By Sarah London: the beauty brand upcycling raspberry seeds

One of them is By Sarah London, an award-winning natural and organic skincare brand founded by two sisters on a mission.

“For us, skincare is like food. It should be nourishing, easy to understand, wholesome and provide health benefits over the long term,” explains the fresh-faced duo behind the label, Sarah and Lauren. They launched the brand in 2017 after Sarah realised she was struggling when searching for some products to help restore Lauren’s skin while she was recovering from leukaemia and dealing with extreme isolation.The problem she found was that it was almost impossible to tell exactly what was in the majority of beauty products out there thanks to cryptic and confusing ingredient lists, or misleading labelling. Determined to change this, Sarah decided to draw upon the knowledge she’d gained from working in the industry for 10 years and began hand-crafting her own blends to soothe her sister’s dry, irritated and sensitive skin.

Since its debut, By Sarah London has enjoyed a succession of hits, most notably the Organic Facial Oil that’s adored by the likes of Deliciously Ella. Last week, the label launched a fruity new product: the Raspberry Seed Cleansing Oil. Suitable for normal, dry, sensitive or combination skin, this nourishing and hydrating facial cleanser is made using a beautiful blend of plant oils, which are all listed on the front of the reusable (and recyclable) 100ml bottle for radical transparency.

“What’s very unique about this blend is the upcycled raspberry seed oil. These seeds are saved from landfill and extracted via a very low energy, solvent-free process.” 
By Sarah London’s founder Sarah

Following conversations with loyal customers about their self-care needs, Sarah and Lauren spent time researching the best natural ingredients available and settled on red raspberry seeds. Why? Well, they contain high levels of essential fatty acids, which help to promote the skin’s health and boost its appearance. They’re also a natural source of vitamin E, which helps to prevent damage caused by free radicals from environmental stressors like UV radiation or pollution.

Sustainably sourced and produced, the upcycled raspberry seeds used by By Sarah London are a by-product from the juice industry and diverted from food waste, “instead of sending the leftovers to landfill, the waste is reused, working to naturally concentrate the active micronutrients that are already present within the fresh pulp,” explains Sarah. The oil is extracted from the seeds of the leftover pulp, which is carefully processed and stored to avoid losing any of those all-important nutrients. No new materials are created in the process and no existing resources are wasted.

Hand-blended in the UK, just like the rest of the line, this new upcycled cleansing oil boasts 20% more vitamin E and is especially rich in omega 3 and omega 6. It’s also formulated using grape seed oil and marula seed oil, plus a plant-based emulsifier that transforms into a milk on contact with water to remove make-up, SPF and daily impurities. It’s great for whisking away sticky sweat after a yoga class or run, too.

With such a plethora of skincare products, buzzwords and ingredients on the market, it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to supercharging your skincare regime – particularly if your average day leaves little time to pamper, or if you’re not fully up to speed with the latest plant-based developments. For us, the trick to detoxing your routine is to focus on a few key hero products — and By Sarah London’s Raspberry Seed Cleansing Oil is one of them.