I recently had the great pleasure of meeting Sara Davoodi, founder of the up and coming exotic beauty brand Athar’a Pure. It was immediately clear that she is a woman bursting with passion for the products she has developed and the message she wants to send about beauty. And, of course, passion is contagious so I was excited to learn more about Sara’s brand, her products and what inspired the creation of Athar’a. Read on for my Q & A with Sara and my review of the lovely products she sent for me to try.
The Woman
Megan: Tell me a little about your company. As a brand, what do you stand for?
Sara: Athar’a Pure, exotic skin essentials is an all-natural and organic, vegan skincare line – inspired by Eastern and Ayurveda beauty traditions. The Athar’a Pure philosophy is to create products that literally feed your skin with pure, plant-based ingredients that are fresh, luxurious and handcrafted. Our mission is to provide effective products, educate our clients and to give back to impoverished villages around the world.
Megan: What was your personal inspiration for founding Athar’a and leaping into the world of natural beauty?
Sara: I strongly started considering starting my own line of clean, all natural, chemical free skincare when my family and my friends were touched with cancer. I lost an aunt and uncle to cancer and have seen close friends lose their loved ones as well, so I began my research out of frustration, curiosity and in an effort to be proactive with my health and found that it’s not just the food we eat, but what we put on our skin and other lifestyle choices that can really impact our health.
When I became pregnant with my first child, my level of concern for my family’s health and well-being naturally increased to new levels. I had great difficulty finding products that were completely natural, even when the products would say they were natural or organic, I would find a harmful chemical or two that was concerning and I really started to become more and more passionate about starting my own line. I knew that Ayurveda and Eastern ingredients were highly beneficial, but also really rare here in the U.S. and thought it would be perfect to not just start another natural skincare line, but one that is truly clean, effective and incorporates the skin healing benefits of exotic Eastern ingredients and Ayurveda principles, after about a year of extensive research and experimentation, Athar’a was born!
Megan: What does it take to create the perfect beauty product?
Sara: To me a good beauty product is one that is simple, effective, completely pure and free of anything harmful or potentially harmful to us or our environment, cruelty free, attainable and something that delivers long term results, instead of just instant gratification.
The Products
To give me the full experience, Sara sent over a complete kit of Athar’a’s hero products, including a facial scrub, a mask, face lotion and an eye cream.
After trying out the four steps for a week, I have to say that the Indian Glow Facial Scrub really stood out as an amazing product. Many exfoliators can be downright harsh, especially when you have naturally sensitive, dry skin like mine. This scrub is a luxuriously gentle mixture of sandalwood, turmeric, neem, rice powder and grapefruit powder that left my skin feeling soft and beautiful, not raw and stripped. After a week, I definitely noticed a difference in the brightness and clarity of my skin. And, like all other Athar’a products, I feel great about using this scrub because it is 100% organic, vegan, chemical-free and cruelty-free.
If you are dealing with fine lines around your eyes or, like me, you don’t always get as much sleep as you should, then Athar’a’s Moroccan Coffee Eye Cream is the product for you. The coffee seed oil and green tea extract provide an instant wake-me-up for eyes, reducing dark circles and smoothing out lines. And the organic shea, avocado, argan, coconut, hemp and vitamin e oils provide amazing heavy-duty moisture for that extra delicate skin around the eyes.
Finally, who doesn’t love a gorgeous facial mask? The Moroccan Glow Detoxifying Face Mask is made of rare Moroccan lava clay and is loaded with natural anti-aging and skin-purifying nutrients. This clay mask naturally draws out excess oils and is wonderful for clearing skin of environmental pollutants and toxins. Great for both aging skin and blemish-prone skin, this mask left my face feeling nurtured and clean.
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