Pai Skincare Founder, Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown is the founder of the incredible certified vegan, organic and cruelty-free skincare brand Pai Skincare.

Why did you create Pai Skincare, and what makes your brand different from others on the market?

I created Pai as a solution to my own skin issues. I suddenly developed a skin condition, chronic urticaria, in my mid-20s. It became onset in one night, and I developed hives over about 80% of my body. It is an idiopathic condition, meaning “no known cause,” which makes it very hard to effectively manage; additionally, advice from the medical community was nonexistent. After years of popping pills that masked rather than treated the problem, I took matters into my own hands and started to identify my triggers. This included a deep dive not just into diet and lifestyle factors, but ingredients in my skincare as well. I was struck by both the misinformation and mislabeling of both sensitive skin-specific and ‘all-natural’ products. I created Pai for people like me: people with real skin frustrations who struggle to navigate the pharmacy and beauty aisles. My ambition was to create a trusted skincare line that focused on skin problem-solving, felt like a complete joy to use, and never compromised on sensory or skin performance. We formulate and manufacture all Pai products from our own London factory. Owning the development process end-to-end is so rare now, but it means we have full visibility of our supply chain. This allows us to make the highest quality, truly unique formulations and innovate dynamically. Working closely to the product creation process means constantly re-evaluating new ingredients and developments in packaging sustainability. We’re independently certified by COSMOS (Organic), The Vegan Society, and Cruelty Free International, plus we’re London Living Wage accredited. We also independently test every product on sensitive skin. These accreditation bodies grade with strict standards and conduct annual audits of our business—which encompasses every level of the supply chain—from the harvesting of raw materials to the shelf life of products (including ingredient biodegradability and packaging). These kitemarks bring significant reassurance to our customers, and show that we are what we say we are and that somebody is checking!

What obstacles did you face when creating your own beauty brand?

I didn’t know what I didn’t know! I didn’t have a background in cosmetic science as a complete newcomer to the beauty industry and entrepreneurship. The odds were pretty stacked against me.

It took me a little while to bring in (and afford) the right expertise and experience we were missing.

Keeping manufacturing in-house has proven the biggest ongoing challenge as we scale the business. Making beauty products requires a lot of specialist knowledge, machinery, headcount, and physical space. That all comes at a substantial cost and stands as a real commitment to the cause of sustainability and ethics. We’ve had to spend a lot of time persuading investors and banks to fund that activity which was money we could have spent on advertising.

I don’t regret it for a single moment, though, and product provenance is so important to me. Really knowing where your ingredients have come from and having control over product creation is where the magic lies. We wouldn’t be Pai if we didn’t have this close connection to our products.

What is the difference between sensitive and sensitized skin?

There are two types of sensitive skin - what we call ‘core sensitive’ and ‘sensitised’. In both instances, the root of the irritation lies in the impairment of the skin’s barrier function—its outer layer that protects the inner layers.

“Core sensitive” skin is usually associated with a specific and diagnosed condition: eczema, urticaria, rosacea, and many more. These are longer-term conditions, sometimes hereditary or closely linked to our immune system, and are thus sometimes classified as autoimmune diseases. It’s not usually possible to eradicate this category of sensitive skin, so it can become a case of managing them well.

“Sensitised skin” is the more common type of sensitivity (90%) and, happily, much easier to address and even eliminate. Sensitised skin happens when the outer barrier has been irritated by some form of environmental trigger or trauma. For instance, an allergy to a skincare ingredient, sun damage, pollution, side effects of medication, and other factors can all cause sensitised skin. All of these factors can decrease our skin’s ability to hold on to moisture and prevent infection, which can make the skin feel aggravated and uncomfortable.

Depending on how much ‘trauma’ the skin has had to deal with, our skin has the ability to repair itself in around 6 weeks, once the trigger has been identified and removed.

Which Pai Skincare product do you find yourself using the most, and why?

This can change with the weather!

At the moment, I’m slathering Polly Plum, our very buttery, replenishing body cream, which brings instant relief to dry, aggravated skin. It’s great for post-summer sun exposure, and I can hear my skin sighing after applying it!

Also, I have been using our Century Flower barrier defence mist; I’ve been travelling a lot with work, and it never leaves my side. It beautifully hydrates skin in-flight when air humidity is low (which can draw moisture out of the skin). Also, I pay attention to keeping my skin barrier strong, which helps minimise any urticaria flare-ups. I love to layer it before every skincare step, especially oil, to lock in added moisture.

Tell us a little bit about your newest product, the C-2 Believe Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer.

C-2 Believe is our first-ever Vitamin C moisturiser for sensitive skin. It’s a light, silky cream combining Vitamin C, a skin brightening antioxidant, with upcycled Bilberry extract for added skin repair. Vitamin C, in its water-soluble form, is a very unstable ingredient. It also doesn’t penetrate the skin without complex added ingredients that provide a delivery system. It’s actually these delivery agent ingredients that so many react to, not the Vitamin C itself. Our certified organic formula uses a stabilised, natural, and oil-soluble Vitamin C instead. The oil soluble aspect is very important; it penetrates the skin easily and slowly releases Vitamin C to deliver radiance without irritation. The better stability of it compared to water-soluble Vitamin C also means there is no degradation of the active over time, so your skin receives a controlled and consistent dose from the first pump to the last. We’ve had incredible results from our consumer trial, with 91% reporting more radiant skin after two weeks of use.

C-2 Believe Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer


Article Credits

Pai Skincare’s Instagram: @paiskincare

Pai Skincare’s Website: https://www.paiskincare.us

Photography: Courtesy of Pai Skincare

Previous
Previous

Fashion As A Form Of Self-Discovery

Next
Next

Building Habits