Beautiful Skin Starts with Her
Voted 'Best Facialist' by Allure Magazine.
Seriously Impressive.
R O S E W A T E R
Refreshing and Hydrating Facial Mist
Hand-crafted from organic roses grown in Northern California
Interview
Gunilla Eisenberg
ISA ALEX
I was born in Denmark but our family moved around when I was young so I lived in Nigeria and Spain before I fell in love with an American guy and ended up here in California. As far as I can remember, I’ve always had an interest in skincare, aromatic oils and what I consider the healing arts. My great-grandmother taught me how to do a facial massage to prevent wrinkles when I was a teenager and my mom would always make home made skin and hair care recipes so it’s not surprising that I would end up in this business. Before pursuing my passion in skincare, I got a degree in business and modern dance in college and ended up working in finance. However, I soon realized how much I missed engaging the more creative side of myself and I wanted to work with something that made me happy so I ended up going back to school to become an esthetician and opened a skin care boutique in San Francisco. After many years of working on clients I felt there was a missing element in the world of skincare products - in particular customized face oils, so with the encouragement of my clients I launched my own line of botanical skincare oils, ISA ALEX. I make them at home by hand in small micro-batches to keep the freshness, potency and purity of the products intact.
Covid, I believe; has been an extremely challenging time for everyone, each in their own way. For me it was the challenge of dealing with my business having been shut down for 8 months and the financial impact and uncertainty that came with that. Coupled with being a full-time single parent and managing the chaos of online school for my 9 year-old daughter it was a pretty stressful time. In order to stay sane and somewhat together, I spent a lot of time hiking, going to the beach and connecting to nature. And I may have learned a tik tok dance or two with my daughter. ;-).
I’ve learned to get comfortable with myself. I’ve learned that slowing down is good for me, that mental health is important and that practicing daily self-care is a must. I’ve also realized that I love being around people so having community is important to me. I’m grateful for my family and friends and feel so much appreciation for them. Material success is less important. It’s waking up and doing what you love that matters. I’d also like to spend more time in Europe again. I miss the more balanced work-life of Spain. It became very apparent to me how my life was out of whack this past year.
I would do guided meditations in the mornings and mid-day. Do weekly online sound-baths on Zoom. Go outside, move around, meet up with a friend for a walk. My daughter and I went to the beach almost daily and jumped into the ocean. I’ve always been a bit scared of the Pacific Ocean so it felt very empowering to do that. I channeled my viking roots and it felt so freeing. I’d also log on and do Debbie Allen’s live dance classes. She was always a hero of mine back from the Fame days so it was pretty fabulous to attend those classes. She brought so much energy and joy to so many people around the world during that whole year.
I think the blessing of Covid for me was the gift of time with my kids. After my husband passed away a few years ago it has been a lot of “doing” and hustling to make it through every day, every week. We have been on-the-go constantly. Between my running a business, my son playing competitive soccer, and managing my daughter’s after school schedule it would get rather overwhelming at times.
So Covid gave us a whole year of just “being” and reminded us what slower living feels like. We went to the beach a lot and spent a lot of quality time together. We also took a couple of lovely road-trips out to Colorado to see my best friend.
It was special and I feel like I got this extra year with my son before he heads off to college, and I got to connect with my daughter in a really delightful and present way. It was a huge gift that I will always cherish.
My ROSEWATER is an integral part of my daily skincare routine because I always use it after cleansing and before applying my facial oils. I spray it on my skin and then compress it with the palms of my hands so that the exquisite rose essences get fully absorbed into the skin. I love it because you can use it to refresh your skin, set your makeup and to depuff your eyes. It’s also essential when you are traveling to keep your skin hydrated on planes.
THANK YOU GUNILLA.
We appreciate you sharing with us.
Follow her @isa.alex.skincare
and we know you will fall in love with her too.
Comments