March 14, 2017

Meet Sonia Velasco of Primitive Botanicals in The Valley

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonia Velasco.

Sonia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
One summer day in 2014 I did something that would change the trajectory of my life forever. I covered my face with tanning lotion and laid out. The next morning, I woke up to a monster looking back at me in the mirror. My face had broken out in pimples, blisters and welts due to an allergic reaction to the tanning lotion. I was shocked and mortified. I went online to find answers as to how this could’ve happened and how long it’d take to recover. I found out that my recovery time was said to be a week.

A week would’ve been fine if I worked from home or got paid to scare children. However, I was a personal assistant to a very successful and busy hairstylist. I worked with the public on his behalf and was expected to look my best. The luxury of time was not on my side, especially a week. I ran out and bought every product which advertised it could aid my condition. Nothing worked and in some cases, only exacerbated the problem. In the end I was forced to take a leave of absence to recuperate. My sense of worth and self-esteem were shredded. But I decided to be proactive about my circumstances. Prior to my life as a personal assistant I’d spent over a decade as a make-up artist and already had an intrinsic understanding of skin but I wanted to expand my knowledge even further. I wanted to learn everything I could in regard to different skin types, allergic reaction prompters and so forth. So during my recovery I read a Harvard textbook from cover to cover entitled ‘The Structure & Function of Skin’ which was written in 1976, it gave me a good base to start with.

In addition to that I also researched the ingredients in the tanning lotion, in the products that were supposed to help but didn’t and in the daily products I’d been using for face and skin care. It turned out they were all full of synthetic chemicals that ironically, could upset the skin’s delicate chemical balance and trigger allergic reactions. By week’s end I was determined to find a healthy, biological alternative I could treat my skin with as opposed to the synthetic filled products I’d been using. I also wanted something that would provide consistent results despite the skin’s changes with age. Something that would always be the solution, never the problem. I was convinced that in organic, plant-based minerals I’d find my answer.

This set me on an R&D frenzy where I tried every botanical mineral under the sun that I thought could be used for skin care. My face was the test lab and it endured lots of trial and error. Hives? Rashes? Breakouts? You name it, I got it. But I knew that in my mistakes I’d find my way as long as I didn’t give up. After all the years of trying different products and research, the final 6 months of toiling, I found my Rosetta stone; Licorice Root. It’d been used for skin care amongst ancient dignitaries like Alexander the Great, King Tut & Julius Cesar but had become overlooked in our modern world. I saw this as a chance to introduce it to the 21st century. I found and paired with it other plant-based ingredients and together they worked in harmony to gently and effectively care for my skin.

Knowing I had the building blocks of something special, I took things to the next level. After a good year and my life savings drained due to development, I emerged with two products that I knew could revolutionize skin care. The first was the Shomei no Serum derived from apple stem cell and made for UV protection, acne treatment and hyperpigmentation. The second was the Mosha Moisturizer made from Bilberry leaf extract which repairs sun damage, has anti-aging properties and helps reduce the appearance of scars.

I was elated to share these products with the world but knew that funding for doing so would be my next and greatest obstacle. My mentor and father-figure to me, had also come to trust my judgement and intuition wholeheartedly. I told him that I’d been quietly working on a skin care line and wanted to continue to do so and he encouraged me to continue working on my project. One can understand the success of a person simply by how they choose to respond to things. My boss being the successful man that he is wasn’t upset and didn’t want to fire me. He wanted to help me. Never had I been so grateful or humbled.

He loved the two products I’d come up with as well as my standard in keeping everything as natural and organic as possible. He was also fascinated with the benefits of Licorice Root and inspired me to expand my line to a total of five products, making Licorice Root the bloodline that ran through them all. Within a short time I was able to come up with what I believe is the most comprehensive skin care line for all skin types and ages. I decided to call it Primitive Botanicals.

The power behind these products lies in taking a step back to nature. Back to the basics. Back to the primitive. In addition to the Shomei no Serum and the Mosha Moisturizer I’ve created three other incredible products all plant-based and full of amazing attributes. The Cahaya Foaming Wash is derived from the Pink Rock Rose and is a natural anti-inflammatory which treats eczema and psoriasis. The Sanka Boshi-zai Toner is grape skin extract that makes for a natural astringent, antiseptic and hydrator. And finally the Hyoso Exfoliant is a blend of banana fruit puree and pineapple enzymes high in vitamins C, B6 and B12 and helps diminish wrinkles while giving the skin a rich, healthy glow.

Primitive Botanicals is my heart and soul and a promise that you can have and maintain great skin without subjecting yourself to artificial ingredients with damaging side effects. I’m honored to bring you this innovative way of living and hope that you will find the benefits of Primitive Botanicals as limitless as I have. The creation of this line is merely a mile-marker on my journey. I look forward to you accompanying me on the second half of this adventure as we push to make Primitive Botanicals a global phenomenon in the skin care industry and a trusted source of beauty, health and happiness.

Has it been a smooth road?
It’s definitely been a struggle. When you start something you second guess what you are doing. Sometimes I felt like I should give up because it was overwhelming. I would constantly tell myself that I wasn’t doing it right or that I didn’t know what I was doing or that it would take me forever to get my business off the ground. I would have to force myself to stop, step away from the project and vent to my brother. We aren’t particularly close which I think helped because I knew he wasn’t going to just tell me what I wanted to hear. He’s very straight forward and didn’t allow me to give up on myself. He would basically give me a verbal kick in the butt and made me dust myself off and get back on track. My face suffered a lot too as I was my own guinea pig when I was trying out different concoctions. I tried to keep it simple and think about what women want in their skincare lines: bright, soft, and balanced skin.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Primitive Botanicals – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My business and lifestyle meld into one. I am a single parent that runs two beauty brands. Life is hectic and hard to balance by yourself and that’s ok. The purpose of my line is to encourage women to be natural beauties. When I was in my 20s I was a Makeup Artist and thought I needed to cover my skin with tons of makeup. I had the time to do it. I would set aside an hour a day to put on my face. As I’ve gotten older and life has become increasingly busier, I don’t want to spend an hour doing my makeup which is why I started the line; to nourish my skin to the point that I need minimal makeup or no makeup when I step out of the house. It’s so important to take care of your skin. As you get older you start to see how it changes. If you take care of it from a young age your skin will be in great condition as you age. The line is natural, organic, vegan, cruelty, paraben and SLS free. These are all things that matter to me as I try to live a healthy and clean lifestyle. I am proud that my line has been received with open arms from the beauty industry, from peers and colleagues they have all expressed that I have created something that is simple and easy to incorporate in your beauty routine. I’m really big into researching, I took a lot of time to research one specific ingredient, Licorice Root, it’s an ingredient that is underappreciated. I decided I wanted to have it in every single one of my products because it’s been heralded as one of the best ingredients in history.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The best thing about Los Angeles is that it is a melting pot of diversity. There is nothing you can’t find here. There is always something to do all around this great city. If you want to go to the beach, its nearby. If you want to go to the desert, it’s only a 45-minute drive, if you want to go snowboarding, we have that too. From great restaurants to sports venues to concerts and hiking trails. The people are driven to make something out of themselves and network with other like-minded people. Los Angeles is a place of acceptance for all walks of life. You can find inspiration within the people and their stories, historical locations, and scenery. The only downfall is that the traffic sucks. You really have to plan out your trips because if you don’t plan it out you’re going to get stuck in some sort of traffic jam. Other than that, there is nothing to dislike about my beloved Los Angeles.

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