| What’s in the bottle? Vitamin C Ginseng Borage oil Chamomile Vitamin A Thistle oil Rose hip oil Calendula extract Apricot kernel oil Vitamin E Horsetail Jojoba oil |
Katresha Moskios has had a passion for plants and herbs – and the benefits they bestow – since childhood. But it was a devastating car accident in adulthood that moved her to grow her botanical hobby into a business when her homemade oil was the only thing that helped her damaged skin.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the power and the mystery of herbs and flowers and plants,” says Moskios, owner and founder of Katresha Pure Skin Care in Laguna Beach. “They’re really God’s masterpiece.”
The car accident landed Moskios across Pacific Coast Highway, and left her with a broken hip and fractured back.
“People didn’t recognize me,” she says. “That’s how bad I looked.”
When she finally left the hospital, her skin was thin and painful. Everything she tried to make it better just made it worse. But she wasn’t going to give up easily and decided she needed a product so pure that her skin would have to accept it. So, tinkering with herbs from her garden in her Laguna Beach kitchen, she mixed and worked things until she had a product with no fillers. What was left was an oil so pure that it didn’t hurt her skin and, in fact, made it better.
Her Face Oil was first bottled in 1978 in Italian glass. And even now, the oil – along with the expanded line, including Rejuvenescence Créme, Eye Créme, Revitalizing Serum, The Cleanser, and Scar Oil – continues using glass.
“It’s still the same bottle,” she says.
Though it wasn’t always easy and she even considered scrapping the whole idea once, her efforts paid off and Moskios now has a complete skin care line she is proud of and uses religiously herself.
“Really it was a lot of trial and error, but I never gave up,” she says.
Moskios took time from her busy schedule of promoting wellness in Orange County to answer a few of our questions about her line and life.
How does your line stand apart?
I created the first pure, natural, organic face oil on the market. These products have been created without cruelty to any living being or harm to the environment. Tested on my husband, Geo. Made with certified organic herbal and flower extracts. These pure products penetrate the skin and are absorbed into the body, nurturing the whole being.
What is your beauty background?
As a child in Australia, I loved plants, flowers and herbs. Later, I studied nutrition and skin care in London and continued on that path of health and healing in America.
You were also a model?
Yes. I started in Australia, worked in London, Europe and the Far East. I had a wonderful career that took me to amazing places.
You are co-creator of The Pearl Laguna?
The Pearl Laguna is a yoga, hiking, cleansing retreat nestled in the hills in Laguna Canyon close to the sand and shore of the Pacific. Guests come to cleanse and get into shape, renewing their spirit and emerging from their stay stronger and revitalized. As part of the program at The Pearl Laguna, guests enjoy Katresha Pure Skin Care.
Do you have any tips for people wanting to create skin care treatments at home?
Avocado mixed with a little plain yogurt and a few drops of Katresha Face Oil makes a wonderful hydrating mask you can make at home. Leave on the skin for 10-15 minutes and wipe off with a warm washcloth.
