When she was pregnant with her daughter in 2016, Sarah Price suddenly became a lot more conscious of what she was putting on her body, now that she was growing a life inside it!
I always have my nails painted and whilst on an app I saw about how nail polish was toxic.
And I was like, “Oh, no. I’m growing a human, I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.”
So she started reading about it, and discovered a lot of things that caused her alarm such as hormone disruptors used in products. She continued her deep-dive and researching ingredients she was putting on her body and quickly found out that “I don’t want to use that stuff anymore”.
Sarah then began looking for better products with natural ingredients that were more in line with the values she held dear, but the brands whose products she felt comfortable with were just out of her price range, especially now that preparing for a baby, “money was kind of tight.”
That’s when she decided…
“I’m going to learn how to make this stuff myself. So I started doing research online. And it was great, but I just needed a place to have a consolidated, one-fits-all type thing.”
This led Sarah to start exploring the possibility of making her own skincare products, and through her research she found the School of Natural Skincare. She chatted about the idea of enrolling onto the School of Natural Skincare’s Natural Haircare & Skincare Formulator Program with her husband, who then surprised her with an enrollment to the School as an anniversary gift!
This program consists of both the Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation and Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation and comes complete with a selection of bonus classes.
For Sarah, the difference between the School of Natural Skincare and everything else she was looking at was that “everything was covered in one course”.
This meant no longer piecing together incomplete information!
“It seemed like the most comprehensive out of everything that I was looking for, and it really seemed like I was going to learn. The School of Natural Skincare gave me the impression that ‘I’m going to teach you.’
And it has really helped me grow and take my formulating to the next level. So I wouldn’t be where I’m at without these courses. It’s definitely, definitely the best decision I ever made.”
Before enrolling with the School things were very different
It wasn’t all plain sailing! Before finding the School of Natural Skincare, her research led her down all sorts of dead end alleyways.
“I just started out with Pinterest and finding DIY recipes. And I was finding a lot of things that were like, ‘Use two tablespoons of essential oil.’ And I just thought that seemed sketchy and expensive. I didn’t want to put that much oil into something because they are very concentrated.”
And so I had worked on my aromatherapy knowledge and at first, I just started mixing things together and just getting the feel for things. If I wanted a body butter, I just mixed some butters and oils together and figured out the ratio and went from there.”
Sarah quickly realized that this was not the correct way to go about things and upon embarking on her studies with the School of Natural Skincare she quickly realized the mistakes she had been making.
“I definitely wish I would’ve started this way first because it really gives you that good foundation, and I wouldn’t have wasted so many ingredients back in the day. But it was also nice seeing those aha moments and being like, ‘Oh, I wish I would’ve known this back then.’
The course was so comprehensive. There was so much information. There was so much inside the course it’s hard to explain except to say that I learned more from the course than I had done in all my years of prior research. “
Sarah told us how the gaps in her knowledge became very apparent as she worked through the course but taking the course has helped her to do what she set out to do.
“It’s so comprehensive. It gives you everything you need to really do well. And you guys make sure that we succeed, and I love that. I’m not missing anything, I don’t feel like I need to continue research. It’s one big package, and it’s worth every penny.”
From studying natural skincare to launching her own brand
When she started, Sarah’s plan was to stay very low-key and just make some bath bombs for herself, which fitted her ethos of wanting safer, healthier products for her body and her baby. However, the popularity of her products soon grew as she started offering samples to friends and now, her brand, Pampered Life, has taken off in a way she never would have imagined!
From its humble beginnings back in 2019, Pampered Life has ridden the wave of a global pandemic and gone from strength to strength, now comprising 24 skincare products, with a range of 16 haircare products set to launch in time for Christmas 2022.
Sarah describes it as “really rewarding” to have friends who are “really picky” about the products they use, come back to her begging for more of one of her products because it’s the “coolest thing they’ve tried!”
For Sarah, it is really special to be able to bring happiness to someone’s day by giving them a product which is tailored to their specific needs and helps them solve a problem they’ve been having with their skin.
A unique feature of Pampered Life’s product range is that each product comes with an individual Bible verse on the packaging.
This is Sarah’s way to…
“really uplift and empower everyone because it is more than just skincare; it’s about feeling good about yourself, and just being positive and happy and finding the positive in life.”
By doing this, Sarah hopes to remind her customers that self-care is not selfish, but that actually “it’s good. It’s good to refill your cup.”
The driving force behind Sarah’s succes
Born with congenital heart defects, health is of utmost importance to Sarah and she truly values products which contribute to health and wellbeing. Formulating products which do exactly that give Sarah “a purpose other than being a mom and wife” and she proudly describes it as “an honor and a gift to be able to share my talents and to give back.”
She says,
“When I went to school to do biology, my goal was to work in a lab and to help people. And it’s a completely different lab. I’m doing it here in my house, but I’m still creating things and I’m still helping people. And so it’s really just the best gift ever.”
Sarah very modestly attributes the success of her business to having chosen to study with the School of Natural Skincare, saying that
“I wouldn’t be where I’m at without these courses. So it’s definitely, definitely the best decision I ever made… It’s so comprehensive. It gives you everything you need to really do well. And you guys make sure that we succeed, and I love that. I’m not missing anything, I don’t feel like I need to continue research. It’s one big package, and it’s worth every penny.”
Perhaps most excitingly, Sarah has actually been able to track the growth of her business as she completed her studies and in fact she told us she can
“see a line in my sales from when I completed the diplomas versus when I started… it really gives you that social proof as well for your customers to believe in your products.”
We think Sarah’s story is so inspiring and we are over the moon that her studies with the School of Natural Skincare have enabled her to create such an exciting business which allows her to live her values and share them with society. We feel incredibly privileged that she shared her journey with us and are so proud to have her as part of our community.
Feel inspired by Sarah’s story?
Would you like to ditch DiY methods, recipes and information and learn to create professional quality natural & organic skincare from scratch like the professionals do?
Would you like to launch your own brand of top quality products that are a cut above the rest?
Sarah realized the mistakes she had been making during her years of online research and very quickly discovered how to create products that matched her ambition of being the very best that they can be. She did that by studying with the School of Natural Skincare!
If you want to start with formulating natural skincare products then you’ll want to join our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation.
If it’s haircare formulation that interests you the most, then you’ll want to enroll onto our Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation.
And of course, you’ll likely be excited by our Diploma in Formulating Natural Makeup & Advanced Color Cosmetics too!
For the more confident or advanced formulators, you’ll likely want to take a look a our Advanced Certificate in High-Performance Serum Formulation and our Natural Cosmetic Formulation Club.
If you have any questions at all, please do email us on hello@schoolofnaturalskincare.com
FREE GUIDE:
The Beginner’s Guide to Formulating Natural Skincare Products (From scratch, like a professional!)
Start creating your own natural skincare products
from scratch – rather than simply following recipes!
Exclusive for our newsletter subscribers. Sign up now.
Download this fabulous guide and you’ll learn:
- What formulating is and why you need to be doing it!
- The difference between following recipes and formulating your own products.
- How to formulate like a pro! Seven top tips for becoming a confident skincare formulator.
- Our step-by-step process to designing products people love.
- Four easy ways to personalize your skincare products.
- Choosing the right carrier oils for your beauty products.
PLUS: Receive two free worksheets!
