Renowned for their organic, cold pressed and refined oils, Fushi produce purely 100% natural and ethical products with no hype, just honesty. Founded by Ria and her partner Rannesh Pattni, they set out to create a brand which was influenced by Ria's upbringing in Africa where natural remedies were a way of life. Today, they continue to grow their brand which nurtures you on the inside for a more beautiful outside. We've found out a little more from Ria about what makes Fushi a true triumph. Fushi started with just a small range of herbal tinctures; did you ever expect it would grow into the brand it has become today? It’s always nice to see the span of growth we have covered over the years, and to know more people are enjoying and benefiting from our products. So while we may have grown as a brand, as a company we are still a small united team of people who love what we do. Many principles of Fushi are based upon your upbringing, how did your childhood inspire you? My real inspiration came from my grandfather who is a great believer in herbs and their benefits for health and wellbeing. Influenced by Ayurveda at a very early age, and being vegetarian myself, the Fushi ethos very much echoes my own, and that of my partner. Knowing of all these amazing natural and herbal solutions was knowledge my partner and I wanted to share – and to make them more accessible to people. They have always been part of our lives and we have really seen and felt the benefits. We were inspired by the holistic approach to beauty and wanted to create a brand that nurtured you on the inside for a more glowing and beautiful outside. The idea developed from herbal remedies and eventually grew into encompassing body, beauty and hair care. What have you found most challenging about owning Fushi and what are you most proud of? Starting a business is always challenging especially in a place like London awash with big brands. Creating awareness with limited funds and smaller budgets was a huge challenge. We always believed a good quality product speaks for itself. So word of mouth was what we relied on heavily for our growth. Another challenge for us was creating a stand-out ‘Hero’ product that people would come back for again and again. We believe we’ve found it with our Really Good Cellulite Oil which, being a completely natural product and made with herbs, we knew would work, but it’s surpassed even our expectations by not only being recognised by our customers, but by winning numerous awards! It’s really been pivotal in creating awareness for us. We are very proud of doing business in a compassionate way, respecting the environment and, at the same time, offering value for money. Winning several awards for our products over the years has been great. These are products that have been developed just with a gut feeling for what our customers will enjoy and a love for quality natural ingredients. Ethical sourcing is your foremost priority; can you tell us about how you put this into practise? With most of our ingredients we make it a point to directly source these from our growers. The key areas we look into are, sustainable farming methods and ethical treatment of workers. We stay away from controversial and unsustainable ingredients. We have a strict vetoing process of our suppliers and we often visit the growers to see for things for ourselves. What advice would you give someone who is just starting to explore your essential oils but wasn’t sure where to start? We would recommend to start with the 2 most popular ones, each offering its own unique property. Lavender for relaxation, to use in the bath and Ylang Ylang to use in an oil diffuser as a room fragrance. Which Fushi products have become a part of your daily routine? Oils have always been part of my beauty regime. The Really Good Hair Oil is my staple, can’t be without it! At the moment I am really loving Tamanu Oil for my skin and my favourite supplement is our Best Superfood Green Blend, because it’s so easy to take. A shot of it daily does wonders for my energy and skin. Who do you work with to formulate your supplements and powders? We like to work with people who share our passion, and lead the Fushi lifestyle. Our nutritionist, anti-aging and Superfood expert Rick Hay alongside our in-house nutritionist and our Ayurvedic doctor all help us formulate our products. What is your favourite recipe which includes your super food blends? Our nutritionist has come up this this great Chocolate Happiness Smoothie: - Ingredients: 2 bananas (if frozen even better) A good handful of cashews (unsalted) ½ an avocado (peeled and de-stoned) 3 dates (chopped and de-seeded) 2 tsp of Fushi Maca powder 2 tsp of Fushi Lucuma powder 4 tsp pf raw cacao powder 450ml of coconut milk 60g of yoghurt Method: Place all the ingredients into the blender and blitz. Enjoy! What’s next for Fushi? Fushi is moving into the yoga side of things. We already have our own eco-friendly yoga mat and accessories. We hope to have our own yoga wear range soon. Shop here for: Fushi
