I’m extremely picky when it comes to what I put on my skin, and even more picky when it comes to suggesting brands to use, whether they’re vegan or not. Just because a product is vegan doesn’t mean it’s good idea to put it on your skin. Enter beauty buff and holistic entrepreneur Sam Sample and her 100% vegan and natural skincare line Be Genki. This is one range I’m happy to give some blog love to.

Sam follows a simple philosophy when it comes to beauty and believes you can ‘be’ it, rather than ‘achieve’ it.

“Beauty comes from within,” she says. “Being happy and healthy on the physical, emotional and spiritual level is what I believe makes a woman truly beautiful.”

With her natural approach and holistic know-how, Sydney-based Sam developed her beauty range, Be Genki. The collection brings together her deep interest in aromatherapy, well-being, meditation, and beauty care into a holistic synthesis to “promote optimum inner health and harmony amidst the fast pace of contemporary life”.

Each element of Be Genki, she says, has been carefully and thoughtfully selected for its excellence in design, quality, healing benefits, and ability to capture the senses.

“Be Genki is the only bath and body care brand to offer a complete 360 degree approach to holistic well-being, identifying four key areas that contribute to an individual’s well-being and providing products that help create balance with a lifestyle approach,” Sam says.

The product line includes bath and shower oils, body oils, body creams, hand creams, face mists, oil blends, herbal teas and candles.

Sam studied make-up artistry and image training, nutrition, physical education, access energy transformation, aromatherapy, and skin care, and is also an avid proponent of Vipassana meditation. She says the peace and tranquility she found in meditation greatly influenced her products and their simplicity of use in daily life.

I caught up with Sam to get an overview of the ranges — Vitality, Tranquility, Serenity and Sensuality — each attracting a huge following in Australia and abroad.

SHANNON: What’s the Be Genki story?

SAM SAMPLE: For the past 10 years I have been studying various disciplines of health and wellbeing – make-up artistry and image training, nutrition, fitness, meditation, access energy transformation, skin care, and aromatherapy.

Whilst I was finishing up my Diploma of Nutrition and experimenting with aromatherapy one of my girlfriends was suffering from anxiety and depression and was taking anti-depressants. It upset me that a young woman in her mid-20s could be prescribed pharmaceutical drugs without her lifestyle being taken in to consideration first. No-one sat down with her to address what she was doing on a daily basis.

So I made her a blend of essential oils (the Serenity blend) and we chatted about taking time out at the end of each day to have a bath with the essential oil blend, shutting the bathroom door, turning the mobile phone off and creating a spa like experience in the comfort of her own home. We also spoke about nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices.

Two months passed and she came to me one day to tell me how much better she was feeling within herself and that she was thinking of going off her medication. Whether it was the act of running a bath and watching the water flow, having that half-hour by herself to relax and inhale the oil blend, or exercising, or eliminating processed foods from her diet it didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that she was feeling more confident and happy. I believe it was a combination of all the new wellbeing rituals that she had started to implement in to her daily life. You can only imagine how happy this made me feel. Whatever it was that gave her the confidence to take control of her anxiety and depression and ultimately her life, was enough to inspire me to think of other areas of our lives that we need help with improving in today’s fast paced world.

Whether it’s reaching for that third cup of coffee during the day to get a burst of energy, tossing and turning in bed at night or relying on sleeping tablets to get to sleep, suffering from anxiety and depression, freaking out at the “little things” or losing your temper at those that you love most because you haven’t dealt with the issue appropriately, or simply “beating yourself up” and criticising yourself over something that really isn’t that big a deal in the scheme of things; that is not what life is all about! So, I developed Be Genki – to help inspire and bring about holistic happiness by focusing on four key areas of wellbeing:

-    Vitality to help improve our energy levels.
-    Tranquility to help prepare for a peaceful night’s sleep.
-    Serenity to help us cope with everyday stress (the blend that I gave to my girlfriend).
-    Sensuality to help nurture the loving relationships that we have with our partner, and more importantly our Self.

In my opinion, these are the four key areas that bring about holistic happiness.

The Japanese word “genki” means to be happy, healthy, and in harmony with oneself. It suggests wellbeing is achieved by balancing physical, emotional and spiritual elements equally to create an integrated and tranquil Self.

SD: What are the core ingredients?

SS: There are four Be Genki ranges – Vitality, Tranquility, Serenity and Sensuality – each contain a blend of 100% pure essential oils to specifically target four key areas that contribute to your well-being.

Vitality: Lemon, Peppermint, Eucalyptus and Rosemary, renowned for their uplifting properties.
Tranquility: Lavender, Roman Chamomile, Sweet Orange and Sandalwood, renowned for their sleep-inducing properties.
Serenity: Neroli, Rose Otto, Rosewood, Palmarosa and Bergamot, renowned for their calming properties.
Sensuality: Rose Otto, Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Lavender, Bergamot and Melissa, renowned for their nurturing properties.

These four oil blends are the core ingredients that are included in each product in varying proportions. Essential oils stimulate receptors in the nose which relay messages to the limbic system, the part of the brain that regulates those emotions.

SD: Why is natural beauty so important to you?

SS: If you truly value the long-term health and appearance of your skin and would like to treat your body holistically then natural and organic ingredients are a better option from my point-of-view. Our skin is our largest organ, protecting us from the outside world and reflecting our inner life. It puzzles me why one would choose products that contain synthetic chemicals which may be carcinogenic, contribute to allergies and which strip the skin of its natural oils when there are so many great natural alternatives that nourish and complement the function of the skin. For example, petroleum based products, such as mineral oils, sit on the surface of the skin, preventing the skin from breathing and have the potential to block pores. In contrast, natural plant oils allow the skin to breathe working with the body’s natural physiology to improve the condition of your skin and are also a lot friendlier for the environment.

Natural ingredients are sourced from plant, flower and mineral sources and therefore are biodegradable. Complex chemical structures (found in non-natural products) are created in a laboratory and are non-biodegradable. They accumulate in soil, water and air, and may become toxic, which in turn affects the physiology of living organisms in contaminated ecosystems. There is countless research out there in reference to the damage that man-made chemicals have had on our environment.

SD: Do you think more people are starting to understand there are harmful chemicals in many beauty products?

SS: Yes, certainly. There is growing number of consumers that do their research. With the internet and worldwide focus on health and well-being there is no shortage of information regarding the potential effects of using beauty products containing harmful chemicals.

SD: What products are in the Be Genki range and what are your absolute favourites?

SS: Be Genki is the only bath and body care brand to offer a complete 360 degree approach to holistic well-being, identifying four key areas that contribute to an individual’s well-being and providing products that help create balance with a lifestyle approach. Our products include bath and shower oils, body oils, body creams, hand creams, face mists, oil blends, herbal teas and candles.

My absolute favourites … that’s a tough one! I go through phases of being OBSESSED with a couple of products at a time, and I think that all comes down to my body gravitating towards the range that I require at that given point in time. I use the Be Genki essential oil blends every day in my oil burner, particularly the Vitality blend when I first arrive at the office. I apply Be Genki body oil every morning as I love the subtle scent that it leaves on my skin and always have a fresh pot of Be Genki herbal tea by my side. I particularly love the Tranquility blend before slipping in to bed.

SD: What do you believe is the biggest beauty myth?

SS: The unrealistic images portrayed in the media. We live in a world where we are faced with so many images, everywhere we look, of women and girls who are our supposed “beauty icons.” The reality is that these women have spent hours of preparation with hair and make-up artists and then the images have been digitally enhanced so that the final image that we see in magazines and on billboards looks very different to what the actual woman/girl looks like every day. Then add to that the pressure to retain that youthful teenage complexion by running and getting our faces cut open with scalpels and injected with poisonous concoctions. All in the name of beauty?

SD: How do you define beauty?

SS: I believe that beauty comes from within. Being happy and healthy on the physical, emotional and spiritual level is what I believe makes a woman truly beautiful.

SD: Who are some Be Genki fans?

SS: Be Genki has fans of all ages, from girls in their teenage years to women over 60 years of age. Women tend to gravitate towards the more floral scents of Sensuality, Serenity and Tranquility, whereas men go for the Vitality range which has a fresh and uplifting scent. (NOTE: There are also a growing number of celeb fans who swear by the Be Genki range).

SD: And lastly, I love your business cards…

SS: They’re made from the off-cuts of board—waste material that was to be thrown in the trash—from other jobs that the printer does. A great idea of James’, our designer for Be Genki.

To find out more about Be Genki and to order products, head to: www.begenki.com