Alina Mehrle was busy running her interior business when a health scare turned her life upside down. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. The devastating news led her to launch a new career as a skincare innovator. Sabi Phagura caught up with Alina to discuss her skincare range AMEŌN which can soothe the most sensitive skin.
Luxurious Magazine: Your story about launching a skincare brand is rather extraordinary. Tell us about the health scare.
Alina Mehrle: I was just 30 years old and living in New York, and building my architectural business. I never could imagine that I would have breast cancer, especially so early. I have no family history and don’t have the BRCA gene. It was out of the blue and allowed me to rethink and re-evaluate my life and priorities. Weirdly, it opened my eyes.
The treatment caused extreme damage to my skin. On my journey to heal, rejuvenate and restore it, my oncologist introduced me to cryotherapy, which completely changed my skincare routine and inspired me to found AMEŌN and create our signature product, Frozen Essence. The brand name has a deep meaning.
AME means ‘soul’ in French, and ON comes from our motto – ‘turn ON your skin potential’. As a brand, we represent the balance between two worlds, the world of nature and spirituality and the world of modern science, achievement of medicine, art, and design.
LM: Tell us about your efforts in finding a cream that would help soothe your skin.
Alina: I was part of a group of women who I became friends with during our journey to fight breast cancer. We shared our experiences and tips, including self-care, and I began learning about skincare.
When you are a young woman in your 30s, you want to like yourself and your reflection in the mirror. When you have skin issues, you are vulnerable and want immediate results. When you are looking for help, you can be duped by promising marketing over common sense. I just don’t think in the modern world; women should be paying $600 for a serum to have the best result.
It became my goal to create top-performing products that are more than just a luxury impulse purchase but an affordable part of a healthy lifestyle.
LM: What is a 3-step cryo ritual at-home treatment, and how does it work?
Alina: We created a 3 step ritual activated by our signature Frozen Essence. The Frozen Essence box contains nine mono-dose moulds. Once frozen, remove a single ice cube, massage it into your face and let it dry.
The process called skin icing causes blood vessels to constrict and then dilate, pulsing the carefully balanced ingredients deeper into the skin where they act quickly to hydrate, firm and reduce redness and imperfections. Skin icing with Frozen Essence also helps serums and moisturisers work better, which means it enhances nearly every traditional skincare routine.
Our 3-Step Ritual:
- Step 1 – Skin Icing with Frozen Essence
- Step 2 – Drop of one (or both) of our Serums (aka Your Best Beauty Ally)
- Step 3 – Polish with our Holy Cream
LM: How difficult was the process of pioneering such a product?
Alina: Frozen Essence is a new category in skincare that we perfected over two years of product development. It was a complex but fascinating process. Skin icing has been around for centuries.
We modernised and beautified it by applying science to make skin icing more effective with our unique formulas that are activated by freezing. With regular use, the effect is dramatic and cumulative.
LM: How do AMEŌN products strike a balance between natural and biotech ingredients?
Alina: We represent a healthy beauty philosophy defined by the high standards established by our scientists and team. We don’t use the word “natural” in our marketing or otherwise because no ingredients come to a jar straight from the garden.
All ingredients go through several processing steps, so we believe it’s ethical to describe these ingredients as naturally derived. We also use high-performance biotech (lab-created ingredients) – like hyaluronic acid and peptides. The result is that AMEŌN products are powerful and effective because they strike a balance between natural-derived and biotech ingredients.
Our scientists also share the view that everything that damages, inflames or irritates skin leads to premature ageing. AMEŌN formulas are powerful but gentle and healing. All five products are designed to work well together.
LM: What have you learned through building your business while recovering from breast cancer?
Alina: I learned that there are a lot of good people in this world, and it’s okay to ask for help. I didn’t realise the power of community, especially that of women. I met so many inspiring and brave women along my journey who wanted to share and help, and I want to do the same. A sisterhood of women may just be the most powerful force known to humanity.
LM: Where do you see your career going from here after launching AMEŌN?
Alina: I’m so inspired by AMEŌN and our community and want to grow and launch beautiful multitasking products that will serve women and transform their skin. And through AMEŌN, I want to share, teach, listen and learn.
For more information on AMEŌN, visit www.ameonskin.com.
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