The Astral Souls

09/05/2022

Introducing: The Astral Souls!

Hello there, nice to meet you!

The Astral Souls is a small, London based, handmade and bespoke health and wellness brand. We focus on research and development to bring you innovative, sustainable and accessible Haircare, skincare, and supplements.

Our philosophy is that you shouldn’t have to choose between modern science and herbalism. They can both have a place in your life and we safely blend the two to create the ultimate love story between chemistry and nature.

Founded by a neurodivergent cosmetic chemist and herbalist, we saw the growing need the world had for more transparent, safer, and exciting personal care products!

“I’m tired of seeing shea butter in every natural product, sick of the world vilifying silicones and sulfates, and upset by dodgy looking medicinal herbs online” - Danté, Founder of The Astral Souls

So we took years worth of knowledge and studying in the fields of herbalism and formulation science to the streets of London and The Astral Souls was born. Launching with just: a powerful herbal scalp serum that transformed hair, a unique body butter that changed the game, and an ancient herbal remedy which had a waitlist for it alone. The Astral Souls launched with The Essentials Collection. The Golden Trifecta of hair, skin, and body.

Simple, suitable for almost everyone, and unlike anything the world has ever seen.

The Astral Souls has a mission of educating our clients on the many misconceptions in the health and wellness industry to enable you to become more empowered.

Our other missions are to champion accessibility & the disabled community, be actively sustainable, and innovate new and extraordinary ways to help you take care of your body.

Tune in to hear more from us soon!

Lots of love,
The Future of Personal Care x

09/05/2022

Let’s raise awareness.

Our Founder:
“It bothers me that when I’m washing my hair and there’s soap in my eyes, I can’t tell the different between my shampoo and conditioner bottles.

But I can just wipe my eyes. You can’t wipe blindness away.

I have seven different serums from the same company, and they all feel exactly the same.”

Basic necessities like grooming yourself shouldn’t be as hard as it is when you’re visually impaired or blind. Larger corporations can afford to make the necessary adjustments to make their products accessible. But it’s not like these concerns haven’t been voice by numerous disabled people, advocates, or organisations. And at this point, it’s discriminatory that they continue to do nothing, if not the bare minimum.

Shout out to all the people who navigate their personal care products and morning routines with visual impairments! We hear you! The Astral Souls is doing its very best with continued development to enhance the entire user experience for you. Hence, if you have any suggestions or innovations you’re dying to see, let us know!

So if you’re sighted. We encourage you to try and do your entire bathroom routine blindfolded - and safely, of course - to see just how unintuitive and inaccessible your products actually are! So much of our product experience is visual, and that just isn’t good enough.

The more products you have, the harder this challenge is likely to be.

Accessible packaging is the first step. Universal design is the end goal.

Let’s do better.

09/05/2022

Let’s fix the way you view skin…

Skin isn’t decorative. Caring for it shouldn’t be a gendered thing. And no, it doesn’t hate you.

Your skin is your suit of armour. Your largest and most noticeable organ. And it keeps you alive.

It’s also home to billions of microorganisms which also help to keep you safe.

Taking care of it should be just as important as caring for your heart or brain.

Your skin tells a very unique story. It’s a family heirloom. One of the most defining features of a person. And it tells you when you’re unwell. It notifies you of when your hormones are doing what hormones do. It scolds you when you eat too much junk food. It’s thirsty when you are. It tells you when you should warm up or move somewhere cooler. When you’re scared, embarrassed, happy or tired, best believe your skin can show it!

Your skin protects you from our beautiful sun, so that you can experience a sunny day.

Your skin protects you from chemicals and contaminants.

Your skin needs looking after, since… it looks after you.

No matter your age, gender, or ethnicity.

So please, begin to take your skincare as seriously as the rest of your healthcare.

Cleanse it regularly, moisturise daily, exfoliate when necessary, and use UV protection whenever recommended.

The Astral Souls thinks it’s time to take the nonsense out of our skincare. We think it’s time to make it universally accessible.

Take the fluff out, keep the science in.

.

09/05/2022

Why is sweet almond oil in my hypoallergenic product?

Surprisingly enough, nut oils are allowed in hypoallergenic products. Because they’re typically refined, the proteins that can causes a reaction aren’t usually present in the carrier oils. And not all oral allergies carry into topical reactions.

However, this can still be annoying.

Our founder developed a few common allergies in 2018, including to coconut and tree nuts, and found that her hyper-reactive skin was also reacting to certain natural skincare products. Shea butter, coconut oil, sweet almost oil, macadamia, argan, and hazelnut oils all made her eczema inexplicably worse! It was so terrible that it lead to her skin barrier breaking all over her body because she didn’t believe natural products would cause so much harm.

She soon went on a hunt to find hypoallergenic skincare only to see tree nut oils, soy, among other common allergens listed in the ingredients list which perplexed her. This difficulty is what lead her to finding advanced skincare which used synthetic ingredients to achieve the same effect as their natural counterparts.

Because of this, at The Astral Souls, when we say hypoallergenic, we truly mean common-allergen free.

Naturals! Body butters and carrier oils don’t need to begin and end with shea butter, coconut oil or sweet almond oil! There is a world of wonderful ingredients out there!

Whilst we acknowledge the benefits of the following ingredients, we also don’t like to formulate with coconut, shea nut, or other really common natural ingredients unless it’s really necessary. We want as many people to be able to enjoy our products as possible! And in such cases, we will still strive to provide free-from options.

Here’s to accessibility in personal care! Hip, Hip, Hooray!

09/05/2022

Continuing our disability awareness questions, let’s discuss auditory disabilities.

When the volume is turned down from most adverts, tutorials, or reviews, the understanding of what is being conveyed almost disappears.

Communication is broken down into many segments including body language, eye contact, tone, use of vocabulary, and more.

We have heard many people who are Deaf, deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have auditory processing difficulties air their grievances about products being discussed over the internet and in media. A TV advert of a shampoo falling out of the clouds into a lush rainforest, or a YouTube review of a toner whilst the reviewer applies a gorgeous makeup look do little to nothing to explain a product to people who cannot enjoy the audio content of the video. Subtitles help, as do closed-captions, however these aren’t always accurate - and are sometimes nonexistent.

And then what happens if something is said sarcastically or dramatically? Are these conveyed accurately over captions?

Our founder has difficulties with comprehending speech sometimes and relies of captions quite a bit, even though she isn’t deaf or hard-of-hearing.

At The Astral Souls, in our bid to bring accessibility to the corporate world’s attention, we will always provide subtitling and captions with contextual cues.

We also acknowledge that English and other vocal languages aren’t always the first language of our customers with auditory disabilities. Therefore we are aiming to add British Sign Language options to all of media content as soon as possible!

If there is anything else we can do to improve your quality of life and experience with us, please let us know!

We care.

09/05/2022

Are you doing too much?

The time you take to take care of your body should be sensual and loving, not aggressive and overwhelming. Less will always be more.

At The Astral Souls, we like to keep our formulations as simple as possible for many reasons:

Getting intimate - It allows you to quickly identify what’s really working for you. And you can also single out any problem ingredients.

Being direct - We also don’t believe in fillers. We have 100% of any given formula and we aim to pack it with only the most beneficial and special ingredients.

High value - This is how much we believe in our targeted and individual ingredient choices & it also keeps the costs down for you!

Saving the world together - And we can protect the planet by ordering much less ingredients, hence keeping our emissions to a minimum.

So, we don’t like a dilute our formulations. They are supposed to pack a punch, get to the point, and make you fall deeply - and instantly - in love.

Choose your life products with some of the qualities you’d desire in a life partner.

Innovation is one of our key principles and crafting formulas that cater to your needs efficiently are one of the ways we choose to express that.

So whilst some of our creations feature a minimal ingredient list, if you do find one that is long, know that each element was considered intensely, and is worth being there. We don’t throw in ingredients ‘just because’.

We make magical products with love and passion, not laziness.

09/05/2022

Food for thought! And what does biodegradable really even mean?

A lot of things marked as biodegradable aren’t actually as sustainable or efficient as one might think.

The item may require very specific conditions to biodegrade, or still take decades to actually break down, or it may break down into harmful compounds that will damage the surrounding environment.

Biodegradable is defined as an object that is able to be broken down and decompose naturally by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. Surprisingly, it’s not the same as composting, as composting requires human intervention, whilst biodegradation should occur without any interference from people. The end result typically is safe for the environment and is considered a greener way to dispose of waste as it doesn’t involve combustion, harsh chemicals, or polluting land or seas.

The Astral Souls packages our products in a mix of easily biodegradable, recyclable, or home compostable parts. If you were to throw our boxes or mailers into your back garden or compost heap, they’d be almost entirely broken down in a few months without negatively affecting your soil or plants!

09/05/2022

It disturbs us that there are so few companies taking actions to make their products accessible.

The idea that you can walk down a toiletry aisle and most of the packaging from the same company have the same bottle, with little to nothing to differentiate the two, is bad. Really bad.

And if you think that online is the better option, 98% of websites are inaccessible by WCAG standards - by legal standards.

At The Astral Souls, we care a lot about accessibility and disability awareness. Our founder is neurodivergent and grew up with many disabilities.

Disability is the one demographic that doesn’t discriminate, anybody can become disabled, at any time. So, we think it’s poor that so few companies do anything to support the disabled community. And most just blatantly break the law when it comes to accessibility requirements.

Think about how much you use your sight when shopping for your toiletries and personal care products. How often do scent and colour variations of shampoos, or other items look distinguishable? When was the last time an eyeshadow palette described each colour and it’s location? How often is the consistency of a serum listed? Do you think listing a foundation shade as “mocha” or “tan” actually helps those who are visually impaired?

For our blind, low-vision, dyslexic, colour-blind, and visually impaired family members, we add coded tactile markers to our products so you can always tell what it is. We also have embossed QR codes which can be scanned to take you to product instructions. Our website is screen reader optimised. We have a toolbar which can adjust the formatting of the website to enhance readability. We have ALT text on all of our social media posts. And we have ample product descriptions of colour, packaging, weight, shape, consistency, and anything else you may desire to know. If we can add anything else, please let us know! - We care!

09/05/2022

Let’s be transparent…

The Astral Souls has three pillars which make up our morals and foundations.

Accessibility
Innovation
And Sustainability

Let’s talk about the last one for a second.

We truly believe in sustainability. We make efforts to ensure our entire product and packaging experience is reusable, reduced, and recyclable. Even better, a lot of our packaging is soil-safe, at-home compostable, and biodegradable. We work with local businesses, local suppliers, and only ship domestically to stave off huge carbon emissions. In the future, we hope to offer refills for our products, recycling systems that are easy to access, and even more sustainable packaging than the glass we currently use - such as sugarcane and other plant materials!

But let’s be real… Any business that produces … well, products, is adding to the problem of waste on the planet. We can do our best to reduce our impact, but acting like we aren’t still a part of the problem is irresponsible.

But we are here to send an important message to the corporate world, advocating for huge social changes and reforms to increase sustainability efforts and accessibility in every industry.

As a small business, we can’t always afford the most exciting, cost-efficient, or wonderful ways to create sustainable packaging, but we try our best. And we have a huge emphasis on reducing and reusing before recycling since we’re unfortunately aware of the fact most recycled waste ends up in the landfill regardless.

So, whilst we may not be the best yet, we are definitely trying to do, and be, better.

And we will continue to further our sustainability efforts as we grow, hopefully pioneering some amazing methods to help care for our planet.

It’s important.

09/05/2022

Seeing personal care products listed as fragrance-free but then having a laundry list of essential oils just baffles us… Kinda?

Yes, essential oils are natural and plant-based, however, they are primarily used for scenting and aromatherapy purposes.

In herbal preparations, they may be incorporated into formulations for medicinal uses, which we think is awesome! But, regardless, these products shouldn’t be listed as fragrance-free.

Synthetic-Fragrance Free would be a much more fitting label.

Essential oils are potent plant compounds with many uses and effects on the body. They can do many miracles, but they can also be dangerous! Incorrect amounts of these oils can cause adverse effects for the user, including skin irritation, badly counteracting with medications, allergic reactions, or negatively affect pregnancy.

Above that, the scent of essential oils can negatively impact people with sensory disorders or sensitivities to perfumes and fragrances. It’s the duty of responsible companies to be clear on the fragrance content of a product and directly convey that to potential customers.

At The Astral Souls, we make it a priority to always offer a completely fragrance free options of all of our products first - unless the product is fragrance itself!

Accessibility in skincare starts by clearly labelling products to empower you to comfortably and confidently buy your favourite products!

But, just because something is certifiably fragrance free doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a scent. Some natural and synthetic ingredients have powerful natural scents which can be detected in the final product!

Soon, we will talk about the difference between the terms: fragrance-free & unscented! Stay tuned.

09/05/2022

Are you tired of greenwashing? We are too.

Natural doesn’t always mean safer. Let’s get that popular misconception cleared up.

At The Astral Souls, we love natural ingredients, but the idea that a product is better or safer due to being entirely natural is a myth born from irresponsible companies using too-harsh, cheap, synthetic chemicals, and fearful individuals with good intentions retaliating against them. And then newer corporations capitalising on the panic and fear to sell products.

100% Natural products have done wonders for millions of people and many actually find that their body responds excellently to all-natural personal care products. As a team consisting of herbalists, alongside scientists, we can understand the appeal, especially for the use on children!

However, natural products can also be harmful for certain people, lead to new allergies, be ineffective, or actually damage our planet!

We love words such as ‘unrefined’, ‘virgin’, ‘pure’, & ‘unfiltered’. But sometimes these products can have contaminates which haven’t been filtered out or detected which can cause mild to severe irritation in people - especially those with autoimmune diseases or compromised skin.

Some unfortunate people also find out that they may be allergic to certain ingredients in natural formulations and that can lead to awful symptoms such as blistering, inflammation, hives, and itching - to list a few!

We will touch on the issues of high costs, ineffectual products, and potential damage to the planet in the future.

But all in all, at The Astral Souls, it is our goal to blend nature with modern science to bring you a safer synergy of the two. They both have their place in every persons home and lifestyle! There is no need to vilify either group. It closes doors to amazing experiences for you!

Here’s to a more informed future!

09/05/2022

Fear-based marketing isn’t the way.

And we get it, some chemicals sound really scary.

At The Astral Souls, we hate to see popular tags like “chemical free” or “preservative free” used like a badge of honour. Firstly, it’s misleading, and secondly, it’s manipulative!

Everything around us is made up of chemicals. Chemistry makes up the essence of life itself! Yeah, there are lots of chemicals you’d typically want to avoid in your skincare and lifestyle, but you do need chemicals in your every day life just to live! - let alone have wonderful skin, or perfect hair.

When anybody lists a product as chemical free, you can be very sure that they either don’t know what they’re talking about (and it begs the question of what else about basic formulation science they may not know), or they are trying to cause anxiety in you and greenwash themselves into seeming like the safest choice on the market.

We happily formulate with chemicals, here. That’s because, again, everything in life is a chemical. We love the botanical chemicals, the synthetic chemicals, and the really confusing, difficult-to-pronounce chemicals - they typically have the best functions for your body!

And we love preservatives! They allow all the amazing products that you love to put on your body to arrive safely at your doorstep - without all the nasty fungus and bacteria! Not all preservative are made the same. We occasionally won’t use preservatives, just because the formulation doesn’t require it, but we love the freedom that they provide in enabling us to safely deliver some amazing creations to you! Some preservatives are natural, some aren’t, some can be irritating, some can double up as beneficial ingredients to the product!

It’s all about choosing the right type of chemicals- whether they’re plants or lab-made compounds -for the desired effect , remaining transparent, and being honest!

09/05/2022

Meet the Founder: Danté Felix

21, neurodivergent, pursuing a cosmetic science degree and all the health & wellness qualifications she can get!

"I had eczema for as long as I could remember. Skincare in stores wasn't really accessible for me due to the high amount of fragrance and irritating ingredients, plus it just wasn't moisturising enough for me.

There wasn't such a thing as prebiotics, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid or ceramides in classic skincare when I was growing up so I was forced to use nasty-smelling, boring emollients from my pharmacy and super strong topical steroids...

I thought it was normal to see a dermatologist every few months growing up... I was practically raised in the hospital, sick with many things as a kid and adolescent.

When I turned 18 I broke my skin barrier all over my body and my skin was literally flaking off... No doctor knew what was going on and a dermatologist referred me to get allergy tests which came back with a plethora with new and unusual results!

I spent the end of high school bandaged up through summer with my mum slathering ointment over me twice a day - I was so embarrassed!

Luckily, since I was apprenticing as a Herbalist and had such an interest in DIY skincare and formulation Science, I did my own research and decided to try a cream that included ceramides. Miraculously, my skin cleared over the course of a week and I discovered that black skin has naturally lower levels of ceramides which act like the "glue" between skin cells. No doctor ever explained this to me.

The fact that multiple doctors and a dermatologist couldn't figure out something as basic as as compromised skin barrier really upset me so I've been on a journey ever since to raise awareness in knowledge of our bodies. And to give skin and hair — our shield and armour — the respect & understanding they deserve!"

09/05/2022

Introducing: The Astral Souls Limited

Blending Modern Science with Herbalism has never been better...

26/03/2021

26/03/2021

26/03/2021