One of my favourite beauty people: Soraya Hendesi, creator of Snowberry

The creation of Soraya Hendesi, Snowberry is New Zealand's first all natural, premium skincare brand. For those of you unfamiliar with the brand, it's a carefully crafted mix of the two pillars of “natural beauty” and “authenticity” by which the Persian-born New Zealander lives her life, a collection of beauty products that is “as gentle but enduring in its effect as possible, seeking to enhance rather than intervene”. Passionate about her creation, trained cosmetician Soraya explained to me when we first met that the delicately scented range supports rather than attempts to replace wellness and good health as the source of naturally beautiful skin, and uses only pure resources to create its specialised formulas.
Her quest for “authentic” skincare began many years ago, but Snowberry first became a reality when she recruited the expertise of New Zealand-based Bio Chemist Dr. Andy Lavrent in 2003. With an illustrious track record working in product development for companies like La Prairie, Dr. Lavrent is also a highly skilled chef and likens the creation of beautiful skincare to “the creation of an excellent dish - it requires real passion and flair. It is a fusion process, where we take the most interesting active ingredients from around the world to create something very special”. Soraya knew straight away that she had found a kindred spirit on a similar wavelength to her own, whilst Dr. Lavrent was excited that for the first time in his career he would be free to formulate skincare without regard to the cost and quantity of ingredients. The man she calls her “Alchemist” had only two important limitations on the ingredients that could be used - that they must be sustainably derived, and with the exception of such ingredients as honey, silk and cultured marine extracts, were not to be derived from animals. Come 2007, and the exquisite and natural creature we now know as Snowberry is born.
One of the key elements of the Snowberry philosophy is that it is “skincare that you can trust”, as in kind to both humans and the environment (their operation has even been developed to achieve Six-Star Environmental Status). Soraya is passionate about the purity of her range, saying: “they said years ago that parabens may be a bad thing, so why didn't everyone stop using them years ago? Anything that is a potential risk to a woman's health is to me a very bad thing… where there is smoke there is usually fire”. The range stays true to this concerns and contains a startling list of “No's that includes no petrochemicals, no volatile alcohol, no silicones, no DEA or MEA and no laurel sulphates. Instead there is a collection of only the highly refined, functionally active extracts from oils such as the deliciously named Cloudberry and Lingonberry, and rare Neem oil that acts as a superior antioxidant and natural surfactant. The company also owns and operates its own bio-discovery plantation in New Zealand's far north, where indigenous plants are cultivated for antioxidant, emollient and anti-ageing extracts for use exclusively in Snowberry products, and aren't harvested to the detriment of the environment. When it comes to utmost care for the environment, Soraya is the real deal, and the petite brunette is also a fountain of information about each and every ingredient used in her brand.
Soraya's dream of a a world where beauty meets authenticity is available at last, so take the time to pay a visit - you may very well never want to leave.