One night while performing in Chicago, concert pianist Angela Jia Kim began to itch. Looking at her hands between pieces by Mozart and Beethoven, she realized her skin was as red as her gown. And that’s how Om Aroma was born.

The Beginning

As a little girl, Angela loved experimenting with her mother’s lotions and potions. As an adult, she sought natural products to soothe her dry and sensitive skin. But after that debacle on stage, Angela learned that even her preferred “natural” products were laced with synthetic chemicals and preservatives in order to increase shelf life and reduce manufacturing costs. Angela decided if she couldn’t buy the perfect cream, she would have to create it.

Back in her New York City apartment, which she shares with her husband and their dog Ella Fitzgerald, Angela harnessed her determination, honed by years of piano training, to begin researching the perfect cream. When she learned that 60 percent of what is put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies, she decided her cream would not only make women feel beautiful, but would be healthy for them in the long run. After working with various organic ingredients, like olive and avocado oils, she developed a recipe that quenched her dry skin, didn’t irritate and contained no harmful chemicals. She bottled a batch and gave it to a friend, a cellist. Her friend loved it and asked if she could buy several jars for gifts. For the next five years, whenever she wasn’t on stage, Angela cooked up creams and lotions until she found the perfect formula: organic, safe and luxurious.

The Heart

Angela is involved in every aspect of Om Aroma, hand picking each ingredient and making sure they are organic and harvested in a socially responsible way. All Om Aroma products are free of parabens and formaldehyde, chemicals linked to cancer that are found in many expensive commercial lotions and creams. And Om Aroma products are never tested on animals.

Angela buys her organic shea butter from a cooperative in Africa that affords the workers a fair wage. She mixes it with ultra-sensual ingredients such as champagne and caviar. Her skin care line ranges from a delicious spa body wash evoking sun-ripened apricots to an anti-aging cream packed with vitamins, antioxidants and extract of white truffle giving skin a luminous glow.

Angela’s vision for Om Aroma includes inspiring women through transparency and education to make smart choices about skin care. But her vision extends beyond her passion for pure skin products. Angela is concerned with the overall welfare of women. She created the Dollars and Scents program to provide opportunities to women re-entering the work force and needing flexible scheduling. Angela plans to launch an initiative to reach women of all ages and walks of life – from elementary school girls to victims of domestic violence – to build self-esteem and develop a sense of inner beauty. For Angela, it’s personal. She didn’t start the company as a money maker, but rather it evolved organically to meet a need. And even as Om Aroma has outgrown her NYC apartment kitchen, it continues to be a labor of love.

The Highlights

With Angela’s passion and intelligence as its driving force, Om Aroma has burst onto the beauty scene, garnering rave reviews and features in beauty and health magazines. Chosen as one of the 2007 “Best in the Green” products by Avalon Communications, the Om Aroma line can be found in some of the best spas and hotels. And on Oscar night, the glow you saw on Hollywood’s biggest stars may have come from Om Aroma products, which were included in the Everybody Wins at the Oscars Nominee Gift Bag. Coming soon is the new Luxe line that will include seriously sexy skincare such as Elixir de Beauté, a cream enriched with champagne grapeseeds and pearls, and Extrait de Caviar, a caviar extract-infused treatment.

We salute Angela, her commitment to natural products and her support for women. For a real treat, be sure to catch Angela in concert next time she is performing in your area!

Gifts with style and relevance from a socially responsible small business . . .