7 Secrets of Beauty & Wellbeing: Sonal Keay, founder of This Is Silk
We are huge fans of Sonal Keay and her This Is Silk range. A barrister turned beauty founder, she has found a way to harness silk – there’s a bit of a pun there, because ‘taking silk’ is also barrister-speak for becoming a King’s Counsel – in skincare, as well as beautiful lifestyle products based on this skin-friendly fabric. The range has won multiple awards – including Beauty Bible Awards – and we’re personal fans.
Currently, you’ve an opportunity to win a fabulous set of This Is Silk products, in our prize draw, with five runners-up prizes, too – click here to enter. But as you know, we’re always fascinated by how figures from the beauty world balance life and work, so we wanted to hear her how this female founder does it, and her beauty philosophy. Actually we asked Sonal for seven secrets, but she came up with 10! – and they’re too good not to share!
The best beauty tip I ever heard is to disregard the mirror and to focus on how you feel rather than how you look. We are not reliable judges of our own faces in the mirror, always appearing more beautiful to others than ourselves and I think it’s very rare (certainly for me!) to look in the mirror and think ‘Wow, I’m so gorgeous’ – instead, I end up wondering about pointless things I cannot change like the asymmetry of my face. I also know what it feels like to be unhappy with my skin, and it’s not something I want to repeat. So I decided to focus less on how I look and instead try and make sure that I feel good. People who feel good radiate so much confidence and joy and this always exerts more of a pull than how ‘good looking’ someone is. I’m also teaching this to our young daughters, whom I have caught gazing at themselves in the mirror from time to time….
I personally feel better when I’m living a life that is balanced for me – a good mix of loved ones, work and fun. This means spending time with the family, immersing myself in culture, going out with friends and having a gin and tonic, and generally, enjoying life and having fun as much as possible. (This is also a brand ethos - on our boxes we have introduced a graph where ‘A; stands for Age and ‘P’ stands for Pleasure, to show that the older we get, the more fun we should have in life.)
I have to manage the fact that I’m allergic to daylight. I have a very rare skin condition - I am allergic to all sunlight - in fact, all daylight. It is called Chronic Actinic Dermatitis. I had a normal life until the age of 18, then something changed and to this day (I am now 45) I am still allergic to the sun. It caused immense depression and adjustment when I was first diagnosed, and even now, I catch myself feeling utterly perplexed that I am allergic to the source of all life on earth. I do sometimes still long to feel the sun on my bare face, and I love lying in the sun. However, I am very lucky in that the condition is almost completely manageable with careful and consistent use of a high factor sunscreen. The main downside now is that I cannot hug people in a way that touches my face (it takes the sun protection off) and that was hard when my daughters were little, but we all got used to it.
Focusing on the health of my skin is absolutely sacrosanct to me. I spent so many years with painful, inflamed skin, that I personally will not and cannot tolerate any skincare that causes damage, peeling or purging. I am now 45 and at that age where I want to preserve what I have, and fend off signs of ageing.
The only approach I take is a science-based and evidence-backed one. I was a criminal barrister for 15 years so everything begins with research, science and testing. With silk, there is a lot of science and medical literature about its history of use (since Ancient Greek times) as a wound healer - wound healing is relevant because it is the most acutely regenerative process our skin undergoes, and I believe in independent, clinical trials to back up claims.
Around 90% of skin ageing is caused by sunlight and oxidative stress, and the current, so-called ‘gold standard’ ‘anti-ageing’ product is retinol. Retinol is a known sun-sensitiser, which is obviously not suitable for me (and also makes no sense to me, given the sun’s role in ageing) so I use silk skincare. Silk, like retinol, works by increasing the rate of skin cell regeneration and collagen synthesis, but unlike retinol, silk actively protects and enhances skin health - absolutely no peeling, purging or painful adjustment period.
I always feel an affinity with people who are adventurous, mischievous, free-spirited and interested in how things work. I remember reading Carl Jung many years ago about how we are often drawn to people who either feel familiar in some way or have qualities we feel we are missing in ourselves. This is certainly true for me. I am drawn to people who are open-minded and willing to look at the world a little differently, who are calm, steady and measured –probably because I can be a little mercurial myself. I feel calmer just by being in their presence! A good sense of humour is a non-negotiable for everyone though.
The person I adore the most and look up to the most is, without a doubt, my father. I am so very lucky to have always been surrounded by incredible people - I work with brilliant people who are all brilliant in different ways, but my father is as strong as a rock, hardworking, kind, calm, patient, serious and yet also so warm and very mischievous. He always has the ability to look at things from different angles and is open-minded, which I think are really important and noble qualities to have, and it means I can talk to him about anything without fear of judgment. I am so happy that he is my father!
I take a high-strength Vitamin D tablet every day, because I am always wearing a high SPF. I’m not brilliant with routine (and I think a part of me fights it a little) but I do that daily, along with Omega-3 fish oil. I have done that for years; I love the evidence behind it. I am also looking into collagen supplements – the science is really promising. I do try very hard to eat well - I believe very much in what the late, very great Dr. Michael Mosley used to talk about: getting a variety of plant-based foods in every week, from vegetables, fruits, pulses, beans and spices. Does chocolate count as a supplement? I do take that religiously…
I love to lose myself in research. As an avid reader, and someone who finds reading very relaxing, so much inspiration comes from that, especially around science. I love learning about our shared history and have been enchanted by the Old Silk Roads since childhood. They really embody so much about the human experience – this yearning for exchange, discovery, adventure, the desire to learn and experience new things and meet new people. I actually think that there is inspiration in the Old Silk Roads for society, especially at the moment, as we are all so busy retreating into ourselves; that the need for interconnectedness is innate, and that the answer is often in other human beings.
Being outside with my children helps me switch off. I feel a little embarrassed to say this, but it’s very rare that I can switch off – and when I do, it happens for moments, minutes and hours rather than for days. But it happens with the children, because they are always only concerned with the present moment. Lying down in the sunshine helps me switch off too, and conversation over food and drink with friends is one of my favourite things to do. Exploring new places, reading spy fiction and listening to 80s music at the gym also helps. And I do love reading and watching Agatha Christie, so I’m rewatching a lot of Poirot on Sundays at the moment..I like murders from a gentler time.
I do enjoy a good relaxation ritual at the end of the evening. I think we underestimate the transformative power of touch in our lives – we know how important it is for newborns and bonding, but we need it as adults too. On some level, we do know this - I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the verb ‘to feel’ applies to physical touch as well as to emotional sense. For me, as strange as it sounds, I really do like touching my own face at the end of the evening. I like feeling the contours. It helps me to mark the end of the day, feel grounded and reconnect with myself after much busyness, and the silk plays a huge part in this because one of many things it does for our skin is an intense and almost addictive feeling of softness.
Cleansing is especially important as part of my skincare ritual. Because I wear suncream every day, that has to be taken off in a way that doesn’t leave my skin tight or dry. So I massage in our Silk Cream Cleanser and take time to enjoy the aromatherapeutic benefits of the essential oils we use. I love how the hot, wet cloth feels when I gently wipe it off. The heat combined with the silk really soothes me. I then mix Power Up into the Silk Face Oil and gently massage that in. Of course, I then (try to) fall asleep on a Silk Pillowcase!
If I need more relaxation, a hot bath with magnesium always does the trick, and there is something so magical about immersing oneself in hot water. Instantly calming….though I do wish that we could bring back the multi-phase Roman rituals of bathing…I would like that.
thisissilk.com (and remember: you can also enter our fab prize draw to win a £299 bundle of products, with five runners-up prizes, here)
