Smora is a natural skin care company started by Midwest sisters Robyn and Christa Raskowski. I reached out to Robyn and Christa to see if they would be interested in giving some of their product away to all of our film-goers this Sunday, they said yes! Read about the women and their new company below.
How did you come up with the idea of Smora?
I took a class for fun years ago on how to make ones own body care products at home. I really enjoyed learning about all of the natural ingredients and started making some products for myself to use. I gave a few of the items I made to Robyn to try as well. We both liked knowing exactly what ingredients we were using on our skin. Robyn started doing a lot of research about natural body care products and we started developing our own recipes to make exactly what wanted. We started telling a few friends what we were doing and they wanted to try our products as well. Our friends really liked the items we made and kept coming back for more. A couple of years ago Robyn and I started more serious conversations about bringing the skin care we make to a wider audience by selling our line. We decided if we were to do it, we were jumping all in. After a year of cooking in Robyn’s kitchen, we launched Smöra in November of 2013.
Sisters Robin and Christa. Photo credit: Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
You and your sister live in different cities, right? How do you find time to collaborate?
Yes, Robyn lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When do we NOT collaborate? Ha! No, really we talk everyday about Smöra over email, texts or phone calls. At one point we started shipping everything to Robyn’s home to streamline the ingredients as it became too difficult to cook in multiple locations with the quantity of the supplies. After shows when we are running low on product, I will drive to Sioux Falls about every third weekend for “cook weekends”. Robyn is constantly making soap as it takes about six weeks to cure. (We joke that we should really purchase a RV and cook it Breaking Bad style in the middle.) 
How long have you been working on Smora?
Officially for about two years.
Do you have other jobs outside of Smora?
Yes, we both work full time. Robyn is a School Psychologist in the Harrisburg school district outside of Sioux Falls and is finishing her PhD dissertation. I work as a Neuroscience Research Coordinator at the University of Minnesota. We both have Psychology and Studio Art backgrounds.
What type of marketing have your used?
We have done all of our marketing through social media and word of mouth.
Where can we buy Smora?
Smöra is available for purchase on Etsy at smoraskincare.etsy.com. We had a launch party in Sioux Falls and just had an open house sale in Minneapolis. We continue to book live open house shows to introduce the products to people who haven’t used them before or who want to try our products.
What is Smora?
Smöra is the Swedish word for “buttering”, which was inspired by our Swedish heritage and the use of shea butter in many of our products. In addition to shea, we use all-natural ingredients like cocoa butter, argan oil, jojoba oil, and beeswax. You won’t find synthetic colors or fragrances in our products. Instead we use ingredients from nature like clays and plant-based materials to add color and concentrated essential oils to add fragrance, both of which adding beneficial properties to the products as well. The line includes body butters, lotion bars, lip balms, a tinted lip balm, a healing balm, face oil, beard oil, sea salt scrubs and a variety of soaps.
Photo Credit: USA Today.
Good luck ladies and a big thank you for sponsoring our first official ExMo Meet Up this Sunday!
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