Meet the lovely Astin from ARTIS CLAY!
Are you a Maker, Creator, Mover or Shaker?
Can I be all three? I like coming up with ideas and I am also fascinated about learning. I’ve always wanted to create a business of my own but it has taken me a while to decide on what I was really passionate about. It had to be something that I could continue to create within and come up with new ideas to expand the business along the way. Its taken me two years to formulate the recipes for my products and I hand make each one myself. Working with clay in skincare is very special and you need to show the ingredients a lot of respect.
There is a bit of Shaker going on in the design of the product and packaging. I wanted to create a strong contrast between the packaging design and the contents within. The outside is clean, beautiful and minimal. Compare this to inside where you discover it is intense, gritty and raw.
My intention is to change people’s perception of luxury skincare and what it traditionally looks like. Highly processed pretty looking lotions and creams generally have toxic chemicals, preservatives and fragrances that just aren’t good for us. Artis Clay is here to show the world that it is possible to have luxury skincare that works better than mainstream products and is also really good for you. The idea is to take skincare right back to its roots, using ancient, proven ingredients in their natural state.
The other bridge I am trying to build is bringing health and skincare into one. We focus so much on food and diet but more often than not ignore what we are putting on our skin. The skin is our biggest organ and is exposed the most to pollution and toxins each day. Just like our insides, skin needs care and thoughtfulness. Artis Clay products are free from harmful ingredients and preservatives and are also free from second grade ingredients like water (requires a preservative), gluten, sugar and coffee (these are absorbed into the skin), nut products, and non-mineral salts (drying on skin).
How did your Business start?
I’m not the kind of person who finds time to go to salons to get treatments but I really love the benefits of going. So I started looking for products to use at home without much success. I found there was a missing between the quality of skincare that could be purchased off the shelf and what you could get at a spa. Oddly enough I’m not the kind of person who would want to make my own skincare at home either. Turns out that’s exactly how it started, from discovering a void in beautiful luxury high end products that were also fresh, preservative free and full of quality ingredients. After much refinement Artis Clay evolved however I didn’t want to just make any old product, it had to have a purpose that was close to my heart. So I took the design of the product very seriously. Each product is formulated with the following pillars as the foundation: strengthens health, relieves stress, encourages self-nurturing practices and restores the feeling of beauty and confidence.
What is the best part about running a Small Business?
The joy, connection and appreciation I experience from creating beautiful things for beautiful women. It is so great to hear wonderful stories and to receive such amazing feedback from people who have been using and loving Artis Clay.
What is the biggest challenge you face with running a Small Business?
Becoming very organised. It can be challenging trying to juggle everything with out good organisation skills. Although I have discovered some great tools to help with this like HootSuite for planning and scheduling social media posts. There are also fantastic tips on inc.com for growing, start-ups and business inspiration.
One word to describe your Business?
Artful (Artis is a Latin word meaning the way of creating something artfully.) In the future I hope to be able to support the arts and any form of creative expression through my company.
Who or what inspires you?
Many things – art, music, architecture, photography, fashion, books, great businesses. I like the idea of creating beauty in the world, in whichever form that takes.
Favourite WA holiday destination?
Anywhere down South, the bush and beach combination is so lovely and there are still stunning beaches where you can spend all day and not see another person.
Tea or Coffee?
Coffee in the morning, chai tea in the afternoon.
Morning or Night person?
Night, no question.
Who’s your favourite Girl Boss?
Over the past few years I’ve admired the work of Gail Kelly through her time at Westpac. Now I aspire to build a business like Kylie Radford co-creator of Morrison. I just love and respect their brand, WA local-ness and clothing.
Where to next for your Business?
The plan is to release new products, in September there will be a ‘Varda’ Face Restore Exfoliator launched followed by a matching Face oil and ‘Asilah’ Body oil that can be used between treatments. By October there will be matching plant extract fragrances in the lead up to Christmas. People are really drawn to the smell of ‘Asilah’ it’s been nicknamed ‘The Hug’ because of the way it makes you feel.
