About Botánico Vida

The Sacha Inchi plant grows in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest.  It is one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth, and one of the most threatened.  

Seeds from the Sacha Inchi plant have been consumed by the Peruvian Amazonians for thousands of years, but it has only recently been discovered just how good they are for us. These remarkable seeds contain the highest concentration of Omega Oil of any known plant source – in particular Omega 3 – an essential nutrient for brain, heart and skin health that our bodies cannot produce. Sacha Inchi seeds contain 90% Omega Fatty Acids, 54% of which is Omega 3, while also offering high levels of protein and Vitamin E.

After starting her family in 2009, Kristy Cimesa, founder of skincare and spa brand Elemental Herbology was disillusioned with the family skincare offer.

Skincare marketed for families as ‘natural’ was often misleading, containing little more than mineral oil with negligible amounts of botanicals. This felt to Kristy as such a travesty, as Mineral Oil is a synthetic petrochemical (a by-product of petroleum production) and the cheapest skincare filler available on the market. It wraps the skin in a ‘film’ and doesn’t allow the skin to breathe, resulting in impaired skin cell function and irritating the dermis. Certainly Mineral Oil should not appear in the ‘natural’ skincare section, yet it has seemingly slipped under the radar in the guise of a ‘natural’ ingredient.

On the other hand, while 100% natural, plant oil formulations were readily available through premium retailers they were not accessible nor widely available at an affordable price, and certainly not at a price you would consider smothering you and your child in, day in, day out!

For many years, Kristy had been using Sacha Inchi Seed Oil in Elemental Herbology’s skincare range and was enamoured by the story and efficacy of this oil. Sacha Inchi is indigenous to the Amazon and is the Earth’s richest plant source of Omega 3, 6 and 9 and now the subject of a sustainable and fair-trade program in Peru which directly benefits the farmers of the Peruvian Amazonia. However, it was when Kristy started to use Sacha Inchi on her baby son Noah’s eczema and was so astounded by the immediate improvement she literally had a ‘light bulb’ moment.

Aware of the importance of Omegas on our skin, next to Sacha Inchi oil Kristy added other Omega rich oils such as Argan, Rosehip, Avocado and Olive Oil to create a unique blend with outstanding skin penetration and a beautiful scent. She then set about trialling the oil on her friends and family on everything from dry skin, to sunburn and wrinkles, chicken pox scars, cradle cap and nappy rash and every time, it made astonishing improvements.

Inspired, Kristy set out with the aim of launching the most Omega rich, multi-purpose, specialist skincare product on the market and one that was both 100% natural and affordable so it could be used by the whole family.

Three years after launching, Omega Oil is stocked in over 1000 pharmacies, health food stores and supermarkets  across the UK with new stockists joining us daily in our mission to provide the very best natural family skincare on the market.