Dear Star Seedlings and friends.
I would like to introduce myself and how my journey into plant medicine and running an organic skincare began.
My name is Emilie, a 29 year old Dane, living in London. I am also the CEO and co-founder of Star Seed - our regenerative skincare brand.
Childhood Curiosity
I grew up in a Brighton-sized seaside town in Denmark, and moved to Copenhagen when I was ten. Around this time, my dad purchased a book for me on plant medicine for children, thinking it was written for kids. It turned out to be a highly technical and in-depth fact book on the plethora of herbs and plant remedies available in the Danish landscape, that could help parents treat their children at home. I was super fascinated by how boiling, grinding or steaming these powerful plants, could make them into magical healing balms and salves. From a young age, I was hooked on nature, its beauty and its powers.
My father's father was a famous gynaecologist, helping developing the research behind the birth control pill. My dad had always hoped that one of his many daughters would become either a doctor or an architect. With a growing interest in our changing environment throughout my teenage years, I ended up deciding to become the latter - an Architect.
A negative masculine energy
After having studied for 6 years and working 2 years in a big award winning London practice, I found myself tired in an industry dominated by negative masculine energy, lack of creativity and especially a lack of willingness to take a holistic and serious approach to climate change, which would mean starting with our own behaviour in the office.
The hardcore deadlines and pressure to perform, had been so ingrained in my industry's culture, that I didn't listen to all the warming signs, probably in an attempt to fit in. I was living unconsciously.
With my long history of chronic back pain, working in an office job long hours, sitting down and clicking a mouse, became increasingly difficult. This combination of physical and mental pressure was taking its toll on many aspects of my life, most importantly my motivation.
For those of you who have listened to Caggie Dunlop's Podcast, I felt like my Saturn Return was fast approaching. What would this mean? Would I be able to find an office that was more aligned with my values, or was the whole industry broken? And, was it the right industry for me to try and disrupt?
Wanting to create positive change
I started to re-asses what I actually wanted to do and decided there and then to dedicate my career to creating positive change in the world. In the years to come, Ed, my life partner & co-founder, and I would go on an eye-opening journey, that transformed our lives for the better. And it started with looking at how we could radically take action in our daily lives, by changing our buying & lifestyle habits.
Looking for everyday essentials that were truly sustainable but also aesthetic and actually efficient, we started to see a gap in the skincare market. Most of the beautiful brands, were far from sustainable and most eco-friendly brands were quite "hippie" and didn't really do the job.
Star Seed was Born
It was here we saw an opportunity to create our own skincare brand. We began experimenting with healing botanicals and created a prototype cream that we both fell in love with. We have now spent the past 2 years experimenting with organic botanicals from around the world, perfecting this recipe to what has become a bestselling Star product - The Moon Cream.
We moved to Kenya in 2021 for a year, to set up a sustainable and ethical supply chain that could help us reach our mission of making skincare traceable and regenerative.
At Star Seed, I am learning so much everyday. About running our own business, a health and beauty brand, and how to balance work with healthy living. How to look after ourselves and be that workspace we always hoped someone would create. Where wellbeing is in focus. Where doing yoga in your breaks is encouraged. Where overwork is banned. And where we hopefully can find a balance between computer work and more physical, interactive work.
This journey of becoming conscious in our everyday life decisions will continue throughout our lives. On that note, I hope you will enjoy the consciousness and love we have applied to our healing botanical skincare products.