When Oasis Beauty founder, Stephanie Evans, hit 30 she was still troubled by her bad skin. Struggling to pay a mortgage and with no money to spend on expensive skincare, she was frustrated by her options. So when she stumbled across a book about making your own skincare creams out of natural ingredients, she decided to give it a go.
She got to work in her kitchen mixing up creams and lotions. Some of the early experiments were a little sticky, or smelt odd and had to be kept in the fridge. But she persevered, found which ones worked and pretty soon she noticed her skin had started to improve. Then friends started to notice too and asked if Stephanie could make some products for them. The very first product she sold was called Avocado All Over Lotion and it still survives today, as The Hydrator.
That was all back in 2002 and Stephanie spent many years working at her ‘day job’ and making skincare creams part-time in her kitchen. But in 2005 she decided to ramp things up so, armed with $1000 in start-up funds from selling her wedding china, she set up her business. Shortly afterwards she moved to the beautiful rural town of Oxford in the South Island and started working full time on the business.
The rest isn’t quite history. Today Oasis Beauty employs a team of nine in a dedicated office in Oxford and since 2011 the skincare products have been made in a state-of-the art factory, not at the kitchen counter. The Oasis Beauty range has evolved and refined to focus on top quality, healthy sun care and skin repair products.