Founder Sarah Reid wants you to take a moment for yourself with her new range, Embodyme.
By definition, a ritual is a ceremonial act, or series of acts, which are regularly repeated in a set, precise manner.
It was with this in mind that founder Sarah Reid developed Embodyme, a
The brand is built on the importance of finding moments for yourself — taking time to nurture both body and mind.
Acting as an antidote to modern-day stresses, EmbodyMe Nurturing Body Oils provide an opportunity for a moment of self-care — with application rituals aligned with the four values to help the wearer live out its meaning.
“Women don’t have enough time for themselves, so it’s about reminding them to take those micro moments every day. Those small practices performed daily are what transforms overall wellbeing,” Sarah says.
Combining her experience in the luxury beauty sector with her passion for holistic health, Sarah sought to develop an eco-luxe brand which bestowed beauty from the inside out.
Her own health struggles in her late 30s motivated Sarah to dive deeper into the world of wellness, and she studied to become a qualified health coach.
Sarah says that while she never trained to practice health coaching in terms of servicing clients, she was eager to share her newfound knowledge with a community of women.
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Advertise with NZME.“I believe that everybody deserves to look, feel and be the best versions of themselves. And I would like Embodyme to empower women to feel like that,” she says.
Fundamentally, Sarah’s mission was to create a product to cultivate a positive mindset, and by doing so settled on four qualities she felt were innately present in every human being: peace, joy, courage and kindness.
But can a body oil conjure emotions? In the field of functional fragrance, scent is treated as a tool for self-care and promises to enhance everything from attitude to alertness.
A study published by the Harvard Gazette found that odors take a direct route to the body’s limbic system, including the amygdala and hippocampus, regions linked to emotion and memory. *
Take the ingredient linalool, for example, a naturally occurring chemical found in flowers, fruits and spice plants like lavender, mint and cinnamon, and is known for its calming and relaxing effects.
With a focus on natural origin, provenance and sustainability, Sarah worked closely with a local cosmetic chemist and contract manufacturer, and joked she was told they’d never worked with such a considered founder during the product development process.
But her meticulousness paid off, and many iterations later, Sarah said she’d found a formula she could be proud of.
From antioxidant-rich superfoods to ultra-hydrating humectants, Sarah and her team coupled nature’s finest with green science when formulating high quality, raw, plant-based ingredients to include in each Nurturing Body Oil. Each locally sourced ingredient promises a raft of functional benefits to skin, with minimal impact on the environment.
Sarah says that while she could’ve selected imported ingredients to keep costs down, the quality of ingredients grown and processed here are of far better quality.
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It’s also matter of value over volume for Sarah, who explains that every ingredient included in her oil blend serves a purpose and brings something unique to the formula. “We didn’t need three ingredients that do the same thing, that’s not sustainable,” she says.
“The ingredients come from a natural origin and have a unique benefit. They also have sustainable qualities about the way in which they were grown and processed. We’re trying to be super transparent on our website about the provenance of the ingredients.”
The hero throughout the range is Golden Hemp Seed Oil, fast absorbing, hydrating and sustainably sourced from Ashburton. Sarah explains the supply chain from when it was grown, processed and bottled was intentionally short to preserve the oil’s integrity.
“Oil is precious — it’s the closest thing to nature you can get. So, leaning into ingredients that are locally grown is the most sustainable approach to formulating,” she says.
Unlike other oil blends, which include lengthy ingredients lists or carrier oils to add slip, Embodyme’s oils focus primarily on the moisturising benefits of the ingredients contained within — like meadowfoam seed, avocado, grapeseed, flaxseed and walnut seed oils.
“If you look at most body oils, the first ingredient you’ll see is sweet almond or jojoba oil, and often that accounts for 50 to 60 per cent of the formulation,” she says.
“These lesser quality oils aren’t going to give you those deeply moisturising qualities you’ll get from using ingredients like golden hemp seed oil.”
Beyond the products themselves, Embodyme adopts a 360-degree approach to self-care with digital platforms designed to take women on their own wellness journeys.
It was a key part of the brand strategy from the outset, Sarah says, adding she never wanted Embodyme to be a brand that simply paid lip service to wellbeing.
“I genuinely wanted to deliver knowledge, advice and tips in a really authentic way,” she explains.
“We’ve created a great foundation to guide, remind and inspire you how to create your own wellness journey and weave these daily rituals for self-care into your everyday.”
As an industry, Sarah agrees wellness has become over intellectualised (or “slightly overcooked,” she tells me) but explains it should be quite simple.
“We wanted to deconstruct wellness in a way to offer a practical approach to building a wellness journey, so that people can show up every day looking, feeling and being their best,” Sarah says. “These small habits or rituals, done consistently, can have a really transformative effect.”
This saw Sarah develop eight principles for self-care, ranging from Nurture Yourself through to Sleep Deep, each of which splits off into practical tips or rituals to adapt into consumer’s daily routines.
Sarah says this extension of the brand really speaks to its ethos — caring for women on the inside as much as it cares for them on the outside.
“Skincare for the body is all about caring for the external, but caring for the inside is equally important,” she says. “After all, that’s where true beauty really radiates from.”
Embodyme Nurturing Body Oils are priced at $120 for 100ml or as a discovery set of four 50ml for $235. The full range is available from tomorrow from Embodymedaily.com and selected retailers including Hana, The Facialist, Hedgerow, Aro Hā and Angel Divine.
