Carla Oates created The Beauty Chef in 2009 after healing her family’s skin issues and discovering that beautiful, glowing skin begins with a healthy gut.
Carla spent the first 10 years of her career as a fashion stylist before turning her attention to beauty writing. It was as a beauty writer that she became aware of a lot of hidden nasty ingredients in beauty products, giving her the desire to create a range that was free of these.
The Beauty Chef has pioneered the inner beauty category with its bio-fermented, probiotic-rich wholefood supplements and organic topical skincare products. The range is sold internationally and loved by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Kourtney Kardashian, Megan Markle and Naomi Watts. The range is now widely available in New Zealand at thebeautychef.co.nz and many authorised stockists.
We spoke to Carla Oates about how it all began, how she balances her busy schedule, and her new product that she’s just launched into the expansive range.
You healed both your daughter’s and your own eczema through a gut-healing protocol, and so learned about the connection between a healthy gut (or microbiome) and glowing skin. Tell us how this led you to found The Beauty Chef, and how the brand has evolved?
That’s true! Both my daughter and I have experienced eczema and it was by implementing this gut-healing protocol – both limiting foods that put stress on the digestive system and introducing an abundance of fermented foods into our diet – that I noticed not only the profound effect it had on our skin, but our overall wellbeing as well. Essentially, this is how The Beauty Chef came into being when I first began to lacto-ferment foods in my Bondi kitchen, creating the first iteration of GLOW Inner Beauty Essential.
While GLOW remains our bestseller, today the brand has evolved and we now work with a leading team of microbiologists, naturopaths and nutritionists to create our bio-fermented wholefood powders and elixirs in our very own state-of-the-art fermentation plant here in Sydney. This allows us to control every step of the process and ensure that every formula is as bioactive and potent as possible. We even have our very own fermentation process called Flora Culture™ and our own exclusive probiotic strain, GUT5Y™ which is proven to support digestive and skin health.
What are some visual factors that might symbolise gut microbiome might not be healthy and need healing?
The skin is a great indicator for what’s going on within our gut, and skin and gut health issues also share similar symptoms. So, for many, a gut imbalance can manifest as congestion, rashes, sensitivity, irritation, or inflammatory skin issues such as eczema, rosacea, or psoriasis. While it can be tricky to determine the underlying cause of these skin issues, gut health almost always plays a part which is why it’s essential to learn to read the signs and symptoms on our skin and pay attention to how we are nourishing ourselves from within if we want our skin to glow!
What is your overall approach to food and diet?
I’ve always maintained a holistic approach to my health and nutrition, understanding that my environment, diet and lifestyle practices all impact and influence how I feel and function. But I’ve also learnt to read my body and my skin extremely well and so prefer to nourish myself with a wholefoods-based diet, rich in antioxidants and polyphenol-rich plants, fermented foods, and plenty of water!
The skin is a great indicator for what’s going on within our gut—and skin and gut health issues also share similar symptoms.
What’s your go-to breakfast for glowing skin?
My Get Glowing Smoothie Bowl! This health-giving bowl is fibre-rich, vitamin-rich, antioxidant-rich, lipid-rich, and full of skin-protective and glow-giving minerals selenium, copper and zinc, plus it has the added boost of GLOW Inner Beauty Powder with pre- and probiotics to keep your gut happy and skin radiant.
Tell us how the brand’s first skincare oil, Glow FACE, a natural multitasking natural rejuvenating oil, fits into your skincare routine.
Longtime fans of The Beauty Chef will remember we used to create a product called Dream Repair Serum – which became a bestseller! So, GLOW F.A.C.E has actually been in the works for a long time as it’s something we knew our customers would love.
But we’re even more thrilled with the results! Designed to be a multitasking facial oil, it can be used as part of your existing skincare routine, applied after cleansing, toning and any serums you choose to use. It contains an abundance of plant-based lipids and antioxidants to nourish the skin as well as a unique prebiotic and postbiotic extract to feed and strengthen the skin’s microbiome and protect its natural barrier. It’s also super lightweight and non-comedogenic which makes it great for all skin types, and with ingredients like Bakuchiol – which is a natural plant-based alternative to retinol – it delivers incredible, age-defying results too!
You’re approaching 50 and absolutely glowing. Have you changed any foods or supplements in your late 40s to suit your changing needs?
I’m always reassessing my topical skincare and inner beauty routine based on how I’m feeling and the seasons as I find my skin needs different nutrients at different times of the year. But one non-negotiable has always been my daily dose of GLOW. While GLOW is well-known for its abundance of wholefood ingredients, the truth is, it’s so much more than that! Yes, it contains 18 Certified Organic and bio-fermented wholefoods and herbal extracts, but it boasts some pretty impressive stats in terms of its vitamin, mineral, and ‘biotic’ benefits, too. In fact, I often get asked why GLOW is in powder form rather than capsule and put simply, it’s because the potency of its ingredients and the levels of nutrients it contains would mean that one teaspoon of GLOW was equal to 15 vitamin capsules! Containing 200% of your RDI of vitamin C, 50% of your RDI of zinc, provitamin A, broad-spectrum B vitamins (including 25% of both biotin and niacinamide) as well as prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics, GLOW truly is the complete inner beauty solution. And it’s definitely my skin secret.
