When you meet Carla Oates, you’d be forgiven for assuming she is a woman in her 20s, not a mother of two adult children who has created a modern-day beauty empire centred around the adage ‘beauty begins from within’.

A beauty editor for over 15 years, it was her concern with synthetic and toxic ingredients in mainstream beauty products as well as her personal experience with eczema that led her to investigate a more natural approach. What she discovered  was not what we should be putting on our skin, but rather what we should be feeding it.

“It was from this point I made it my mission to help educate people on healthier and more holistic skincare solutions,” Carla says of what led her to create The Beauty Chef.

“I felt very passionate about helping to change the paradigm in the beauty industry – an industry that I felt was very one dimensional and wasn’t very transparent or healthy.”

Here, the Bondi Beach local shares with us her best natural beauty secrets and how you can glow from within too.

What sparked your interest in organic skincare and food?

I was working as a beauty editor for a mainstream newspaper and while researching the ingredients in beauty products, I became concerned with the amount of toxic chemicals in skincare products. From my own personal experience, I knew that glowing, healthy skin comes from within. I had suffered from eczema and allergies as a child and my mum took me to see a naturopath who put me on a diet and from eliminating certain foods and eating others, I noticed a big difference in my skin and wellbeing. It was from this point I made it my mission to help educate people on healthier and more holistic skincare solutions.

Why did you create The Beauty Chef?

It was with the intention of educating people that glowing skin comes from within, which means feeding your skin from the inside out. And more specifically that ‘beauty begins in the belly’ – good gut health is vital for healthy, robust, radiant skin.

How has the beauty industry changed over the years?

When I began The Beauty Chef seven years ago, the concept of inner beauty was very foreign. People bought into the idea of ‘glamour’ and ‘anti-ageing’. Whereas now our values are changing – there is not one type of ‘beautiful’, the obsession with perfection and glamour are being replaced with the idea of embracing your individual beauty and working towards skin that is healthy. For me, no amount of cosmetics can replace the radiance exuded from a woman who feels confident in her own skin and is healthy and glows from the inside out.

If you could only use one beauty product what would it be?

GLOW Inner Beauty Powder – it is my all round essential beauty blend for daily skin and gut support and excellent for skin and health maintenance.

You’re a Bondi Beach local, what do you love about living there?

I grew up near Bondi and my grandmother and great aunt lived there when I was a kid. It’s also where I have lived since I moved out of home at 18, so I have a deep connection to Bondi – it’s my home. It has changed a lot over the years, but many of the things I love about it are still here – the beach, the community, a focus on a healthy lifestyle and the cafes. We have fantastic neighbours who we’re very close to. We share lots of cups of tea and meetings on how we could turn our street into an urban farm. One neighbour has bees, we have herbs and now we need some fruit trees!

Where do you like to hang out?

My favourite café is Lox Stock and Barrel. They ferment, brine and make their own nut milks. The food is innovative, healthy and delicious. They do the best salads.

What do you pack in your makeup bag for a weekend away?

I don’t wear much make-up but I do love the mascara from Ere Perez.

Green + Simple is all about using less, investing in quality and living as simply and healthily as possible, what’s your outlook?

We’re on a mission at The Beauty Chef office to try and use less plastic. We have a rigorous recycling program in our office around waste, paper and cardboard, soft plastics, hard plastic, glass and food and we have our own re-useable coffee cups when purchasing coffee from our local cafe. Our products are packaged in plastic because our manufacturers won’t pack into anything else from a safety perspective (because glass breaks). However, I am always looking in to other options, so watch this space!

What would we find under your kitchen sink?

I use natural cleaning products, but mostly bicarb soda, vinegar and essential oils – tea tree, eucalyptus, lemon and orange essential oils.

Best advice you’ve ever received?

All disease begins in the gut (Hippocrates) and you are at your working best when you are healthy and content. Also, there is a barenness to business (Socrates), so making sure you work at having days where you aren’t ‘busy’ is important – to connect with your environment and family and friends.

What’s next for The Beauty Chef?

New beautiful inner beauty products to add to The Beauty Chef family that will continue to help people be the healthiest and happiest versions of themselves – targeting one gut at a time!

All images of Carla by Kristina Solijo for Elle Australia