Bornean healing water

AN all-encompassing skincare product that targets all skin woes sounds too good to be true, but local skincare brand OLUMES aims to prove otherwise.

Founders Aerin Gabor and Ika Yahiya named their brand OLUMES (pronounced: oh-lu-miss) after the Kadazan-Dusun word for “beautiful”. The brand harnesses an age-old Bornean beauty secret to achieve luminous skin using kalalit extract derived from sappanwood.

Aerin said: “All my life, I was not blessed with a perfect complexion; I’ve had multiple skin problems all at the same time. In my late 30s my skin was breaking out badly, with adult acne, open pores, sensitivity, strangely dehydrated, redness, and fine lines and wrinkles starting to appear.”

She tried various skincare products, from drugstore to luxury brands, but none delivered the promised results she hoped for. Until she was introduced to a generational, cultural beauty ritual by her grandmother.

“During a visit to my grandparents’ house in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, I noticed that my grandmother and my aunties had this perfect flawless skin, even at their age,” she shared.

“One day, my grandparents took me to their paddy orchard on foot, on the way there, my grandmother spotted a tree and cut off one of its branches. To my surprise, the branch produced dripping water, which she quickly drank to quench her thirst, and splashed the remainder onto her face.

“She told me that this is the kalalit tree, and they believe it possesses numerous healing abilities. So I tried applying it to my face every day, and after a week, my problematic skin became better each day.”

Aerin created her own simplified skincare routine with the power of one botanical extract packed with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-photoageing properties.