{"id":108768,"date":"2022-10-23T11:51:56","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T08:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timeskuwait.com\/news\/?p=108768"},"modified":"2022-10-24T13:41:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T10:41:00","slug":"two-skin-care-brands-one-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timeskuwait.com\/news\/two-skin-care-brands-one-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Two skin care brands, one family"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Soap Box Kuwait, and BLOOM, The Cosmeceutical for Arabia<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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By Nourah Al-Oseimi<\/strong>
\nExclusive to The Times, Kuwait<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a lavender farm somewhere in Ireland. Imagine the fresh, clean air. Breathe it in, breathe it out.<\/p>\n

I walk into a uniquely spa- like store on a Thursday afternoon and the scent of freshly cut lavender takes over my senses and transports me somewhere else completely. I am standing amongst visuals of a beautiful, violet-colored oasis on my left and rose gold and pearl jewel-like bottles on my right and I quietly observe as Astrid Al Hadeedi converses with two customers about different skin care products and soaps.<\/p>\n

Astrid makes no assumptions; she simply listens to what they are looking for and offers friendly advice. She does not push them to buy anything, instead she wants them to know the choice is entirely theirs. I immediately deduce that she cares about her customers, and she respects her product.<\/p>\n

I turn to Yousef Al Hadeedi, Astrid\u2019s son, who greets me with the same warmth as Astrid and he begins to tell me the origins of how his parents met and how that story, from so long ago, set into motion the events that followed. \u201cMy Dad is a surgeon, and my Mum is a registered nurse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They met in an operating room! My dad has naturally very dry skin and being a surgeon, he frequently has to scrub his hands. Mum, who has always had an interest in health and wellness, suggested he start using handmade soaps which are cleansing but also moisturizing. Such soaps were not available in Kuwait at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Astrid chips in, \u201cWe started buying handmade cold process soap whenever we went abroad and we realized it made quite a significant improvement so every time we traveled we would stock up. But soap is heavy and soon we realized that this lovely soap was taking up a lot of our baggage allowance! And then a very dear friend gave me a box of handmade soap. They had been made in Kuwait, by an American lady (who soon after left Kuwait). I thought to myself, \u201cWell if she can make it in Kuwait, then so can I!\u201d Astrid continues to tell me more about the origins of the business as well as each person\u2019s role within it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very much a self-taught soap maker who also loves the science of skincare. After lots of trials and experiments I knew I had hit the magic formula. Our soaps are 100 percent natural and we use only pure, plant-based essential oils to scent our soaps. That is quite a luxury in these chemical-laden days. Of course, the more soap I made, the more our house smelt lovely.<\/p>\n

By then I was making for the wider family and giving it to friends as gifts. Very quickly I noticed some people felt embarrassed to ask for more and asked me if they could order and pay for the soaps I was making. I have a Health and Wellness background, I am not one bit business oriented so I suggested to Yousef, who has a degree in Business Administration, why don\u2019t we go into business together?\u201d We already had a \u2018boutique\u2019 style lavender farm in Ireland, which we planted for fun and for its beauty in 2013. So somehow it seemed that all things were \u2018coming together\u2019.<\/p>\n\r\n