Infusiast Spotlight: Adriana R., Owner of Fina Skincare

From culinary experts to holistic healers, edible lovers and beyond, the LĒVO Love Club community is what makes our small business so incredibly special.

As part of a recurring series, we’ll be shining the spotlight on infüsiasts to share their tips, tricks & infusion journeys. This month, we talked to Adriana R., a natural skincare enthusiast who uses LĒVO to create products for her small business, Fina Skincare. 

"I've always been fascinated by the healing powers of nature, plants and flowers... When I finally heard about LĒVO, my first thought was how much easier it would make my life to have something like this to utilize for my small business."

Like starting a small business, making your own natural skincare at home can sound like a daunting experience. But Adriana makes it look easy! Fascinated with the healing powers of plants from a young age, the positive effects and feedback from her community encouraged her to start her own beauty business. 

We spoke with Adriana about how she got started, how LĒVO has impacted her process, and her go-to recipe for beginners starting to make their own beauty products at home.

Read our interview with Adriana of Fina Skincare below and scroll to the bottom for her lip and body balm recipe! 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business. 

My name is Adriana Rosa and I'm from sunny San Diego, California. I'm a licensed cosmetologist and currently studying to receive my esthetician license.

I am very passionate about natural skincare & the formulation aspect of it — I've always been fascinated by the healing powers of nature, plants, and flowers. Ever since I could remember, my grandmother always had a natural alternative to western medicine for when we got sick. She would share natural remedies that have been passed down to her. I am so thankful for those moments because that information is what really drove me to do my own research, experiment with different natural ingredients, and ultimately lead me to creating simple yet effective natural products for everyone I loved.

I decided to follow my passion in 2019 and start my own skincare company named Fina Skincare. We are a queer Latinx woman-owned & operated skincare brand that makes handcrafted, all natural skincare products in small, carefully formulated batches. We believe in transparency with our process and our ingredients and are proud to say that we prioritize our relationship with our culture and our community.

How did you get started with infusion? 

My infusion journey began soon after my curiosity in creating natural products. From figuring out how to infuse different herbs into oils & butters that suited my liking to experimenting with different methods of infusing techniques.

I've tried it all! From letting things infuse for days in a mason jar to doing the super messy double broiling method and using a cheesecloth after to strain ingredients. One of the best & most fun parts of creating certain recipes is bringing them to life, but it's not always so easy…or clean. Sure, you can buy the ingredients ready-made, but if it was more cost effective to make it yourself, wouldn't you take your chance at making it?

For example, I could buy rose & lavender-infused oil for a body butter or lip balm recipe from the store or even online, but most of the time it's very overpriced and do we really know what goes into the product? Check the ingredient list on most store-bought products and you will surely be confused with all the unnecessary things they put in them.

I like taking a simple yet effective approach to formulating my products by only using the best ingredients I can find locally or from a small company, while also doing my research on specific ingredients to make sure they are also sustainable.

When I finally heard about LĒVO, my first thought was how much easier it would make my life to have something like this to utilize for my small business.

What was your first experience with LEVO like? 

After a few months of doing some research on LĒVO, I was so ready & excited to purchase my own! Everything about it looked so easy, effortless, and just what I was looking for to elevate my business. I also thought, It couldn't hurt to have a fun, new gadget to get creative with in the kitchen.

When I first opened up my LĒVO, I fell in love with the sleek design that matched beautifully with my other kitchen appliances. I was so excited and decided to see how it worked as soon as I possibly could. I purchased the Ultimate LĒVO II Bundle because I thought, if I'm going to invest into something, I might as well just go all the way and get the best bang for my buck. It comes with literally everything you would need to start infusing and making gummies right away. With an additional Power Pod to make your infusion twice as strong, the Herb Press, and the Infusion Sprayer, my imagination was going wild on different things I would be making in the near future.

On the first day, I ran through the instruction guide and looked for things around the kitchen to test this new toy out. As I anticipated, it was extremely easy. With the click of a button, I was ready to infuse, walk away, and let LĒVO do its thing. To top it off the clean up was very minimal! I was able to create a luscious moisturizing lip balm. 

Tell us about your best selling product and why people love it.

Our best selling product would most definitely be our Signature Body Butter. It's an all natural blend of healing and moisturizing oils with raw refined shea butter, and always has our customers coming back for more.

We use the best sustainably sourced ivory color shea butter that looks and feels like velvet when whipped to perfection, and an organic blend of jojoba, almond, rosehip, frankincense, and lavender oil. This incredibly simple and luscious recipe is what ultimately gave me the confidence to pursue this journey and to start creating other natural products.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a product that naturally moisturizes your body and helps maintain, and protect the barrier of the skin. Some people use it post-shave for their body and some of my curly haired customers even use it in their hair! It is truly suitable for all and something you and your loved ones will enjoy.

What’s one tip you have for someone infusing body or skincare at home?

My tip for anyone who'd like to start infusing skincare at home is to just have fun, take your time — the sky's the limit! There are so many different blends of herbs, oils, and butters to choose from when making something for ourselves.

Be intentional with what kind homemade skincare goodies you would like to create and narrow down what ingredients you need. Sometimes the more simple, the better. It doesn't have to be complicated!

Where can people find you and shop your products? 

You can find my handcrafted Fina Skincare goods on Instagram @FINA.SKINCARE, as well as our website finaskincare.myshopify.com, which will be launching soon! If you have any questions or have any opportunities for us please feel free to reach out at Mundofina@gmail.com