet Katie Piper; Truly a Woman to Inspire

The Katie Piper Foundation - a registered charity number 1133313 -  is a worthy cause which is very close to our hearts here at Inner-Soul Organics, not least because founder and CEO Katie has shown remarkable strength, energy and perseverance in working tirelessly towards her goal in helping people with burns and scars in a number of ways.

Here Katie explains more about her charity's invaluable work, future plans and how she will be spending Christmas 2013

Founder and CEO of the Katie Piper Foundation

ISO: The Katie Piper Foundation has been established for 4 years now - tell us a little more about the charity and the work it does:

KP: Our vision is a world where scars do not limit a person’s function, social inclusion or sense of well-being.  The Katie Piper Foundation www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk aims to make it easier for people to live with burns and scars.  We provide access for burns survivors to specialists in  cosmetic tattooing, hair replacement systems and laser treatment.  We provide advice on scars on a one-to-one basis.  Social interaction and peer support is provided through workshops, activities and classes – and this year we have started a pilot workshop programme in conjunction with the Nottingham Burns Unit.

We know that positive role models are very important for changing attitudes and raising awareness, so we’re providing training and advice on inspirational speaking to a number of burn survivors who will be able to represent us in the many schools, colleges and businesses that fundraise for us.

And in addition, projects we have funded in 2013 include Scar Academy UK – a training course for burns care professionals who heard from a wide range of experts and clinicians about the innovative treatments and options available to treat burns and scar; and also a six month Holistic Therapy Trial and research project at the Mersey Regional Burns Centre which we have agreed to extend for a further six months into 2014.


ISO: What has been a personal / professional highlight for you since starting up the Foundation?

KP: Seeing the burns survivors who originally approached us for help going through our system of treatments and workshops and now being in a position to help others at the start of their journey.


ISO: Sounds incredible. Any new plans for the KPF in the pipeline?

KP: Our latest appointment, just last month, to the Foundation is a key individual – Mr Kayvan Shokrollahi – a consultant plastic surgeon – who will be leading the Foundation into an exciting future.  Not only will the Foundation be helping more burns survivors than ever, but Kayvan’s involvement will provide many new opportunities for the charity.  I anticipate my team at the office will be very busy next year!

Proof that Katie's choice of treatments can genuinely improve the appearance of burns and scars.
Find out more about treatments offered by the charity here

ISO: What advice would you give someone setting up their own charity?

KP: When I set up the Foundation, I found support and advice the most crucial thing, so building up a team of people with a vested interest in your cause is a must.

ISO: You’ve had a varied life so far – what has been your most inspiring event to date?

KP: Winning the Pride of Britain award and then having the privilege to return the following year as a judge and listen to some incredible stories of strength and courage.

 

A cupcake making event organised for beneficiaries of

the Katie Piper Foundation

ISO: If you could arrange to meet anyone you chose, who would it be and why?

KP: My late grandma as she died when I was 4 years old, so I would love to have a dinner with her and find out all about her life.


ISO: Which people have most inspired you in your life?

KP: My Mum and Dad


ISO: Describe your essential get-ready process before leaving the house in the morning.

KP: I don't have much time in the morning, I usually leave the house before 7 am. A shower is a must but sometimes my make-up is done in the car at the traffic lights! I am strict with my skincare routine and don't ever sleep in my make-up. I have regular facials.

ISO: You have great style – what is your ideal winter day out and what would you wear?

KP: I love out door ice rinks at Christmas - so I think a pair of faux-fur ear muffs would be essential!

ISO: Do you and your family have a particular way of celebrating Christmas?

KP: The most important thing for us all is to be together as a family. We always have a traditional lunch and then fall asleep after the Queen’s speech!

ISO: So what are your Xmas plans for this year?

KP: With my family, that's what Christmas is all about for me.  This year I am cooking for everyone at my house - 16 people !!!

ISO: What do you love most about Christmas?

KP: That everyone is in a happy and helpful mood, spread the love!

Inner-Soul Organics Luxury Skincare is proud to work in partnership with the Katie Piper Foundation, donating £1 per product sold across our entire skincare range to the charity. 

Click here to find out more information about donating 

 

Women To Inspire - Victoria Wright of souksouk.co.uk

Women to Inspire 

Featuring Victoria Wright, founder of Souksouk.co.uk 

Victoria Wright has proven herself to be an ethical warrier in founding souksouk.co.uk, offering 'Little Green Beauty Boxes' delivered to your door containing 5 quality, natural and eco-friendly products - a wonderful and creative way to find out about new brands and try something new! There are also Bespoke and Limited Edition boxes which make a treat or a beautiful gift and a magazine is included in each and every box too. Victoria's energy and commitment to promoting safe and cruelty-free products is quite boundless. Read more here: 

ISO: Tell us a bit more about you – significant others, (including any pets), and where you live:

VW: Well, I live in London but I’m a total northerner at heart, coming from Sheffield, a city I’m hugely proud of. I live with my fiancé who is a photographer which is very handy! He helps me a lot to produce imagery for the website and his background is in magazine editing so that also comes in useful as we produce a monthly magazine which is included in our boxes. I also have two bunnies. They’re getting on a bit now (they’re eleven and twelve) but still bouncing around like youngsters!

ISO: What inspired you to set up Souksouk.co.uk?

VW: I’ve always been interested in natural and organic beauty and I’m very principled about using beauty products that haven’t been tested on animals. I came across the beauty box concept and thought it was fantastic. However, I couldn’t find one that featured the sort of products I like, or that stood for something meaningful. I really liked the idea of creating a box that could feature a wide range of products, from established brands as well as smaller, artisan producers. Supporting brands that are making a difference by proving it’s possible to create high quality, beautiful and effective products without the use of cheap chemicals was really important to me. So the Little Green Beauty Box was born!

ISO: Explain the key features of Souksouk and what makes it special, plus any news: 

VW: SoukSouk.co.uk is an ethical business so we are passionate about introducing beauty consumers to greener, cleaner, more ethical products. The Little Green Beauty Box is our core product. It’s a monthly subscription-based box featuring five (or more) natural, organic, chemical-free and cruelty-free beauty products, which is posted out to subscribers once a month. We also create the monthly Little Green Magazine which contains tones of information about the natural beauty industry, new products and innovations, inspirational women, trends and issues that get under our skin. All the materials we use have either been completely recycled or come from FSC certified sources and all are 100% recyclable.

We have also just started selling Limited Edition Beauty Boxes - we currently have a Christmas Box and an Autumn Box - and Bespoke Boxes which we can tailor a bit more towards customers’ specific needs. And we have a small online shop too where we sell beauty products that make great gifts such as Soak Yourself’s Bath Ritual Recipe Kits and MuLondon’s White Chocolate Elbow, Knee, Heel Cream.

Next year will be more of the same. We’re constantly striving to collaborate with new and interesting brands as well as producers who are genuinely doing the right thing and breaking new ground. We also want to do more campaigning on behalf of causes which affect women and the beauty industry.

·    ISO: What do you most love about running your own business?

VW: Probably the thing I love most about running this business is the knowledge that I’m playing a part in helping to grow an industry that is key to us acquiring a more realistic and holistic view of beauty and gaining access to purer, more sustainable formulas. So many of us are seduced by the industry into buying ‘quick fix’ products that are packed with cheap, chemical-based ingredients and we’ve lost sight of the role that health, wellbeing and stress management plays in the way we look and feel.

On a day-to-day level, I enjoy having the freedom to plan my own schedule and work at times that suit me. I like the challenge of setting up a business from scratch and having the opportunity to meet some incredibly talented people. I also think we’re lucky to have some very knowledgeable customers who appreciate what we’re trying to do. It’s a great challenge to consistently surprise them with each monthly box.

·    ISO: What advice would you give to someone starting out in their own business?

VW: Starting your own business, especially in this economic climate, is a real challenge. Getting your head around the financial aspect is really important, as is having a plan – all the usual things a business book will tell you. But in my experience, self-confidence and a strong belief in what you’re doing is absolutely essential to ensure you weather the tougher times. When I gave up a well-paid, secure job to start my own business, I found that many people would be supportive and confess their own desire to take the risk and go it alone, while others would ask me how long I’m going to ‘give’ the business before I write it off and return to employment. They meant well but it’s an early test to confidence. In my case it emboldened me to go on and prove that I could do it! Ultimately, you need to have a higher purpose to aspire to, something that motivates you beyond making a profit. Because, when the profits don’t suddenly materialize, something else has to get you out of bed!

·    ISO: How do you take time out?

VW: I try to go to the gym or do yoga every other day (an impending wedding is good motivation!) but it’s not unusual for work to take precedence over this. Start-up businesses take up a huge amount of time but require large amounts of thought and creativity which in turn require some space. So I find it really important to schedule time out, to spend time with my fiancé and my friends, or to visit a gallery or just take a walk along the river – anything to clear my head, tune into the ‘real world’ and get some perspective.

·    ISO: If you had to pick just 5 beauty products to live with, what would they be?

VW: My skin is going through a particularly erratic phase which I think comes from testing so many different products, not all of which are suitable for my skin. I always, always return to my tried and trusted Green People Cleansing Cream, Fruitful Nights and Vita-Min Cream to try and calm my skin down a bit. Then it would probably be raw Coconut Oil (which I use for pretty much everything) and my Avril Organic Mascara.

     ISO: Which people have most inspired you in your life?

My mum has taught me a lot about work ethic and my late Gran was a bit of a trailblazer, working from an early age and having quite an unconventional family life. But women like Anita Roddick and Joanna Lumley have been big sources of inspiration in relation to putting yourself out there and standing up for a cause you believe in.

·    ISO: What advice would you give your 16 year old self?

ISO: Don’t give up A-level Business Studies! I did actually give this up to focus on more ‘arty’ subjects because I simply couldn’t get my head around all the business jargon. It all becomes clear when you physically start your own business and the jargon is put into practice. If I could influence the curriculum I’d suggest challenging students to go through the motions of setting up a business (even if it’s just selling socks on ebay) and running their own books. It would become so much clearer and meaningful to students like my 16 year old self. 

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Massage

It's been a while and things have been hectic here in Kent but was determined to write SOMETHING today!

As you may know I worked as an aromatherapist for 12 years  - in fact, my practice was called Inner-Soul back then and I still see some of my clients (read friends), when I get the time! Anyway, we are planning to promote specifically designed massage techniques with our products to help our customers get the best possible results. Massage is a wonderful way to boost the blood flow beneath skin, which can really help with combination, dry and sensitive skin types by actively flushing away toxins. I love some the Ayurvedic facial techniques which are vigorous but leave a lovely glow and can even help to lift any creeping sagginess. Watch this space, will keep you posted!

Facial massage is a great skin tonic and will leave a natural glow.
Inner-Soul Organics will soon be launching some massage steps to help our customers get the best results when used alongside our Barefaced Beauty Natural Serum

We are placing samples of our two body oils - Circulation Boost and Romance Me - in the Souksouk.co.uk boxes going out in December and so are preparing those this week. I am still making some of our samples at home and some are made in London.

Body oil samples ready for Souksouk.co.uk

Also been designing some bespoke oils for combination skins this last week - including, unusually, a male client - so lots of non-greasy formulations and plant extracts to calm redness and dryness as well as balance the skin's sebum production longterm. Excessively oily skin can also be helped through diet and I always give advice about this to clients alongside their skin product as I work closely with a Nutritionist.

Tailor-made skin oils can provide a simpler solution to skincare issues.
They can also help customers to avoid costly and time-consuming searches for the prefect product.

A really old friend got married on Friday and it was so wonderful to see her happily marrying her man. They met on match.com and she had cleverly themed the tables with dating websites - we were Mysinglefriend.com! Her choice of reception in Somerset was called Maunsel house  - maunselhouse.co.uk - and is absolutely stunning. The bar is gorgeous and apparently Chaucer wrote some of the Canterbury Tales upstairs in one of the bedrooms! Took me back to my school days and my English teacher who couldn't contain her love for the man!!!

Thanks for reading, great to catch up!

Emma x

Hope you are well on this rainy Sunday! We are offering 25% off all products across the site today: www.inner-soul.co.uk


 It's been a colourful week at Inner-Soul Organics.

I hosted my first live chat over at Getthegloss.com last week - I was answering questions and giving advice about how to deal with skin as it changes going into Autumn. Ironically I have experienced my own imbalance as lots of tiny bumps have erupted under my skin on my face and neck for no apparent reason; probably tiredness. Or hormones. I always advise clients to take things back to simplicity and use natural (preferably organic) skincare if they are having any issues. Some of the chemicals added to beauty products actively play havoc with our hormones, (like they need any help being erratic), and others have carcinogenic properties.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer Pink Campaign runs until October 31st

We have already managed to raise £25 for Breakthrough Breast cancer UK this month, as part of their 'PINK' campaign, by donating £5 from each of Romance Me Skin Oil sold to this cause. This is for use as a body oil but I also add it to my bath water when I really want to relax, as the Jasmine and Rose are so calming. We want to help because Breakthrough actively carry out their own research into finding a cure for breast cancer, and currently 48,000 women each year are diagnosed in the UK alone.

Sneaky Preview!

We are having some new product images shot in time for the Christmas rush and so far they look absolutely gorgeous. We are using a very talented photographer called Bruce Head who is managing to bring out the colours beautifully.

Patsy - mum and founder of Pink Box Cosmetics

Patsy Robertson is on our home page today, as the first contributor to our first Women to Inspire post which we will be appearing monthly. We have chosen ladies who are trying to make a difference in lots of ways and Patsy founded Pink Box Cosmetics with the aim of providing beautifully packaged beauty products direct to your door, coupled with first class customer care. 

We are also now affiliated with the Katie Piper Foundation, another cause we feel passionate about and donate a pound for any of our products sold online. I was asked to help out at one of their pampering days last year, where I offered massages to the charity's beneficiaries and was so inspired by the courage shown by this group of people, but also appauled by the cruelty they had endured about the way they look.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Emma x

Welcome

Welcome to the brand new Inner-Soul Organics blog, where we shall be sharing news and tips about everything skin, plus information about offers on skincare from our boutique.

I founded Inner-Soul after working for twelve years as an Aromatherapist, during which time I made regular tailor-made products for my clients. Before this I was a nurse working in the NHS and learned a lot about really listening to people as well as viewing them holistically. I decided to put these skills into Inner-Soul Organics, providing luxurious skincare to make women beautiful inside and out, whilst keeping things natural and clean. 

I have seen firsthand how plant, fruit and flower extracts can really improve the look of skin and we have just recently launched our bespoke service, where clients complete an online questionnaire before their facial oil is designed and created in London based on their skin age, type, tone and any issues the client is experiencing. Here is some of our feedback so far:

"Thank you very much for my oil which arrived yesterday, I love it and more importantly so does my skin.  Just using it last night and this morning my skin feels soft and hydrated.
I am also really grateful for the letter too and the time, knowledge and research that has clearly gone into my "wonderful" oil, this is clearly an area that you have plenty of expertise in but also a passion." SL, London

"I was truly fascinated by the choice of oils you made for me - and of course I loved the quote on the bottle! First testing has been a delight - I look forward to seeing what results it has in store over continued use!" BB, London

I am also available for advice about skin over at Getthegloss.com - a wonderful website dedicated to beauty and fashion - and will keep you posted about live chats as and when they are happening. Exciting!

Thanks for reading, Emma x