A Conscious Conversation with the Founders of By Sarah London

At Wild Fawn, we love nothing more than nourishing our skin with wholesome goodness. This is something that Sarah and Lauren, founders of By Sarah London, know a lot about. In this months Conscious Conversation, we chat to them and hear about their truly inspiring brand, which started during Lauren’s recovery from a life threatening Leukaemia. 

Tell us a little about your backgrounds and the story behind By Sarah.

By Sarah London began with Lauren’s recovery from leukaemia and Sarah searching for skincare to restore her sensitive and irritated skin. With Lauren's skin shedding like a snake, Sarah turned to her industry knowledge and childhood passion for skincare to formulate organic, plant-based blends to restore Lauren's skin. These same blends are now the much loved, award-winning collection at bysarahlondon.com.

Why is it important to you to work responsibly and produce eco-friendly products?

We only have one body and one planet, and we make the best choices we can to take care of both. We choose organic plant oils to support the health of our soils and global communities, and choose cold-pressed oils which maintain their nutrient content and absorb easily into the skin. We also look for innovative solutions like our upcycled hemp seed oil blended in our Hemp-Infused Blemish Recovery Oil, grown in the UK and recycled into the antioxidant-rich oil we use. Our vegan products are registered with The Vegan Society and our entire collection is certified cruelty free.

Are there difficulties in trying to be an ethical brand in today’s society - if so, how have you overcome them?

It's an incredible point in time in our global collective consciousness, we are all so aware of the fragility of our planet and the role we can each play in helping to protect it. We love to share the small swaps you can make that have a positive impact. Like using natural plant oils in skincare, rather than petrochemical ingredients, or swapping out single use face wipes for an eco friendly Organic Muslin Face Cloth.

What has been your proudest moment of By Sarah?

Our Organic Facial Oil winning the "Best Facial Oil" by the international Beauty Shortlist Awards just 4 months after we launched. And it's won that award every year since.

Can you offer any advice for young entrepreneurs wanting to found their own businesses?

Our top 3 tips are:

1) Follow your passion and it will lead you in the right direction.

2) Expect the unexpected and be prepared to bounce back quickly if things don't go your way.

3) Start small but dream big.

What do you think consumers should consider when making the choice between standard skincare products or organic and ethical alternatives like By Sarah?

Look to brands for clarity and authenticity. To help you understand exactly how you're caring for your skin, we detail a full ingredient list on the front label across our full collection. This radical transparency gives you the assurance that you know what you're using on your skin. With every single ingredient there on purpose to deliver skincare benefits, you know that 100% of your spend is going towards improving your skin health.

What are your top 3 tips for easy, effortless and essential skincare?

Top tips are:

1) Streamline your skincare, freeing yourself from the excess of multi step routines.

2) Look for natural plant actives which feed the skin with omegas, vitamins and minerals.

3) Look for multi-tasking products, like our Organic Skin Balm which is a fantastic lip balm and dry skin saviour.

What does it mean to you both having built such a wonderful brand together? Does family and business go together?

We are so lucky that we get on so well and have grown up so close together. When Sarah was Lauren's stem cell donor for her life saving transplant, her blood type changed as a result. We're now as close to being twins as possible! We have distinct skills and so thankfully there's no conflict or rivalry, and we love what we do so it brings us a lot of joy every day.

Find out more about the sisters and their collection at bysarahlondon.com and @bysarahlondon on Instagram and Facebook.