Aerin (left) and Ika (right) with Kadazan Dusun women
our story
Our journey began when Aerin struggled with multiple skin issues ever since her younger years all the way up to her 30s. From adult acne, open pores, scarring, skin sensitivity, wrinkles and fine lines – it took a toll on her as she attempted to find a complete solution to her endless skin problems. She tried everything to heal her skin issues, but nothing works. It caused her to feel frustrated, low self-esteem and even to the point of developing anxiety when it comes to meeting people.
It all changed during a visit to her grandparents’ house located at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu – Aerin realised while she was there, it dawned upon her that her relatives, including her grandmother, had flawless and perfect skin despite being of old age.
Aerin at her late 30’s with adult acne and multiple skin issues
Aerin’s grandmother on her way to the orchard
One day, her grandmother took her to a family orchard, and on the way there, she watched her grandmother cut one of the tree’s branches and proceeded to drink the water dripping out from the branch while splashing some of it onto her face. Amazed, she asked what it was, and found out it is called the Kalalit tree, which is known to their community to offer various healing abilities.
She tried it herself by applying Kalalit water onto her face every single day. True enough, she was blown away by how much her skin improved for the better! Her skin start to clear up, enlarged pores become less visible and she start to experience smoother and clear skin!
Aerin couldn’t contain her excitement as she went back to Kuala Lumpur and shared with her friend the newfound secret. The positive feedback from her friend proved that this special ingredient works wonders.
She realised that this powerful, effective ingredient could help many others out in this world who are going through the same problem when it comes to skin issues. She then reached out to Ika, her cousin, an eco-conscious and sustainability advocate, to hop on this journey and change many lives together.
Paired with their passion and determination to create products that are made to be multi-functional, which is to solve multiple skin problems at the same time, OLUMES was born. While everyone’s hope is to have beautiful and flawless skin, they decided to bring the same essence into the name. Hence, they felt OLUMES represents them the best as it stands for ‘beautiful’ in Kadazan Dusun language. Their dedication to offer clean beauty and sustainability ensures that the products are all fragrance-free, suitable for even those with sensitive skin.
Their lifelong dream is for everyone to benefit from OLUMES skincare products, no matter what skin issues they have. They understand the pain of going through endless solutions only to fail finding the right one. With the help of OLUMES skincare, they hope to solve everyone’s skin problems and live a confident, happier, healthier life.
