Founder Story: Zane Piese Unlocks The Beauty Of Small-Batch Luxury With Atlantis Skincare

For U.K.-based Atlantis Skincare, the key to the future lies in the secrets of the past—specifically, the power of nature. Zane Piese, the founder, formulator and driving force behind the company, built the natural and organic line inspired by the Greek island of Santorini, long imagined to be a surviving remnant of the mythical lost continent of Atlantis. To Piese, the blue of the water and brilliant white-sunkissed structures make Santorini the perfect place to admire and appreciate nature.

Atlantis Skincare describes its mission as appealing to the senses and the skin as “a ritual within a skincare.” Its luxury products for face and body are intended to produce a therapeutic experience during application. The epitome of a small-batch enterprise, Altantis’s items are hand-blended and produced the day they ship to ensure maximum freshness. Piese emphasizes that water is never used in Atlantis products. Instead, she relies on hydrosols as a liquid base. The distillation of botanical material is said to increase the antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of the ingredients.

“My love for nature and plants began when I was a little girl,” explains Piese in her bio. “I grew up in the beautiful countryside of Latvia, spending my days in blooming meadows and green forests, collecting herbs and learning about their healing properties. My first teacher was my mum, a doctor of traditional medicine, who used natural herbal remedies to heal her patients.”

As an adult, Piese landed a job at a large cosmetics company, which fueled a growing passion for beauty formulations. She mastered techniques of modern cosmetology at the Association of Cosmetic Scientists in London, but credits the courses offered by Formula Botanica for speeding her journey to seek plant-based remedies for skin issues.

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In this Founder Story video, a collaboration between Atlantis and the Indie Beauty Media Lab shot during last month’s Indie Beauty Expo in London, Piese took the opportunity to speak about her line and the logic behind it.

On keeping things small

Atlantis Skincare is a very small, family-owned company. Our skincare is 100% natural, and we make everything in small batches by hand. We are trying to work in a very sustainable way. This is the reason why we source from small farms. Also, our aim is to create high-quality skincare, so we don’t use water in our formulations.

On being true to her mission

When you choose product, the quality of the product is equally important to what’s behind the brand. Is it honest? Is it truthful? Is it fun in a way?

Our hero products are our eye cream and our day cream one. Our Eye cream won a [Janey Loves] platinum award this year [presented at the Go! Organic Festival, Battersea Park, London], so we are very proud of the product. But our day cream is also very popular among our customers. Today [at IBE London], we are launching three new products: two serums and a body oil. From feedback so far, our new serum gel is a potential new favorite. I created the serum gel for all skin types as an option for use as a lighter moisturizer. Or, if you want, it could be a nighttime serum.

On small batch challenges and benefits

Nature is not consistent. My product changes a little bit [with each batch]. I’ve noticed that there could be a little bit of difference in the smell, a little bit in a texture, a little bit in the color. But I think this is the beauty of nature. You should accept sun when it’s shining, and you should accept rain when it’s raining. Likewise, you should accept the end result when you’re having your yield. It’s still effective. It’s still works. We can’t avoid it—it’s natural skincare!

On London’s growing indie beauty scene

The Indie Beauty Expo is much needed in London because we don’t have such quality exhibitions. [IBE has] wine, flowers and amazing, happy people around. Lots of fun, lots of introductions and meetings. This is what we need. Lots of people came, and I received lots of feedback about our new products. It is always to hear what people think about your babies. We were very satisfied—and, of course, very tired in the evening when we left. It was a perfect time and perfect place. We are very, very happy to have you here!

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