Glass meets former barrister-turned-brand founder Sonal Keay and discovers more about the science of silk and its power to heal and nurture the skin
If you met Sonal Keay, the last thing you would think was that she lived with a debilitating skin condition. What you would notice was her healthy, glowing complexion. However, she has had a rare allergy to sunlight since she was 18. At that time, she found the only thing that soothed her skin was skin.
“I did eventually get this under control, but when my skin was inflamed, I would sleep on silk scarves draped over my pillow to help my skin.”
Fast forward to Keay practising as a successful criminal barrister in London when her skin problems were “resurrected” following her pregnancy with her first child. This led her to “reach for the silk again”. But this time she wanted to discover why it was working.
She began researching medical literature at the British Library, where she was stunned by what she learnt about the long history, and healing properties, of skin. This dates back to Ancient Greece where it was used to heal wounds. Nowadays silk is used in cutting-edge heart tissue repair, eye and nerve regeneration surgery.
Ultimately, the Cotwolds-based Keay left the law and set up her brand, This is Silk. As she says, “There are only so many murders a girl can take.”
This Is Silk – Founder Sonal Keay
It seems quite magical and mysterious that silk can heal the skin. How were its healing properties discovered?
Silk is indeed completely magical… I’m fascinated by how people were aware of its healing properties thousands of years before science was able to prove it. The earliest recorded use of it healing comes from a surgeon, Galen of Pergamon in Ancient Greece, who found that applying silk to gladiators’ wounds helped them to heal faster.
When skin is abraided/wounded, the body treats it as an emergency because our skin is a barrier protecting everything within. Broadly speaking, there are three stages of wound-healing. And when silk is applied to a wound, not only are these stages significantly accelerated, the skin knits back together much more neatly with silk.
This is Silk – Power Up Silk Concentrate
Were you surprised by what you discovered about the regenerative properties of silk?
I first used silk when I was struggling with my rare skin condition and I knew it was helping. I began researching silk at the British Library to try and understand why this was so. I was really taken aback by what I discovered. I realised that silk is a complex protein with very powerful regenerative properties and the science and potential application is huge. Usually, when materials – especially biomaterials – are very powerful, they have side effects, but with silk there are none.
There is a very high degree of synergy between our bodies and silk – we share 90 per cent of the same amino acids. A very esteemed professor who specialises in the study of silk at Oxford University once described this synergy in the most beautiful terms. He said it’s as if silk has a signature tune, which is recognised by our cells, which then, in turn, incorporates it into a harmonic melody.
I realised that it is precisely this regenerative power and synergy that makes silk so perfect for skincare. We are simply harnessing what silk does naturally and bringing this medical provenance and proof into skincare.
This Is Silk – Cream Cleanser
How did you discover the silk peptide technology, SF-VII®, which you use in your products?
Luck and passion. I really love what can happen when people meet – worlds collide and grow. My interest in silk is mostly in the science of it, but also about its history, the romance of it. I’m also a huge believer in innovation and experimentation. I was introduced to a leading professor of cellular regeneration at Brighton university whose expertise is wound healing – the synthesis of collagen and in biomaterials which enhance this process.
We began talking about silk and secured some EU funding to embark on some highly experimental work. This led to the development of SF-VII®, which was phenomenal because, during in-vitro skin cell tests, SF-VII® outperformed the market-leading peptide for collagen synthesis. This is what powers all our skincare.
How closely do you work with your formulating scientist? Was it easy or difficult to find someone who was a good match for you?
Our phenomenal formulating scientists are the best in the world. I think the relationship I have with them is quite unusual. We work very closely together. They do joke that they can only afford to have one of me on their books… which I think is their affectionate way of telling me I can be a little “exacting”.
It was an interesting process coming to the cosmetics industry from the criminal Bar. I remember speaking to so many formulating teams. I was quite surprised that many formulations are essentially variations on a pre-made base. That was not right for me. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to build from the ground up, with all products designed from scratch
How does your training and background as a barrister influence your brand? Do you miss anything from your previous career?
I never thought that I’d end up in the beauty industry but, now that I’m here, I love it so much. I really did miss the criminal Bar for a while. But now I have integrated as much as I can from what I loved and have come to peace with what I could not bring.
I think the fact that I’m sceptical by nature and my erstwhile profession have helped a lot. I’m obsessed with evidence and research, which has carried through into the brand. I’m used to dealing with complex topics and the need to always maintain the highest standards and integrity.
Time as a criminal barrister really did influence my life. You see an awful lot of tragedy. It makes me determined to enjoy life as much as possible.
What challenges have you faced in building your brand? Was it hard to persuade consumers of the value of your products?
The biggest (and most rewarding) challenge is definitely about adjusting the lens. Most people know silk to be a beautiful, shimmering fabric, so educating people about silk being an incredible peptide with all these skincare benefits is the mainstay of our communications.
In fact, I solved this issue in part with the help of our scientists – the first skincare products we launched were the Silk Face Oil and Silk Cream Cleanser. They both won many awards but I realised that for people to use them they would have to trust us enough to change their existing oil or cleanser. I had enough data to know that once people tried silk in their skincare, overwhelmingly, they came back. All I needed to do was show them how powerful it was – without them having to change anything.
That is how our hero product, the Power Up Silk Concentrate, was born. It is clinically proven to work by adding one to two drops into any existing product. It’s an easier and more customisable way for people to see what silk can do.
This Is Silk – Rich Cream Moisturiser
What has been the highpoint of your beauty career?
It is the people. I’m always delighted with the people I meet. This industry is incredibly warm, supportive, dynamic and exciting. There is room for everyone. The criminal Bar had so much camaraderie but ultimately it is an adversarial profession. Coming from that into a much more collaborative space has taken some adjusting to, but it’s wonderful.
If I had to pick a moment in time, quite clearly, the happiest moment for me was our launch into John Bell & Croyden in July in 2025. It felt very right to be launching into London’s oldest apothecary and very aligned with the healing power of silk. Everyone there is just wonderful.
You have just added a rich cream moisturiser to the range. What was the motivation for this launch? How long did it take to work on it until it was ready to launch? What did the testing process involve?
Without a doubt, this has been the greatest professional challenge and accomplishment in the business so far and interestingly it became an issue which really put all my personal and professional values into the spotlight. By most standards, it was on any view quite unusual to have a skincare range without a moisturiser. It is often the keystone of the offering.
Development work began on the formulation over three years ago now, and actually, we had a perfectly serviceable moisturiser ready pretty quickly. Technically, the average moisturising cream is not especially difficult, it is an oil-in-water emulsion. But I didn’t love it. It just looked and felt like any other cream on the market. I didn’t feel passionately about it.
Silk is a genuinely exceptional thing – there are very few other creations which combine so many huge topics, from wound healing to mystical allure to regenerative medicine to world history to collagen synthesis and raw, human desire … So there is a lot of pressure to ensure that what we create pays homage to that, and to ensure that I can look my customers in the eyes and say that I have delivered on serving them something genuinely different and beautiful.
That said, I did not appreciate at the time that my uncompromising attitude would take three years and 55 iterations to realise. It really was a brilliant case of teamwork. Mercifully, our scientists are now used to the fact that my standards are very high, and it has come full circle because they say I have pushed them to create their best work.
The formulation for the Rich Silk Cream is a very rare structure, it is water-in-oil as opposed to oil-in-water, and the reason I chose it is that the water-in-oil has a texture that is much, much better for the skin barrier, but we don’t have much expertise for this in the UK, so the scientists had to learn it. Over 55 iterations we
I am very happy with the results. I wanted a moisturiser that is sensorially beautiful – both in terms of how it looks, feels and smells, how it melts on contact with skin and I wanted it to deliver on efficacy and performance, and the independent clinical trials undertaken in Switzerland prove that the cream makes a significant difference to the health and appearance of skin. A long journey, but worth it!
The Rich Silk Cream has just won the Excellence in Skin Health, Best Premium Moisturiser in the Attracta Beauty Awards 2026. How do you feel about this?
It was a hugely emotional moment and very proud moment. I saw how rigorous and meticulous every aspect of the process is. Attracta’s philosophy about skin health, product science and efficacy put both the brand and the product under a strict lens, as did the professional judges who all have substantial experience within the industry. I love the fact that the judging process is expert-led and takes so long, because it instils faith and trust in the process, and I do think that in such a crowded market dictated by trend and hype, faith and trust are very hard to find.
In the feedback on the Rich Silk Cream, both the efficacy and the texture were praised, and both are so important to me. The efficacy is critical, but so often the sensorial aspect of skincare is overlooked, and it shouldn’t be because the more pleasurable a cream is to use, the more consistently it will be used, which further enhances efficacy. And of course, in addition to the science, we must honour the emotional aspect present when we care for our skin.
It is so validating – not just for me, but for our customers, my manager, for my scientists, and reflects a seismic and overdue change in the way we approach skincare – a health and barrier first approach. We live in a time that is moving so fast and where products are developed at breakneck speed, that I think it is good to honour the simple fact that a focus on true craftsmanship and the pursuit of excellence sometimes just take time and dedication, and that people really do notice and acknowledge it.
The Awards also remind us all that despite the speed of hype, of social media and the scroll, the race to newness and virality, the one thing you cannot rush is the body’s own systems. The skin is an organ that works on its own renewal cycle, and the judging process respects that ancient biological intelligence, which I love. It is rare. So in short, this incredibly prestigious award is a profoundly meaningful acknowledgement of the brand’s dedication to excellence and integrity.
What plans do you have for This is Silk?
I would also like to spread the message that we should not compromise the health of our skin in order to achieve a so-called “perfect complexion”.
I’m happy that people are now focusing on the health-span and longevity of skin instead of just applying harsh ingredients. Silk is a world for me.
by Caroline Simpson
This is Silk is also available at John Bell & Croyden