Skip to content
Free Delivery on Orders over £35
Free Pickup in Store
0

Quick links

Join us

Signup and get 10% off your first purchase

By completing this form, you are signing up to receive our emails and can unsubscribe at any time.

Silk isn’t just a luxury fabric, it’s a powerhouse ingredient in skincare, sleep, and wellness. We spoke with Sonal Keay, founder of This Is Silk, to learn how her personal journey sparked a brand rooted in heritage, healing, and the science-backed benefits of silk. From beauty rituals to barrier repair, Sonal shares why this ancient material is making a modern comeback.

With a background in law and a deeply personal skin condition, Sonal turned to silk as both a remedy and inspiration. Today, This Is Silk blends tradition with innovation, offering products that nourish skin, support sleep, and bring a touch of timeless elegance to everyday routines.

    What inspired you to leave your career as a barrister and start This Is Silk?

    There are only so many murders a girl can take!

    There are many similarities between life as a criminal barrister and life at THIS IS SILK - I take an evidence-backed approach to skincare so it is now my job to present the evidence of silk, and luckily, that is both an honour and a pleasure. Possibly also the easiest case I have ever had, as the evidence is overwhelming...

    When I was 18, I was diagnosed with a very rare skin condition - an allergy to all sunlight. 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.

    Unfortunately, the skin condition flared up when I was pregnant, so I reached for the silk again, but this time I wanted to know why it was working. I began researching medical literature at the British Library and was so taken aback by what I found - silk has a very long history dating back to Ancient Greece in the medical world as a wound healer, and today silk is used in cutting-edge heart tissue repair, eye surgery and nerve regeneration surgery.

    It is so rare to have something that is so powerfully regenerative, and yet safe enough to use inside the body, that I wanted to know what would happen when it is applied to our skin. So I began working with pharmaceutical scientists and a global leader in cellular regeneration to develop our silk peptide technology SF-VII®, which is the foundation of our multi-award winning skincare.

    Can you tell us about your own skincare challenges and how they led to discovering the benefits of silk?

    When I turned 40, I began searching for ‘anti-ageing’ skincare products and realised that they were simply not suitable for me. With my sunlight allergy, I cannot tolerate ingredients like retinols and AHAs, (which are the most commonly used ‘anti-ageing’ ingredients) because they sensitise skin to sunlight and can cause skin irritation and damage.

    Personally, having experienced physically and mentally what it is like to have damaged and inflamed skin, I would never, ever choose ingredients which would cause any peeling or purging, so I wanted powerful skincare that would mitigate signs of skin ageing, protect and enhance my skin health.

    Silk is natural, powerful and is clinically proven to reduce signs of skin ageing and has powerful benefits without causing damage.

    And as someone who believes very much in enjoying life, I take great pleasure in how intensely soft silk makes my skin feel… I can’t stop touching it!

    What makes silk such a powerful ingredient for skin health?

    Most people know silk as a luxurious fabric, but it is actually a highly complex protein which has multi-functional and regenerative benefits for skin.

    The key to the power of silk lies in its regenerative abilities. Silk is so highly attuned to our skin (they share 90% of the same amino acids) that our skin recognises silk and incorporates it in such a way that the silk enhances the skin's own functions. A leading professor who studies silk once said that it’s as if silk plays a melody and the body turns it into a tune.

    Scientifically, the answer is in wound-healing. If skin is compromised in any way - whether by damage or because of age, the body begins a complex repair and renewal process. When silk is applied to skin, that repair and renewal process is both accelerated and enhanced.

    One of my favourite facts about silk (and there are so many!) is that when the skin has a wound, there are 3 stages to wound-healing. When silk is applied, each stage of wound-healing is accelerated AND skin knits back together much more neatly with silk. It is the perfect symbiosis between skin and skincare.

    The wound healing qualities of silk are inherently related to its ‘anti-ageing’ performance. Silk sees older skin as ‘damaged’ skin - that is to say, skin that has been affected by sun and environmental damage, and sets about repairing that damage, by a process of collagen regeneration. Wound healing is effectively collagen regeneration.

    And because of its barrier enhancing functions, silk also enhances the health of skin significantly - it is an excellent hydrator and shows very strong antioxidant action.

    You talk about silk peptides stimulating collagen and skin regeneration. How did you uncover this science, and what makes it unique compared to other ingredients?

    Collagen is the main protein of our skin, comprising around 80% of it, and it gives our skin its structure, strength and elasticity. The human body regenerates its own collagen, but we lose collagen as we age and the regeneration process slows down. That is why skin appears thinner, drier and develops fine lines and wrinkles as we get older.

    The traditional ‘anti-ageing’ skincare ingredients work by stimulating this collagen synthesis process. The most commonly known one is retinol, but this forces renewal so quickly that the top layer of skin is compromised, resulting in irritation, dryness and an increased sensitivity to sunlight and pollution. I needed a solution which worked for my skin without damaging it.

    The good news is that silk peptides do exactly the same job of synthesising collagen and improving age markers, but in a way that proactively enhances our skin health and longevity. We worked with a global leader in cell tissue repair to develop our silk peptide technology, SF-VII®, to solve this problem of powerful cellular regeneration without skin damage.

    The Professor who developed SF-VII® works in wound healing, and as collagen is the main protein needed to repair wounds, he was able to develop and test our peptide technology on skin cells and the results were remarkable. SF-VII® outperformed the market-leading peptide for collagen regeneration, and both user trials and clinical results have proven that skin is re-densified with the use of silk.

    How might we benefit from sleeping on a Silk pillowcase as opposed to regular pillowcases?

    I don’t know a single person who has gone back to another material after sleeping on silk… it is a completely different experience and really elevates everything. It is such a joy to feel silk against your skin - I’ve been sleeping on silk for years and I still feel so happy to lie back on it at night. The sensorial benefits are immense - so soft, so relaxing and so soothing. From a scientific point of view, if you are interested in preserving skin health, silk pillowcases are non-negotiable. They are smooth, hydrating and enhance your skincare routine. All other fibres (such as cotton, linen) may look and feel smooth but under the microscope, they are coarse and result in friction and damage against delicate facial skin. Our silk pillowcase is the UK’s most-awarded silk pillowcase, and is made with an ultra-fine silk for maximum skin benefits.

    What are your non-negotiable skincare habits that you recommend for healthy, glowing skin?

    I have to confess something here. I am an outsider to this industry and my approach to skincare is, I think, possibly a little unusual. The health of my skin is absolutely sacrosanct to me and I am uncompromising in what I put on my skin.

    Speaking for myself, I take a strict evidence and science-backed approach with skincare. I believe in skincare which is clinically proven AND a pleasure to use. This is of course, how I have come to silk skincare. It leaves skin soft, healthy and glowing and I can see and feel what all the scientific and medical literature says about silk. I use it then get on with the rest of my life.

    Beyond that, my advice to anyone is to enjoy the one life we are given rather than focusing on the mirror - this will show up much more on our skin and the impression we make on ourselves and on others.