Pink Light Botanicals: A spa and apothecary of handmade, organic herbal skincare products with an emphasis on deep beauty and magic

I’m Amber Woods, the owner of Pink Light: A spa and apothecary of handmade, organic herbal skincare products with an emphasis on deep beauty and magic. I am a state-licensed Esthetician (California and Hawai’i) and trained Western Herbalist and I offer holistic skin care services from my healing studio in Oakland, CA. This company started out of my fascination with creating beauty from beauty. I have always loved the natural world, and when I began to study plants more seriously nearly 10 years ago, the idea that plant ingredients used internally and externally could create radiant skin was life-changing.

I’d been obsessed with skin care products since I got my first pimple in 4th grade, and I’d always dreamed of making my own. I thought I’d have to become a chemist to do this, which did not appeal to me, so I put that dream aside and pursued many other things including being a textile artist, a teacher, and being way too “feminist” to care about skin care or beauty.

But when I began to study herbal medicine and to learn how to formulate products with plant ingredients, I knew I had found my path. I realized that skin care and beauty could actually be a path of healing and transformation, and that starting this business was quite in line with my feminist identity. I created my first line of products in 2010 and went back to school for my Esthetician license at Spa Luna on Maui in 2012. My business has been growing and alchemizing every since.

The name Pink Light is inspired by the pink glow that appears in the western sky during sunrise and the eastern sky during sunset, which I find to be one of the most intoxicating, magical, and beautiful designs of nature. It reminds me of the glow of healthy, happy skin, and my business is all about helping my clients glow.

Welcome to Pink Light Botanicals: A spa and apothecary of handmade, organic herbal skincare products with an emphasis on deep beauty and magic.

My name is Amber Woods. I am a state-licensed Esthetician (California and Hawaii) and trained Western Herbalist. I offered holistic skin care services from my healing studio in Oakland, CA.

I take a holistic approach to aesthetics and treat every service as a healing session. I treat the skin as an important organ that works symbiotically with the rest of the body. When clients come with concerns about their skin, I support them in reaching their skin care goals by looking at the whole picture of their health and offering consultation on nutrition, herbal supplements, and lifestyle transitions as part of the service.

I also focus on celebrating the beauty that every person holds and how they choose to look or express themselves. I want clients of all cultures, subcultures, ethnicities, sizes, abilities, and with any gender expression or identity to feel comfortable receiving services and not held to any particular standard or idea of beauty.

Pink Light skin care and beauty products are herbal luxuries, hand-made in small batches and infused with skin-nourishing botanicals. A great deal of intention is put into the creation of each bottle or jar of product, making them very luxurious and unique. They contain essences of flowers and gemstones, adding a special touch of magic, beauty, and brightness. They are formulated with high-quality ingredients, contain no artificial substances, and are nearly 100% organic. They are great for the person who wants to experience beauty in everything, including their facial scrub.

My dream is to one day operate a beautiful spa that can be a healing sanctuary for women and trans people. I also want to continue to grow my product line and be able to share it internationally.

I plan to spend this loan on working with a professional graphic designer to help me rebrand and redesign my product labels as I expand the line from 5 to 15 products. Good label design is a huge investment but can really pay off in the long term. I expect to see my product sales at least double after my redesign is complete.

My business will be greatly impacted by this, because product sales create the extra income needed to make my business sustainable long-term.