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Returning to the town where she grew up, Ruby Hill chose San Juan Bautista as the location for the launch of her new clean and natural skincare line, Ihsana. A two-day reception starting Jan. 20 will be held at Heliena Walton’s Thankful Co., where Hill worked for a number of years.
“From a very young age,” Hill said, “I’ve always been a DIY person, making my own hair oils and face masks. I did it at home and, as my passion grew, I began working in the beauty industry. I enjoyed servicing women, and I think my products do exactly that.”
Hill, daughter of Credo Studios founder Ramona Hill, created Ihsana with her husband, J. C. Wren. “Ihsana” means “excellence” in Arabic, Hill said, and her products serve to advocate for women by stressing wellness before aesthetic beauty.
“Our tagline is ‘beauty, inside out’ because we really focus on inner beauty and how that relates to outer beauty,” Hill said. “We encourage women to take care of themselves, be okay with who they are and really focus on the inside so that it really shines on the outside.”
Wren, who works as a financial advisor, serves as support for the business. He said he found the product line easy to support because they had a solid philosophy behind them.
“She has a YouTube channel where she talks about how women sometimes are not happy with themselves,” Wren said. “They feel the need for something on the outside to make them feel better inside. She pushes back against that idea, and I can get behind that.”
Ihsana is a hands-on business for Hill and Wren. The majority of the products are blended in their home from ingredients sourced from around the world. Hill fills the jars herself, and the labels are designed and printed at home as well.
“We spent many hours in research and doing trials and testing, just trying things out,” Hill said. “Whatever you put on your body is in your body as well. So a lot of science and math has gone into this and a lot of determination.”
Ihsana includes several lines of products for different beauty needs. The Nūr Jouri (“Light of the Rose” in Arabic) line includes toners and cleansers that use vitamins, natural ingredients like willow bark, and exotic oils like grapefruit seed. The Zi Soak Salts (“Light in the Air” in Arabic) contain ingredients like Hawaiian lava salt, red hibiscus and Damask rose oils. The “Beyond Oil” body silks offer aromas like Red Passion Fruit, Apricot Ylang-Ylang and Noni Rose.
“Noni is one of our favorite oils to use in our formulations,” Hill said. “It comes from a fruit that is rare here in the United States, but the Polynesians have been using it for centuries. It’s a very high-quality oil that makes your skin just glow.”
Hill’s flagship product is the Cleo Milk Bath, made with dried goat’s milk, coconut milk and cow milk mixed with Dead Sea salt, Himalayan salt, magnesium flakes, powdered honey and rose petals.
“Cleopatra was known to bathe in milk,” Hill said, “and we just wanted to bring these ancient beauty secrets to the modern day and kind of put our twist on them. It is our top bath soak and is a real luxury.”
Walton was immediately enthusiastic about helping her former employee promote her products once she tried them.
“She was obviously in this health and wellness skincare realm,” she said. “She wanted to do something that was different and unique and I am very happy she chose us as the place to do her launch. It’s part of the philosophy of the store is to do what we can to support women.”
Hill says this product launch will act as a model for approaching other retail businesses and small boutiques around the country. She hopes that it will help women have fun with their beauty routines knowing they have invested in quality products.
“My message is to take care of yourself and have good hygiene,” Hill said. “And that’s all you need to do. You don’t have to go beyond that because you’re fine the way you are born, inherently special and valuable. Every human being is.”
The Ihsana launch takes place at Thankful Co. at 308 Third Street in San Juan Bautista on Jan. 20 and 21 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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