Snow Fox Skincare founder Phoebe Song: beauty brands can no longer justify failure to adopt cruelty-free, vegan practices
Founder of beauty and wellness start-up website Spa Monkeys and Snow Fox Skincare discusses her own health issues, Buddhist philosophies and sensitive skin-friendly products
Speak to Phoebe Song, founder of beauty and wellness start-up website Spa Monkeys and Snow Fox Skincare – which has even caught the eye of a Kardashian – and you soon realise that she is well-versed with her products, from the packaging to the formula, and everything in between.
Her passion is apparent in the way she geeks out on the ingredients. We charted the remarkable journey of a girl who beat her ailment despite naysayers touting her condition as hopeless, and talked about how beauty brands can no longer justify not adopting cruelty-free practices.
Tell us about yourself, how you started in the beauty industry, and what persuaded you to start Snow Fox?
My journey has been a personal one. I’ve had health issues since I was young, mainly immune related, but nothing affected me as much as my skin condition, because it was so highly visible. I have Rosacea Subtype II – which goes beyond redness to include symptoms like acne-like rashes, swelling, flaking, extreme combination skin, hypersensitivity and a very painful burning sensations.
Even my tumour surgery wasn’t as bad as the looks people were giving me on the street, or the comments they made – it got so awful that I would have recurring nightmares about peeling my face off.
The problem with this type of Rosacea is that it isn’t easy to cover up with make-up, because the chemicals in them can aggravate the symptoms and it can’t hide bad skin texture. I tried all the conventional treatments, but they offered no long-term solution and the antibiotics made me even sicker. This is a medically incurable condition and a permanent one – once you have it, you will never get rid of it. Doctors are still unable to figure out what the cause or cure is, so Rosacea patients like me will have to find a new way of living comfortably with it – which is what I have succeeded in doing, with Snow Fox.
The fact that ancient medicinal knowledge was so sophisticated, is amazing. It gave me a renewed respect for our ancestors
That is amazing. The fact that Snow Fox is safe enough for sensitive skin types to use is one thing, to be effective on Rosacea-plagued skin is another.