Oasis Beauty is a quintessential Kiwi success story; headed up by the small team at the rural Oasis Beauty Head Cottage and produced in their Christchurch factory.
Oasis Beauty started in the home of Steph, who wanted to make natural, affordable and effective products for her own highly sensitive skin. She ended up creating an NZ brand that has been endorsed by the Auckland Dermatology and Skin Institute and mountaineering legend, Marty Schmidt. Let's go Behind the Brand with the Oasis Beauty founder, Steph.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I am short, blonde and can’t believe I’m going to be 46 years old this year! How did that happen?
What is your background? How long have you been in the Beauty Industry?
I’ve been in the beauty industry for around 15 years. I retrained to be a beauty therapist as an older student when I was 30. I didn’t actually want to be a beauty therapist, which is good - because I was terrible at it! Don’t ever let me near your eyebrows... I retrained to learn more about the skin because I was really into making my own products at home.
How did the idea to launch your own Brand come about?
Oasis had transformed my highly sensitive, spotty and blotchy skin to super smooth and healthy skin.
Other women saw the change in me and wanted the same results. So I started selling them my homemade products and then listened to their feedback.
Another 5 years was spent fine-tuning them based on what customers were telling me. Fast forward 10 years on to today and Oasis is still making genuinely high performance products for sensitive skin. We still listen very closely to what our customers want but I’m not making it in my saucepan any more!
What is the philosophy behind your brand? What does it stand for?
I know how it feels when your skin looks and feels dreadful and you are trying to cover it up with makeup all the time. There were obviously heaps of women out there just like me that wanted more than just a boring, benign ‘sensitive skin’ product.
We want gorgeous glowing skin that doesn’t react to every little thing, we want a bit of glamour and we definitely don’t want to look 46 years old! So, after trying so many different products, finding us is just like stumbling across an oasis in the desert.
To many people, you would have their dream job, what is the best thing about working for such a gorgeous beauty brand?
The best thing is getting feedback from customers who have seen a visible difference to both their skin sensitivities and overall appearance. I’ll never tire of that.
It sounds like you have a really glamorous job; do you rub shoulders with the rich and famous?
Oasis Head Cottage is in the countryside so we don’t get to meet anybody rich and famous out here.
Our office manager, Heather, says she would LIKE to be rich and famous. I wouldn’t mind either – although maybe just the rich bit, not the famous. I’m an introvert.
What is your best selling product?
Oasis Sun SPF30+ is very popular. I made it years ago for mums that were using Oasis skin care and wanted a sunscreen for their bubs. Turned out to be a winner for the whole family.
What is it about this product that makes it so popular?
Like all Oasis products, it’s really versatile. From babies and kids with super sensitive skin to big manly men who don't like greasy sunscreens to mum who wants to apply makeup over the top - everybody likes it.
What’s your favourite product from your range?
I LOVE Oasis BB Cream!! Because it’s natural, I can leave it on all day and night without worrying about it blocking pores and causing breakouts.
I wear BB in Honey for weekends and BB in Caramel for workdays when I want to look more made up.
What advice would you give to someone reading this who would like to do what you’ve done?
I followed my bliss and it’s paid off but it’s taken a very long time.
So, unless you’ve got some money behind you, be prepared to put in a lot of unpaid hours before you reap the benefits. We lived on 1 wage for over 10 years before I could afford to start paying myself.
On the plus side, it’s been a journey where I’ve learnt so much. I swear my brain has got bigger.
What’s been the biggest highlight of your career so far?
Heather reckons it’s when she came to work for me! LOL.
On a more serious note though, I think it’s when the doctors at Auckland Dermatology and Skin Institute endorsed Oasis. That was a real credibility boost for a girl that started out making it at home.
What has been the biggest challenge you've faced?
Money. It’s been a real challenge to get to this point without having a stash of cash to invest in the business. Should have married a rich guy?
What does a normal day for you consist of?
Up early’ish, take care of the rescue animals we have here, get ready and have brekkie before the long commute into the office, which is the doorway off to the left of my hallway.
Heather and Gemma run Oasis Beauty Head Cottage. While they answer the phone and emails and pack orders, I stare into space quite a lot (this is called high level strategizing), surf the internet (this is called research) and I do some real work too.
We are open 9am-5pm weekdays.
How do you relax?
I go outside and stand out in the paddock with the sheep. If you haven’t tried it, you should. It’s super relaxing.
Can you give us a hint about what is next for you? - The person and the brand?
Oasis is so exciting to be involved with at the moment. We’ve just finished giving the range a makeover and will be re-launching it very soon.
There is a new product that’s guaranteed to blow you away. It’s called Lips & Lashes!! Watch the oasisbeautynz Facebook page for some giveaways.
Find out more by visiting www.oasisbeauty.co.nz
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to say that I have tried Oasis products via their free samples and loved it!! The bb cream is awesome and the did try the lips and lashes also - brilliant!! I'm going to have to buy some of the lips and lashes when I can afford it. Also eyeing up the SPF30 for my 2 year old as I don't like using regular sunscreen on her, it's full of too much rubbish :( Big ups Oasis, your stuff is great!! :)